1972 New England Patriots season

Season of National Football League team the New England Patriots November 2013 March 2026 New England Patriots 1972 3–11 5th AFC East John Mazur (fired)Phil Bengtson (interim) Upton Bell (fired)Peter Hadhazy (interim) Billy Sullivan Schaefer Stadium Did not qualify None None Image:AFC-1972-Uniform-NE.PNG Patriots seasons 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 eventual NFC champion 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, who went 2–11–1. New England went winless against AFC opponents. Out of their 11 losses, only two were by one possession, a 24–17 loss to Baltimore in the Patriots' first Monday Night Football appearance 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.All NFL teams sorted by point differential from 1961 to 1977 They lost eight of their fourteen games by three touchdowns or more, and their first two wins were by a single point. Jim Plunkett and reserve quarterbacks combined for only 10 touchdown passes with 28 interceptions, and were sacked 44 times. The defense allowed 5,250 total yards and ranked last in the league. 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,Pro Football Reference; Boston/New England Patriots Team Encyclopedia and rivalled only by the 1991 Colts and 2009 RamsPro Football Reference; Rams Franchise Encyclopedia as the weakest team by an established franchise since the NFL–AFL merger. The team drafted John Hannah before the next season to bolster the offensive line. Draft 1972 NFL draft 1972 New England Patriots 2 49 Tom Reynolds Wide receiver San Diego State yes no 3 73 Jim White Defensive end Colorado State no 5 124 Ron Bolton Defensive back Norfolk State yes 7 165 Clark Hoss Tight end Oregon State no 7 166 John Tarver Running back Colorado yes 8 195 Steve Beyrle Guard Kansas State no 9 220 Mike Kelson Offensive tackle Arkansas no 10 245 Mel Caraway Defensive back Northwestern Oklahoma State no 11 269 Rodney Cason Offensive tackle Angelo State no 12 296 Steve Booras Defensive end Mesa Jr. College no 13 325 Sam Elmore Defensive back Eastern Michigan no 14 350 Ed Rideout Wide receiver Boston College no 15 375 Joel Klime Tight end Pittsburgh no 16 400 Eric Dahl Defensive back San Jose State no 17 424 Dick Graham Wide receiver Oklahoma State no 17 425 Junior Ah You Linebacker Arizona State Played for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL between 1972 and 1981. no Staff 1972 Boston Patriots President – Billy Sullivan Assistant General Manager/Interim General Manager – Peter Hadhazy Director of Player Personnel – Bucko Kilroy Director of Pro Scouting – Rommie Loudd Head Coach – John Mazur Interim Head Coach – Phil Bengtson Offensive Coordinator – Sam Rutigliano Receivers – Jerry Stoltz Offensive Line – Bruce Beatty Defensive Coordinator – Dick Evans Linebackers – John Meyer Defensive Backfield – Tom Fletcher Special Teams – Burnie Miller Roster 1972 New England Patriots 14 Brian Dowling American football 16 Jim Plunkett 31 Josh Ashton y 30 Carl Garrett 40 Jack Maitland 35 Henry Matthews American football y 36 John Tarver y 21 Tom Reynolds American football y 33 Reggie Rucker 18 Randy Vataha 82 Tom Beer 86 Bob Windsor 61 Sam Adams Sr. G 65 Conway Hayman G 67 Bill Lenkaitis G/C 64 Mike Montler G/T 56 Jon Morris C 74 Bob Reynolds American football, born 1939 T 60 Len St. Jean G 85 Julius Adams DT/DE 88 Ron Berger DE 63 Rick Cash DT 62 Halvor Hagen DE 76 Dave Rowe American football DT 70 Dennis Wirgowski DE 51 Ron Acks OLB 49 Dick Blanchard y OLB 50 Jim Cheyunski MLB 55 Ralph Cindrich y MLB 52 Ron Kadziel OLB 66 Ed Weisacosky OLB 27 Ron Bolton American football y CB 41 Larry Carwell CB 25 Rickie Harris FS 23 George Hoey CB 29 Honor Jackson SS 28 Art McMahon SS 44 John Outlaw CB  2 Pat Studstill P 12 Mike Walker kicker y K 78 Willie Banks American football G IR -- Steve Booras DE IR 84 Hubie Bryant WR IR 19 Mel Caraway y no CB Left Squad  7 Charlie Gogolak K IR 77 Tom Neville offensive tackle T IR 58 Homer Post y no DT IR 54 Kenny Price American football LB IR 26 Clarence Scott defensive back S IR 87 Jim White defensive end y DE IR 11 Steve Goepel QB 45 Danny Hardaway y no RB 83 Charles McKee American football y WR 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, 1972 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 New England Patriots 1972 2; text-align:center collapsed Week One: Cincinnati Bengals (0–0) at New England Patriots (0–0) September 17, 1972 1:00 p.m. EST Bengals 7 3 7 14 Patriots 0 7 0 0 Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts 60,999 74 F C 1 or • Wind 19 mph km/h knot Box Score First quarter CIN – Essex Johnson 14-yard run (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 7–0. Second quarter CIN – Horst Muhlmann 38-yard field goal. Bengals 10–0. NE – Larry Carwell 45-yard blocked field goal return (Mike Walker kick). Bengals 10–7. Third quarter CIN – Jess Phillips 1-yard run (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 17–7. Drive: Fourth quarter CIN – Lemar Parrish 51-yard punt return (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 24–7. CIN – Bob Trumpy 11-yard pass from Ken Anderson (Horst Muhlmann kick). Bengals 31–7. Drive: Top passers CIN – Ken Anderson – 10/15, 102 yards, TD NE – Jim Plunkett – 9/17, 117 yards, 2 INT Top rushers CIN – Essex Johnson – 15 rushes, 82 yards, TD NE – Carl Garrett – 12 rushes, 34 yards Top receivers CIN – Chip Myers – 3 receptions, 42 yards NE – Carl Garrett – 1 reception, 35 yards Week 3 vs Redskins New England Patriots 1972 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Three: Washington Redskins (2–0) at New England Patriots (1–1) October 1, 1972 1:00 p.m. EST Redskins 0 14 0 9 Patriots 0 7 10 7 Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts 54 °F 1 or; wind 14 mph km/h knots John McDonough Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-May-04. First quarter No scoring plays Second quarter WAS – Charley Taylor 30 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 7–0. WAS – Charley Taylor 4 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 14–0. NE – Josh Ashton 2 yard run (Charlie Gogolak kick). Redskins 14–7. Third quarter NE – Reggie Rucker 11 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick). 14–14. NE – Charlie Gogolak 42 yard field goal. Patriots 17–14. Fourth quarter WAS – Jerry Smith 9 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 21–17. NE – Josh Ashton 24 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick). Patriots 24–21. WAS – Safety; Malinchak blocked punt through end zone. Patriots 24–23. Top passers WAS – Billy Kilmer – 14/30, 213 yards, 3 TD, INT NE – Jim Plunkett – 17/33, 255 yards, 2 TD Top rushers WAS – Larry Brown – 20 rushes, 113 yards NE – Josh Ashton – 23 rushes, 108 yards, 1 TD Top receivers WAS – Charley Taylor – 7 receptions, 134 yards, 2 TD NE – Reggie Rucker – 4 receptions, 69 yards, 1 TD Standings References New England Patriots Category:New England Patriots seasons New England Patriots Category:Sports competitions in Foxborough, Massachusetts