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1971 National Football League season
Regular season
Duration	September 19 – December 19, 1971
Playoffs
Start date	December 25, 1971
AFC Champions	Miami Dolphins
NFC Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl VI
Date	January 16, 1972
Site	; Tulane Stadium,; New Orleans, Louisiana;
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Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Pro Bowl
Date	January 23, 1972
Site	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
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	; ; ← 1970; ; ; NFL seasons; ; ; 1972 →; ; ;

The Cowboys playing against the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI.

The 1971 NFL season was the 52nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl VI when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins 24–3 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. The Pro Bowl took place on January 23, 1972, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; the AFC beat the NFC 26–13.

Major rule changes

Teams will not be charged a time out for an injured player unless the injury occurs inside the last two minutes of a half or overtime (since 1974).

Missed field goal attempts can be run back.

Stadium changes

Before the season, the Boston Patriots changed their name to “New England Patriots” after they moved to their new home field, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The Chicago Bears moved their home games to Soldier Field.

The Philadelphia Eagles moved their games to Veterans Stadium.

The San Francisco 49ers moved into Candlestick Park.

The Dallas Cowboys moved during the season to Texas Stadium.

11 teams played their home games on artificial turf in 1971. This was up from 7 teams in the NFL in 1970. The teams were: Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Miami, New England, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and San Francisco.

New officials

Three referees--Walt Fitzgerald, Bob Finley and George Rennix--retired following the 1970 season. Bob Frederic, Dick Jorgensen and Fred Wyant were promoted to fill those vacancies.Rich Eichhorst, a back judge in 1970, resigned to concentrate on officiating college basketball; he was replaced by Don Or, who officiated in the league through 1995.

Division races

Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth “wild card” team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, record against common opponents, and records in conference play. More tiebreakers were provided in 1971 because, in 1970, reversing just one game’s outcome would have led to a coin toss between Dallas and Detroit for the NFC wild card berth.

National Football Conference

Week	Eastern		Central		Western		Wild Card
1	3 teams	1–0–0	2 teams	1–0–0	2 teams	1–0–0	3 teams	1–0–0
2	2 teams	2–0–0	Chicago	2–0–0	Atlanta	1–0–1	2 teams	2–0–0
3	Washington	3–0–0	4 teams	2–1–0	San Francisco	2–1–0	5 teams	2–1–0
4	Washington	4–0–0	Chicago*	3–1–0	Los Angeles	2–1–1	3 teams	3–1–0
5	Washington	5–0–0	Minnesota*	4–1–0	Los Angeles	3–1–1	Detroit	4–1–0
6	Washington	5–1–0	Minnesota	5–1–0	Los Angeles	4–1–1	4 teams	4–2–0
7	Washington	6–1–0	Minnesota	6–1–0	San Francisco	5–2–0	Chicago	5–2–0
8	Washington	6–1–1	Minnesota	6–2–0	San Francisco	6–2–0	Detroit	5–2–1
9	Washington	6–2–1	Minnesota	7–2–0	San Francisco	6–3–0	Chicago*	6–3–0
10	Dallas	7–3–0	Minnesota	8–2–0	Los Angeles	6–3–1	Washington*	6–3–1
11	Dallas	8–3–0	Minnesota	9–2–0	San Francisco	7–4–0	Washington*	7–3–1
12	Dallas	9–3–0	Minnesota	9–3–0	Los Angeles	7–4–1	Washington	8–3–1
13	Dallas	10–3–0	Minnesota	10–3–0	San Francisco	8–5–0	Washington	9–3–1
14	Dallas	11–3–0	Minnesota	11–3–0	San Francisco	9–5–0	Washington	9–4–1