1972 Cincinnati Bengals season

1972 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1971 Bengals seasons 1973 →

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 didn't 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

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Personnel[]

Staff[]

1972 Cincinnati Bengals staff

	Front office President – John Sawyer Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach/General Manager – Paul Brown Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Bill Walsh Offensive Backfield – Jack Donaldson Offensive Line – Bill Johnson			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backfield – Chuck Weber Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Linebackers – Vince Costello

Roster[]

1972 Cincinnati Bengals roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Ken Anderson 11 Virgil Carter Running backs 38 44 Doug Dressler 19 Essex Johnson 26 Reece Morrison 30 Jess Phillips 18 Paul Robinson 40 Pete Watson 33 Fred Willis Wide receivers 89 Drew Buie 18 Charlie Joiner 25 Chip Myers 17 Speedy Thomas Tight ends 88 Bruce Coslet 87 Mike Kelly 84 Bob Trumpy		Offensive linemen 50 Tom DeLeone C/G 63 Guy Dennis G 72 Howard Fest G 76 Vernon Holland T 54 Bob Johnson C 68 Steve Lawson G 73 Pat Matson G 71 Rufus Mayes T 75 Stan Walters T Defensive linemen 82 Royce Berry DE 70 Ron Carpenter DE 79 Steve Chomyszak DT 80 Ken Johnson DE/DT 74 Mike Reid DT 83 Sherman White DE		Linebackers 52 Doug Adams MLB 51 Ken Avery OLB 58 Al Beauchamp OLB 66 Bill Bergey MLB 56 Tim Kearney 55 Jim LeClair OLB 53 Bill Peterson OLB 60 Ron Pritchard Defensive backs 37 Tommy Casanova S 34 Neal Craig S 23 Bernard Jackson CB 24 Ernie Kellermann S 20 Lemar Parrish CB 27 Al Randolph DB 13 Ken Riley CB Special teams 15 Dave Lewis P 16 Horst Muhlmann K		Reserve lists 29 Sandy Durko S (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

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Regular season[]

Schedule[]

1972 Cincinnati Bengals schedule
Date	Opponent #	Result	Attendance	Stadium
September 17	at New England Patriots	W 31–7	60,999	Schaefer Stadium
September 24	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 15–10	54,292	Riverfront Stadium
October 1	at Cleveland Browns	L 6–27	81,564	Cleveland Stadium
October 8	Denver Broncos	W 21–10	55,812	Riverfront Stadium
October 15	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 23–16	79,068	Arrowhead Stadium
October 22	at Los Angeles Rams	L 12–15	73,385	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
October 29	Houston Oilers	W 30–7	59,409	Riverfront Stadium
November 5	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–40	50,350	Three Rivers Stadium
November 12	Oakland Raiders	L 14–20	59,485	Riverfront Stadium
November 19	Baltimore Colts	L 19–20	49,512	Riverfront Stadium
November 26	at Chicago Bears	W 13–3	55,701	Soldier Field
December 3	New York Giants	W 13–10	59,523	Riverfront Stadium
December 9	Cleveland Browns	L 24–27	59,524	Riverfront Stadium
December 17	at Houston Oilers	W 61–17	32,482	Astrodome

Season summary[]

Week 1 at Patriots[]

Standings[]

AFC Central
view talk	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[]

• DT Mike Reid
• WR Chip Myers

References[]

External links[]

• 1972 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com