1971 San Diego Chargers season

1971 San Diego Chargers season
Owner	Eugene V. Klein
General manager	Harland Svare
Head coach	Harland Svare
Home field	San Diego Stadium
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	3rd AFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1971 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's second season in the National Football League (NFL), and its 12th overall. The team improved on their 5–6–3 record in 1970. It was Harland Svare's first season as the team's head coach. After a 1-4 start, the Chargers would slightly improve, winning 3 of their next 4 games. However, they would lose 3 of their final 5 games en route to a 6-8 finish. The only bright spot was quarterback John Hadl who completed 233 passes out of 431 attempts for 3,075 yards and 21 touchdowns and won the NFL Man of the Year award as well as leading the league in both passing yards and touchdown passes.

Roster

1971 San Diego Chargers final roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Marty Domres 21 John Hadl Running backs 38 Leon Burns 20 Mike Garrett 23 Mike Montgomery 22 Dickie Post 47 Jeff Queen FB 36 Eddie Ray Wide receivers 28 Chuck Dicus 27 Gary Garrison 84 Walker Gillette 25 Jerry LeVias 32 Billy Parks Tight ends 88 Pettis Norman 89 Art Strozier		Offensive linemen 69 Ira Gordon G 58 Harris Jones G 55 Carl Mauck C 76 Terry Owens T 57 Jack Porter C 78 Walt Sweeney G 70 Russ Washington T 63 Doug Wilkerson G Defensive linemen 82 Steve DeLong DE 77 Ron East DT 86 Wes Grant DE 80 Kevin Hardy DT 75 Gary Nowak DT 79 Andy Rice DE 85 John Tanner DE/TE 73 Lee Thomas DE 87 Tom Williams DE		Linebackers 60 Bob Babich 59 Pete Barnes 56 Bob Bruggers 66 Rick Redman 53 Mel Rogers 81 Jeff Staggs 55 Ray White Defensive backs 40 Joe Beauchamp CB 35 Chuck Detwiler 44 Chris Fletcher FS 39 Jim Hill SS 24 Bob Howard CB 30 Bryant Salter SS 43 Jim Tolbert SS Special teams 29 Dennis Partee K/P		Reserve lists 65 Sam Gruneisen C (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 19	Kansas City Chiefs	W 21–14	1–0	San Diego Stadium	54,061	Recap
2	September 26	Oakland Raiders	L 0–34	1–1	San Diego Stadium	54,084	Recap
3	October 3	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–21	1–2	Three Rivers Stadium	44,339	Recap
4	October 10	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 10–31	1–3	Municipal Stadium	50,514	Recap
5	October 17	at Denver Broncos	L 16–20	1–4	Mile High Stadium	51,200	Recap
6	October 23	Buffalo Bills	W 20–3	2–4	San Diego Stadium	49,261	Recap
7	October 31	New York Jets	W 49–21	3–4	San Diego Stadium	44,786	Recap
8	November 7	at New York Giants	L 17–35	3–5	Yankee Stadium	62,905	Recap
9	November 15	St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–17	4–5	San Diego Stadium	46,486	Recap
10	November 21	at Oakland Raiders	L 33–34	4–6	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,681	Recap
11	November 28	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 0–31	4–7	Riverfront Stadium	59,580	Recap
12	December 5	Minnesota Vikings	W 30–14	5–7	San Diego Stadium	54,505	Recap
13	December 12	Denver Broncos	W 45–17	6–7	San Diego Stadium	44,347	Recap
14	December 19	at Houston Oilers	L 33–49	6–8	Houston Astrodome	35,959	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Kansas City Chiefs	10	3	1	.769	4–1–1	8–2–1	302	208	W3
Oakland Raiders	8	4	2	.667	4–1–1	7–3–1	344	278	W1
San Diego Chargers	6	8	0	.429	2–4	4–7	311	341	L1
Denver Broncos	4	9	1	.308	1–5	3–6–1	203	275	L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.