1971 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1971 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 52nd season the team was in the National Football League and twelfth in St. Louis. Led by first-year head coach Bob Hollway, the Cardinals failed to improve on their previous year's 8–5–1 record, winning only four games.^[1] They failed to reach the playoffs for the 23rd straight season, their previous appearance was in 1948 in the championship game.

1971 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner	Bidwill brothers (Charles, Jr. & Bill)
Head coach	Bob Hollway
Home stadium	Busch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	CB Roger Wehrli
← 1970 Cardinals seasons 1972 →

This was the last season the team was co-owned by Charles Bidwill, Jr.; he sold his share to his younger brother Bill in September 1972.^[2] The adopted sons of Charles and Violet Bidwill,^[3][4] the two had co-owned the team since their mother's death in January 1962.^[5]

Hired in February, Hollway was previously the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings under head coach Bud Grant.^[6][7]

Roster

St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks 10 Pete Beathard 17 Jim Hart 16 Tim Van Galder Running backs 39 Cid Edwards 23 Johnny Roland 27 Roy Shivers 35 Larry Stegent 30 Paul White Wide receivers 44 John Gilliam 85 Mel Gray 88 Fred Hyatt 80 Dave Williams Tight ends 83 Jim McFarland 81 Jackie Smith		Offensive linemen 72 Dan Dierdorf G 76 Vern Emerson T 55 Irv Goode G 65 Chuck Hutchison G 73 Ernie McMillan T 50 Wayne Mulligan C 74 Bob Reynolds T 63 Clyde Williams G Defensive linemen 68 Paul Dickson DT 70 Rolf Krueger DT/DE 75 Bob Rowe DT 82 Joe Schmiesing DE/DT 79 Chuck Walker DE 78 Ron Yankowski DE		Linebackers 60 Jim Hargrove MLB 56 Mike McGill OLB 58 Terry Miller OLB 52 Rick Ogle OLB 53 Jamie Rivers MLB 67 Larry Stallings OLB Defensive backs 37 Jeff Allen CB 20 Miller Farr CB 49 Dale Hackbart SS 45 George Hoey CB 46 Tom Longo FS 28 Ted Provost SS 21 Jerry Stovall SS 43 Norm Thompson CB 22 Roger Wehrli CB/FS 33 Larry Willingham FS/SS  8 Larry Wilson FS/SS Special teams 25 Jim Bakken K 26 Chuck Latourette P		Reserve lists 54 Tom Banks C (IR) 24 Terry Brown S (IR) 74 Fred Heron DT (IR) 36 MacArthur Lane RB (Susp.) 18 David Olivo QB (IR) 69 Rocky Wallace LB (IR) Practice squad rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 19	Washington Redskins	L 17–24	0–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	46,805
2	September 27	New York Jets	W 17–10	1–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,358
3	October 3	New York Giants	L 20–21	1–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,571
4	October 10	at Atlanta Falcons	W 26–9	2–2	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
5	October 17	at Washington Redskins	L 0–20	2–3	RFK Stadium	53,041
6	October 24	San Francisco 49ers	L 14–26	2–4	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,419
7	October 31	at Buffalo Bills	W 28–23	3–4	War Memorial Stadium	40,040
8	November 7	Dallas Cowboys	L 13–16	3–5	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,486
9	November 15	at San Diego Chargers	L 17–20	3–6	San Diego Stadium	46,486
10	November 21	Philadelphia Eagles	L 20–37	3–7	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,658
11	November 28	at New York Giants	W 24–7	4–7	Yankee Stadium	62,878
12	December 5	Green Bay Packers	T 16–16	4–7–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,443
13	December 12	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–19	4–8–1	Veterans Stadium	65,358
14	December 18	at Dallas Cowboys	L 12–31	4–9–1	Texas Stadium	66,672
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	11	3	0	.786	7–1	8–3	406	222	W7
Washington Redskins	9	4	1	.692	6–1–1	8–2–1	276	190	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	6	7	1	.462	4–3–1	5–5–1	221	302	W3
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.308	1–7	2–8–1	231	279	L2
New York Giants	4	10	0	.286	1–7	3–8	228	362	L5

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