1972 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coachPaul Brown
Home fieldRiverfront Stadium
Results
Record8–6
Division place3rd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1972 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Football League, and the 5th overall. Starting off the 1972 season winning five of seven games, the Bengals looked primed to win the division as they had in 1970. They lost a key divisional game at Pittsburgh, 40–17, followed by a pair of close losses at home against Oakland (20–14) and Baltimore 20–19. Head coach Paul Brown gave Ken Anderson the starting quarterback job, and the Bengals responded by winning three out of the last four games giving the Bengals an overall 8–6 season, but not good enough for the playoffs once again. Three times in their history, the Bengals have won without scoring a touchdown, including September 24, 1972, when kicker Horst Muhlmann's five field goals (41, 32, 20, 32, 34) fueled a 15–10 victory over Pittsburgh at Riverfront Stadium (later renamed Cinergy Field). Twice in Bengals history, two Cincinnati players have broken the 100-yard rushing mark in the same game, with the first coming October 29, 1972, when fullback Doug Dressler gained 110 yards and halfback Essex Johnson ran for 103 yards in a 30–7 win versus Houston. The latest-drafted player ever to make the Bengals roster for a regular-season game was K-P Dave Green of Ohio University. Green was the 418th selection in the 1972 draft, taken in the 17th round. He did not make the roster in 1972, and had a brief stint (no games played) with Houston in 1973 before being re-acquired by Cincinnati.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1972 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 2 Sherman White  Defensive end California
2 29 Tommy Casanova *  Defensive back LSU
3 54 Jim LeClair *  Linebacker North Dakota
4 81 Bernard Jackson  Defensive back Washington State
5 106 Tom DeLeone *  Center Ohio State
7 158 Steve Conley  Running back Kansas
8 185 Dan Kratzer  Wide receiver Missouri Valley
9 210 Stan Walters *  Offensive tackle Syracuse
10 237 Brian Foster  Defensive back Colorado
11 261 Kent Pederson  Tight end UC Santa Barbara
12 289 Rick Wegis  Defensive back Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
13 314 James Hamilton  Quarterback Arizona State
14 341 Steve Porter  Wide receiver Indiana
15 366 Hosea Minnieweather  Defensive tackle Jackson State
16 393 John Wiegman  Wide receiver Cal Poly Pomona
17 418 Dave Green  Punter Ohio
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1972 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

  • President – John Sawyer
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches



Roster

1972 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 17 at New England Patriots W 31–7 1–0 Schaefer Stadium Recap
2 September 24 Pittsburgh Steelers W 15–10 2–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap
3 October 1 at Cleveland Browns L 6–27 2–1 Cleveland Stadium Recap
4 October 8 Denver Broncos W 21–10 3–1 Riverfront Stadium Recap
5 October 15 at Kansas City Chiefs W 23–16 4–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
6 October 22 at Los Angeles Rams L 12–15 4–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap
7 October 29 Houston Oilers W 30–7 5–2 Riverfront Stadium Recap
8 November 5 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–40 5–3 Three Rivers Stadium Recap
9 November 12 Oakland Raiders L 14–20 5–4 Riverfront Stadium Recap
10 November 19 Baltimore Colts L 19–20 5–5 Riverfront Stadium Recap
11 November 26 at Chicago Bears W 13–3 6–5 Soldier Field Recap
12 December 3 New York Giants W 13–10 7–5 Riverfront Stadium Recap
13 December 9 Cleveland Browns L 24–27 7–6 Riverfront Stadium Recap
14 December 17 at Houston Oilers W 61–17 8–6 Astrodome Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 at Patriots

Week One: Cincinnati Bengals (0–0) at New England Patriots (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Bengals 7 3 71431
Patriots 0 7 007

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts

  • Date: September 17, 1972
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C) • Wind 19 miles per hour (31 km/h; 17 kn)
  • Game attendance: 60,999
  • Box Score
Game information


Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Pittsburgh Steelers 11 3 0 .786 4–2 9–2 343 175 W4
Cleveland Browns 10 4 0 .714 5–1 9–2 268 249 W2
Cincinnati Bengals 8 6 0 .571 3–3 6–5 299 229 W1
Houston Oilers 1 13 0 .071 0–6 1–10 164 380 L11

Team stats

1972 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS Bengals Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS 255 207
Rushing 112 98
Passing 122 92
Penalty 21 17
TOTAL NET YARDS 4317 3552
Avg Per Game 308.4 253.7
Total Plays 899 794
Avg. Per Play 4.8 4.5
NET YARDS RUSHING 1996 1815
Avg. Per Game 142.6 129.6
Total Rushes 491 406
NET YARDS PASSING 2321 1737
Avg. Per Game 165.8 124.1
Sacked Yards Lost 24–192 38–296
Gross Yards 2513 2033
Att. Completions 384–219 350–167
Completion Pct. 57.0 47.7
Intercepted 11 20
PUNTS-AVERAGE 66–42.1 84.42.4
PENALTIES-YARDS 76–738 69–581
FUMBLES-BALL LOST 28–18 30–9
TOUCHDOWNS 31 24
Rushing 16 11
Passing 10 11
Returns 5 2
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Tot
Bengals 36 62 99 102 299
Opponents 37 79 42 71 229

Team leaders

  • Passing: Ken Anderson (301 Att, 171 Comp, 1918 Yds, 56.8 Pct, 7 TD, 7 Int, 74.0 Rating)
  • Rushing: Essex Johnson (212 Att, 825 Yds, 3.9 Avg, 19 Long, 4 TD)
  • Receiving: Chip Myers (57 Rec, 792 Yds, 13.9 Avg, 42 Long, 3 TD)
  • Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 111 points (27 FG; 30 PAT)

Awards and records

Pro Bowl selections

References

  1. ↑ "1972 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  2. ↑ "1972 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
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