1972 New England Patriots season
OwnerBilly Sullivan
General managerUpton Bell (fired)
Peter Hadhazy (interim)
Head coachJohn Mazur (fired)
Phil Bengtson (interim)
Home fieldSchaefer Stadium
Results
Record3–11
Division place5th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone
AP All-ProsNone
Uniform

The 1972 New England Patriots season was the franchise's third season in the National Football League and 13th overall. The Patriots ended the season with a record of three wins and eleven losses and finished last in the AFC East Division. The Patriots continued their period of futility as they slumped to another horrendous record, and missed the playoffs for the ninth straight season. After being embarrassed 31–7 in their home opener against Cincinnati, the Patriots would win their next two games against Atlanta and Washington. However, the Patriots would continue their mid-season misery, losing nine consecutive games to slide to 2–10 before winning their first (and only) road game against the New Orleans Saints. New England went winless against AFC opponents. Out of their 11 losses, only two were by one possession, a 24–17 loss to Baltimore and a 27–24 loss to Buffalo. The worst of these losses was a 52–0 thrashing by the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Miami Dolphins, who would go on to achieve the only undefeated season in NFL history. That Dolphins loss remains the worst loss and most points ever allowed in a game in Patriots history.

Although they won three games, the 1972 Patriots had the second-worst point differential (minus-254) of any team in a 14-game NFL season, ahead of only the expansion 1976 Buccaneers. The 1972 Patriots had the franchise’s worst point differential until the 1990 team was outscored by 265 points (181–446) in a 1–15 season.[1] They lost eight of their fourteen games by three touchdowns or more, and their first two wins were by a single point. Pro Football Reference argues that the 1970 and 1972 Patriots were, owing to the more difficult schedule faced by the 1990 team, the weakest Patriot teams ever,[2] and rivalled only by the 1991 Colts and 2009 Rams[3] as the weakest team by an established franchise since the NFL–AFL merger.

Draft

Main article: 1972 NFL Draft
1972 New England Patriots draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 49 Tom Reynolds  Wide receiver San Diego State
3 73 Jim White  Defensive end Colorado State
5 124 Ron Bolton  Defensive back Norfolk State
7 165 Clark Hoss  Tight end Oregon State
7 166 John Tarver  Running back Colorado
8 195 Steve Beyrle  Guard Kansas State
9 220 Mike Kelson  Offensive tackle Arkansas
10 245 Mel Caraway  Defensive back Northeast Oklahoma
11 269 Rodney Cason  Offensive tackle Angelo State
12 296 Steve Booras  Defensive end Mesa Jr. College
13 325 Sam Elmore  Defensive back Eastern Michigan
14 350 Ed Rideout  Wide receiver Boston College
15 375 Joel Klime  Tight end Pittsburgh
16 400 Eric Dahl  Defensive back San Jose State
17 424 Dick Graham  Wide receiver Oklahoma State
17 425 Junior Ah You  Linebacker Arizona State Played for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL between 1972 and 1981.
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1972 Boston Patriots staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive Backs/Receivers – Sam Rutigliano
  • Receivers – Jerry Stoltz
  • Offensive Line – Bruce Beatty
 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches


Roster

1972 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

(({reserve_lists))}


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 17 Cincinnati Bengals L 7–31 0—1 Schaefer Stadium 60,999
2 September 24 Atlanta Falcons W 21–20 1—1 Schaefer Stadium 60,999
3 October 1 Washington Redskins W 24–23 2—1 Schaefer Stadium 60,999
4 October 8 at Buffalo Bills L 14–38 2—2 War Memorial Stadium 41,749
5 October 15 New York Jets L 13–41 2—3 Schaefer Stadium 60,999
6 October 22 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–33 2—4 Three Rivers Stadium 46,081
7 October 29 at New York Jets L 10–34 2—5 Shea Stadium 62,867
8 November 6 Baltimore Colts L 17–24 2—6 Schaefer Stadium 60,999
9 November 12 at Miami Dolphins L 0–52 2—7 Miami Orange Bowl 80,010
10 November 19 Buffalo Bills L 24–27 2—8 Schaefer Stadium 60,999
11 November 26 at Baltimore Colts L 0–31 2—9 Memorial Stadium 54,907
12 December 3 Miami Dolphins L 21–37 2—10 Schaefer Stadium 60,999
13 December 10 at New Orleans Saints W 17–10 3—10 Tulane Stadium 64,889
14 December 17 at Denver Broncos L 21–45 3—11 Mile High Stadium 51,656
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 vs Bengals

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 or 23.3 °C • Wind 19 miles per hour (31 km/h; 17 kn)
  • Game attendance: 60,999
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 3 vs Redskins

Week Three: Washington Redskins (2–0) at New England Patriots (1–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 14 0923
Patriots 0 7 10724

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts

  • Date: October 1, 1972
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 54 °F or 12.2 °C; wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
  • Referee: John McDonough
  • [4]
Game information

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Miami Dolphins 14 0 0 1.000 8–0 11–0 385 171 W14
New York Jets 7 7 0 .500 6–2 6–5 367 324 L2
Baltimore Colts 5 9 0 .357 4–4 5–6 235 252 L2
Buffalo Bills 4 9 1 .321 2–6 2–9 257 377 W1
New England Patriots 3 11 0 .214 0–8 0–11 192 446 L1

References

  1. ^ All NFL teams sorted by point differential from 1961 to 1977
  2. ^ Pro Football Reference; Boston/New England Patriots Team Encyclopedia
  3. ^ Pro Football Reference; Rams Franchise Encyclopedia
  4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-May-04.
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