1971 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

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

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.

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 Running backs 39 Cid Edwards 36 MacArthur Lane 23 Johnny Roland 27 Roy Shivers 35 Larry Stegent 30 Paul White Wide receivers 85 Mel Gray 44 John Gilliam 88 Fred Hyatt 80 Dave Williams Tight ends 83 Jim McFarland 81 Jackie Smith		Offensive linemen 72 Dan Dierdorf T 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 70 Rolf Krueger DT 75 Bob Rowe DT 82 Joe Schmiesing DE 79 Chuck Walker DE 78 Ron Yankowski DE		Linebackers 60 Jim Hargrove 56 Mike McGill 58 Terry Miller 53 Jamie Rivers 34 Rocky Rosema 67 Larry Stallings Defensive backs 20 Miller Farr 49 Dale Hackbart 45 George Hoey 46 Tom Longo 21 Jerry Stovall 43 Norm Thompson CB 22 Roger Wehrli 33 Larry Willingham 8 Larry Wilson Special teams 25 Jim Bakken K 26 Chuck Latourette P		Reserve lists 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.

References

1. 1971 St. Louis Cardinals
2. "Bill Bidwill sole owner of Cards". Southeast Missorian. Cape Girardeau. Associated Press. September 12, 1972. p. 8.
3. Howard, Robert (February 2, 1963). "Court rules for Bidwills". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 4.
4. "High court rules in favor of sons". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. February 2, 1963. p. 2, part 2.
5. "Mrs. Wolfner, Cardinals' owner, dies". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. January 30, 1962. p. 1, part 3.
6. "Bob Hollway to head Cardinals". Southeast Missourian. (Cape Girardeau). Associated Press. February 13, 1971. p. 4.
7. "Cards hire Viking aide". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. February 13, 1971. p. 6.