1971 Denver Broncos (NFL) |
| 4th place • American Football Conference • Western Division • 4-9-1 .308 |
| Head Coach: Lou Saban (2-6-1); Jerry Smith (2-3-0) |
| Joe Collier | Defensive Backs |
| Whitey Dovell | Special Teams/Tight Ends |
| Hunter Enis | Defensive Backs |
| Stan Jones | Defensive Line |
| Jerry Smith | Offensive Line |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/14/1971 | H | Washington Redskins | 13-17 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 42561 | |
| Sat | 8/21/1971 | N | Atlanta Falcons | 10-27 | L | Memphis, TN | Memorial Stadium | 22474 | |
| Sat | 8/28/1971 | N | San Francisco 49ers | 17-33 | L | Spokane, WA | Joe Albi Stadium | 33184 | |
| Sat | 9/4/1971 | H | Minnesota Vikings | 14-7 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 43000 | |
| Sun | 9/12/1971 | A | Chicago Bears | 17-33 | L | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | 47215 | |
| Sun | 9/19/1971 | H | Miami Dolphins | 10-10 | T | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51228 | |
| Sun | 9/26/1971 | A | Green Bay Packers | 13-34 | L | Milwaukee, WI | County Stadium | 47957 | |
| Sun | 10/3/1971 | H | Kansas City Chiefs | 3-16 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51200 | |
| Sun | 10/10/1971 | H | Oakland Raiders | 16-27 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51200 | |
| Sun | 10/17/1971 | H | San Diego Chargers | 20-16 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51200 | |
| Sun | 10/24/1971 | A | Cleveland Browns | 27-0 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 75674 | |
| Sun | 10/31/1971 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 16-17 | L | Philadelphia, PA | Veterans Stadium | 65358 | |
| Sun | 11/7/1971 | H | Detroit Lions | 20-24 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51200 | |
| Sun | 11/14/1971 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 10-24 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51200 | |
| Sun | 11/21/1971 | A | Kansas City Chiefs | 10-28 | L | Kansas City, MO | Municipal Stadium | 49945 | |
| Sun | 11/28/1971 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 22-10 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 39710 | |
| Sun | 12/5/1971 | H | Chicago Bears | 6-3 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51200 | |
| Sun | 12/12/1971 | A | San Diego Chargers | 17-45 | L | San Diego, CA | San Diego Stadium | 44347 | |
| Sun | 12/19/1971 | A | Oakland Raiders | 13-21 | L | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 56651 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Lyle Alzado | 77 | RDE | 6-3 | 254 | 22 | Yankton | 12 | 11 |
| Bobby Anderson | 11 | RB | 6-0 | 208 | 24 | Colorado | 13 | 13 |
| Jay Bachman | 65 | C | 6-3 | 247 | 26 | Cincinnati | 14 | 0 |
| Walt Barnes | 73 | RDE | 6-3 | 250 | 27 | Nebraska | 4 | 0 |
| Gordon Bowdell | 89 | WR | 6-2 | 203 | 23 | Michigan State | 2 | 0 |
| Sam Brunelli | 72 | LOG | 6-1 | 263 | 28 | Northern Colorado | 5 | 4 |
| Butch Byrd | 24 | RCB | 6-0 | 203 | 30 | Boston University | 14 | 0 |
| Carter Campbell | 79 | LDE | 6-3 | 234 | 24 | Treasure Valley JC; Weber State | 14 | 2 |
| Dave Costa | 63 | RDT-RDE | 6-2 | 257 | 30 | Northeastern Colorado JC; Utah | 14 | 14 |
| Ken Criter | 53 | MLB | 5-11 | 224 | 24 | Wisconsin | 11 | 0 |
| Mike Current | 74 | ROT | 6-4 | 267 | 26 | Ohio State | 14 | 14 |
| Joe Dawkins | 33 | RB | 6-2 | 223 | 23 | Los Angeles CC; Wisconsin | 8 | 0 |
| Tom Domres | 76 | LDT | 6-3 | 247 | 25 | Wisconsin | 5 | 5 |
| Fred Forsberg | 52 | MLB | 6-1 | 237 | 27 | Washington | 14 | 14 |
| Jack Gehrke | 40 | WR | 6-0 | 178 | 25 | Utah | 14 | 10 |
| George Goeddeke | 67 | C-LOG | 6-3 | 250 | 26 | Notre Dame | 12 | 12 |
| Cornell Gordon | 28 | LCB | 6-0 | 187 | 30 | North Carolina A&T State | 14 | 0 |
| Charlie Greer | 20 | LS | 6-0 | 203 | 25 | Colorado | 13 | 13 |
| Dwight Harrison | 82 | WR | 6-1 | 183 | 23 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 10 | 5 |
| Don Horn | 13 | QB | 6-2 | 195 | 26 | Washington State; Los Angeles Harbor JC; San Diego State | 9 | 9 |
| Jerry Inman | 62 | RDT-RDE | 6-3 | 255 | 31 | Boise JC; Oregon | 14 | 3 |
| Larron Jackson | 68 | LOG | 6-3 | 270 | 22 | Missouri | 14 | 9 |
| Rich Jackson | 87 | LDE | 6-2 | 258 | 30 | Southern University | 7 | 7 |
| Larry Kaminski | 59 | C | 6-2 | 244 | 26 | Purdue | 3 | 3 |
| Floyd Little | 44 | RB | 5-10 | 196 | 29 | Syracuse | 14 | 13 |
| Fran Lynch | 22 | RB | 6-1 | 203 | 26 | Oklahoma Military Academy JC; Hofstra | 10 | 1 |
| Tommy Lyons | 61 | ROG | 6-2 | 230 | 23 | Georgia | 11 | 1 |
| Billy Masters | 81 | TE | 6-5 | 236 | 27 | Louisiana State | 14 | 12 |
| Billy McKoy | 58 | LLB | 6-3 | 233 | 23 | Purdue | 14 | 0 |
| Leroy Mitchell | 41 | LCB | 6-2 | 192 | 27 | Texas Southern | 14 | 14 |
| Marv Montgomery | 78 | LOT | 6-6 | 255 | 23 | Los Angeles Valley JC; Southern California | 12 | 0 |
| Randy Montgomery | 21 | CB | 5-11 | 182 | 24 | Everett CC; Weber State | 3 | 0 |
| John Mosier | 85 | TE | 6-3 | 220 | 23 | Kansas | 11 | 1 |
| Chip Myrtle | 54 | LLB-RLB | 6-4 | 225 | 26 | Maryland | 14 | 14 |
| Dickie Post | 23 | RB | 5-9 | 190 | 26 | Houston | 6 | 1 |
| Steve Ramsey | 10 | QB | 6-2 | 210 | 23 | North Texas | 9 | 5 |
| George Saimes | 26 | RS | 5-10 | 188 | 30 | Michigan State | 13 | 13 |
| Mike Schnitker | 64 | ROG | 6-3 | 235 | 25 | Colorado | 13 | 13 |
| Roger Shoals | 75 | LOT | 6-4 | 256 | 33 | Maryland | 14 | 14 |
| Jerry Simmons | 80 | WR | 6-1 | 190 | 29 | Bethune-Cookman | 14 | 12 |
| Paul Smith | 70 | LDT-LDE | 6-3 | 254 | 26 | New Mexico | 14 | 14 |
| Billy Thompson | 36 | RCB | 6-1 | 200 | 25 | Maryland-Eastern Shore | 14 | 14 |
| Clem Turner | 35 | RB | 6-2 | 230 | 26 | Cincinnati | 14 | 0 |
| Jim Turner | 15 | K | 6-2 | 206 | 30 | Utah State | 14 | 0 |
| Olen Underwood | 50 | RLB-LLB | 6-1 | 224 | 29 | Texas | 14 | 4 |
| Billy Van Heusen | 42 | P-WR | 6-1 | 200 | 25 | Maryland | 14 | 0 |
| Dave Washington | 56 | RLB | 6-5 | 224 | 23 | Alcorn State | 14 | 10 |
| Jim Whalen | 83 | TE | 6-2 | 210 | 28 | Boston College | 3 | 2 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 12 | Marv Montgomery | T | Southern California |
| 2 | 35 | Dwight Harrison | WR | Texas A&M-Kingsville |
| 4 | 79 | Lyle Alzado | DE | Yankton |
| 4 | 87 | Cleo Johnson | DB | Alcorn State |
| 6 | 139 | Hal Phillips | DB | Michigan State |
| 7 | 165 | Doug Adams | LB | Ohio State |
| 8 | 187 | Tom Beard | C | Michigan State |
| 9 | 217 | John Handy | LB | Purdue |
| 10 | 243 | Carlis Harris | WR | Idaho State |
| 11 | 269 | Roger Roitsch | DT | Rice |
| 12 | 295 | Floyd Franks | WR | Mississippi |
| 13 | 321 | Craig Blackford | QB | Evansville |
| 14 | 350 | Tommy Lyons | C | Georgia |
| 15 | 373 | Larry James | RB | Norfolk State |
| 16 | 399 | Steve Thompson | DT | Minnesota |
| 17 | 425 | Jack Simcsak | K | Virginia Tech |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 39 | 62 | 32 | 70 | 203 |
| Opponents Totals | 54 | 74 | 86 | 61 | 275 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 217 | 102 | 105 | 10 | / % | / % | 67 | 781 | |
| Opponents Totals | 206 | 90 | 91 | 25 | / % | / % | 78 | 771 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Turner | 0 | 18 | 18 | 100.0 | 25 | 38 | 65.8 | 0 | 93 |
| Floyd Little | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Bobby Anderson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Dwight Harrison | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Fran Lynch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Fred Forsberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Billy Masters | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Dickie Post | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jerry Simmons | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Clem Turner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 18 | 18 | 18 | 100.0 | 25 | 38 | 65.8 | 1 | 203 |
| Opponents Totals | 32 | 32 | 32 | 100.0 | 17 | 35 | 48.6 | 0 | 275 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Turner | 25 | 38 | 65.8 | 3 | 49 | 8/9 | 3/5 | 8/11 | 6/12 | 0/1 |
| Team Totals | 25 | 38 | 65.8 | 3 | 49 | 8/9 | 3/5 | 8/11 | 6/12 | 0/1 |
| Opponents Totals | 17 | 35 | 48.6 | 5/5 | 6/9 | 4/7 | 2/11 | 0/2 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floyd Little | 284 | 1133 | 4.0 | 40 | 6 |
| Bobby Anderson | 139 | 533 | 3.8 | 36 | 3 |
| Fran Lynch | 26 | 162 | 6.2 | 23 | 0 |
| Billy Masters | 7 | 71 | 10.1 | 37 | 0 |
| Dickie Post | 18 | 44 | 2.4 | 16 | 0 |
| Clem Turner | 17 | 43 | 2.5 | 9 | 0 |
| Dwight Harrison | 5 | 36 | 7.2 | 16 | 0 |
| John Mosier | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 29 | 0 |
| Don Horn | 6 | 15 | 2.5 | 10 | 0 |
| Billy Van Heusen | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Jerry Simmons | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Steve Ramsey | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Jack Gehrke | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 512 | 2093 | 4.1 | 40 | 9 |
| Opponents Totals | 426 | 1834 | 4.3 | 54 | 11 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Horn | 173 | 89 | 51.4 | 70 | 1056 | 6.1 | 11.9 | 74 | 3 | 1.7 | 14 | 8.1 | 8 | 67 | 989 | 42.4 |
| Steve Ramsey | 178 | 84 | 47.2 | 81 | 1120 | 6.3 | 13.3 | 47 | 5 | 2.8 | 13 | 7.3 | 13 | 105 | 1015 | 46.6 |
| Bobby Anderson | 3 | 1 | 33.3 | 2 | 48 | 16.0 | 48.0 | 48 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 6 | 42 | 81.9 |
| Jack Gehrke | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | 1 | 19 | 9.5 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 83.3 |
| Floyd Little | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Billy Van Heusen | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Team Totals | 358 | 175 | 48.9 | 156 | 2243 | 6.3 | 12.8 | 74 | 8 | 2.2 | 27 | 7.5 | 22 | 178 | 2065 | 44.9 |
| Opponents Totals | 356 | 150 | 42.1 | 186 | 2420 | 6.8 | 16.1 | 77 | 18 | 5.1 | 20 | 5.6 | 44 | 435 | 1985 | 59.0 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Anderson | 37 | 353 | 9.5 | 31 | 1 |
| Billy Masters | 27 | 382 | 14.1 | 25 | 1 |
| Floyd Little | 26 | 255 | 9.8 | 74 | 0 |
| Jerry Simmons | 25 | 403 | 16.1 | 47 | 1 |
| Dwight Harrison | 19 | 265 | 13.9 | 43t | 2 |
| Jack Gehrke | 14 | 254 | 18.1 | 48 | 0 |
| Jim Whalen | 7 | 124 | 17.7 | 35 | 0 |
| Clem Turner | 7 | 65 | 9.3 | 17 | 1 |
| Dickie Post | 4 | 46 | 11.5 | 15 | 1 |
| John Mosier | 3 | 36 | 12.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Fran Lynch | 2 | 42 | 21.0 | 40t | 1 |
| Gordon Bowdell | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Billy Van Heusen | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Dave Washington | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Schnitker | 1 | -11 | -11.0 | -11 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 175 | 2243 | 12.8 | 74 | 8 |
| Opponents Totals | 150 | 2420 | 16.1 | 77 | 18 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Thompson | 5 | 83 | 16.6 | 42 | 0 |
| Fred Forsberg | 3 | 75 | 25.0 | 40t | 1 |
| Chip Myrtle | 3 | 64 | 21.3 | 30 | 0 |
| Charlie Greer | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 30 | 0 |
| Cornell Gordon | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 21 | 0 |
| Leroy Mitchell | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Washington | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Olen Underwood | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 20 | 288 | 14.4 | 42 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 27 | 432 | 16.0 | 69 | 2 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Van Heusen | 76 | 3176 | 41.8 | 62 | 1 | 468 | ||||
| Team Totals | 76 | 3176 | 41.8 | 62 | 1 | 468 | ||||
| Opponents Totals | 67 | 3061 | 45.7 | 73 | 0 | 320 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Thompson | 29 | 4 | 274 | 9.4 | 28 | 0 |
| Charlie Greer | 11 | 0 | 46 | 4.2 | 14 | 0 |
| Leroy Mitchell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 41 | 4 | 320 | 7.8 | 28 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 45 | 14 | 468 | 10.4 | 74 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Anderson | 8 | 187 | 23.4 | 33 | 0 | |
| Floyd Little | 7 | 199 | 28.4 | 48 | 0 | |
| Dickie Post | 5 | 116 | 23.2 | 37 | 0 | |
| Billy Thompson | 5 | 105 | 21.0 | 30 | 0 | |
| Clem Turner | 5 | 100 | 20.0 | 41 | 0 | |
| Ken Criter | 5 | 81 | 16.2 | 28 | 0 | |
| Randy Montgomery | 4 | 80 | 20.0 | 34 | 0 | |
| Joe Dawkins | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 18 | 0 | |
| Jay Bachman | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Fred Forsberg | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Fran Lynch | 0 | 19 | 19L | 0 | ||
| Team Totals | 44 | 960 | 21.8 | 48 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 43 | 1059 | 24.6 | 51 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Smith | 12.0 | |
| Lyle Alzado | 8.0 | |
| Dave Costa | 6.0 | |
| Fred Forsberg | 4.0 | |
| Rich Jackson | 3.5 | |
| Carter Campbell | 2.5 | |
| Tom Domres | 2.0 | |
| Jerry Inman | 2.0 | |
| Olen Underwood | 2.0 | |
| Chip Myrtle | 1.0 | |
| Dave Washington | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 44.0 | 435.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 22.0 | 178.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Anderson | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Dave Costa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Current | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Tom Domres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Gehrke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dwight Harrison | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Don Horn | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 0 | |
| Jerry Inman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rich Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Floyd Little | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Billy Masters | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Leroy Mitchell | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chip Myrtle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Ramsey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| George Saimes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Mike Schnitker | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Thompson | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | |
| Clem Turner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dave Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 25 | 13 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 24 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 36 | 20 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 0 |
| In Memoriam |
| NFL Boxscores |
| NFL Game Officials |
| NFL Training Camps |
| NFL Roster Limits |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Super Bowl |
| Privacy Policy |
| ©2006-2024 Pro Football Archives. All Rights Reserved. |
| Last Updated: August 21, 2024 |