| 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 | |
 | |
| |
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.
| 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 | |||||
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
|
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Reserve lists
Practice squad
| ||||||
| 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 | atBuffalo 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 | atPittsburgh Steelers | L 3–33 | 2—4 | Three Rivers Stadium | 46,081 | |
| 7 | October 29 | atNew 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 | atMiami 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 | atBaltimore 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 | atNew Orleans Saints | W 17–10 | 3—10 | Tulane Stadium | 64,889 | |
| 14 | December 17 | atDenver Broncos | L 21–45 | 3—11 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Week One: Cincinnati Bengals (0–0) at New England Patriots (0–0)
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengals | 7 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Patriots | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
atSchaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Week Three: Washington Redskins (2–0) at New England Patriots (1–1)
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redskins | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 23 |
| Patriots | 0 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
atSchaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| 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 |
|
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Franchise |
|
| Stadiums |
|
| Culture |
|
| Lore |
|
| Rivalries |
|
| Division championships (22) |
|
| Conference championships (11) |
|
| League championships (6) |
|
| Retired numbers |
|
| Media |
|
| Current league affiliations |
|
| Former league affiliation |
|
|
| |
|---|---|
Formerly the Boston Patriots (1960–1970) | |
| |
Bold indicates AFL ChampionshiporSuper Bowl victory |
 | This article relating to an American football season is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
