1971 New Orleans Saints season
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 19 , 1971 Los Angeles Rams W 24-20 70,915
2 September 26 , 1971 San Francisco 49ers L 38-20 81,595
3 October 3 , 1971 at Houston Oilers T 13-13 47,966
4 October 10 , 1971 at Chicago Bears L 35-14 55,049
5 October 17 , 1971 Dallas Cowboys W 24-14 83,088
6 October 24 , 1971 at Atlanta Falcons L 28-6 58,850
7 October 31 , 1971 at Washington Redskins L 24-14 53,041
8 November 7 , 1971 Oakland Raiders T 21-21 83,102
9 November 14 , 1971 at San Francisco 49ers W 26-20 45,138
10 November 21 , 1971 Minnesota Vikings L 23-10 83,130
11 November 28 , 1971 at Green Bay Packers W 29-21 48,035
12 December 5 , 1971 at Los Angeles Rams L 45-28 73,610
13 December 12 , 1971 Cleveland Browns L 21-17 72,794
14 December 19 , 1971 Atlanta Falcons L 24-20 75,954
Regular season -- Schedule
The 1971 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints' fifth season. The Saints drafted Archie Manning with their first round pick, the second overall. Manning led the Saints to their first opening day victory in franchise history, scoring a touchdown run on a rollout on the final play of a 24-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans' first over Los Angeles following four consecutive losses, including the Saints' inaugural game in 1967. Four weeks later, Manning engineered a 24-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, who would return to Tulane Stadium in January and win Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins.