1972 New England Patriots season

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.

1972 New England Patriots season
Owner	Billy Sullivan
General manager	Upton Bell (fired) Peter Hadhazy (interim)
Head coach	John Mazur (fired) Phil Bengtson (interim)
Home field	Schaefer Stadium
Results
Record	3–11
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
AP All-Pros	None
Uniform

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. 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, and rivalled only by the 1991 Colts and 2009 Rams 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	Northwestern Oklahoma State
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 President – Billy Sullivan Assistant General Manager/Interim General Manager – Peter Hadhazy Director of Player Personnel – Bucko Kilroy Director of Pro Scouting – Rommie Loudd Head coaches Interim Head Coach – Phil Bengtson Offensive coaches Offensive Backs/Receivers – Sam Rutigliano Receivers – Jerry Stoltz Offensive Line – Bruce Beatty

Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Dick Evans Linebackers – John Meyer Defensive Backfield – Tom Fletcher Special teams coaches Special Teams – Burnie Miller

Roster

1972 New England Patriots roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Brian Dowling 11 Steve Goepel 16 Jim Plunkett Running backs (RB) 31 Josh Ashton 30 Carl Garrett 24 Bob Gladieux 40 Jack Maitland 35 Henry Matthews 36 John Tarver FB Wide receivers (WR) 84 Hubie Bryant 21 Tom Reynolds 33 Reggie Rucker 18 Randy Vataha Tight ends (TE) 82 Tom Beer 86 Bob Windsor

Offensive linemen (OL) 61 Sam Adams Sr. G 67 Bill Lenkaitis C 64 Mike Montler G 56 Jon Morris C 77 Tom Neville T 74 Bob Reynolds T 60 Len St. Jean G Defensive linemen (DL) 85 Julius Adams DE 88 Ron Berger DT 63 Rick Cash DT 76 Dave Rowe DT 70 Dennis Wirgowski DE

Linebackers (LB) 51 Ron Acks 49 Dick Blanchard 50 Jim Cheyunski 55 Ralph Cindrich 52 Ron Kadziel 66 Ed Weisacosky Defensive backs (DB) 25 Rickie Harris FS 23 George Hoey CB 29 Honor Jackson SS 44 John Outlaw CB 26 Clarence Scott SS Special teams 2 Pat Studstill P 12 Mike Walker K

Practice squad -- Steve Goepel QB 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)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	7	3	7	14	31
Patriots	0	7	0	0	7

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

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

Week Three: Washington Redskins (2–0) at New England Patriots (1–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	14	0	9	23
Patriots	0	7	10	7	24

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

Game information

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

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