1972 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1972 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's seventh year in the National Football League (NFL). The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 7–6–1, finishing 7–7 and failing to reach the playoffs.^[1] Standing at 7–5 the Falcons traveled to San Francisco with the NFC West division title on the line. However, the Falcons were never in the game and saw their playoff hopes dim with a 20–0 shutout loss. Facing the Kansas City Chiefs in their final game of the season, Running Back Dave Hampton surpassed the 1,000-yard mark. However, a play later he was thrown for a six-yard loss to end the season with 995 yards, as the Falcons lost and finished 7–7.

1972 Atlanta Falcons season
Media guide for the 1972 Atlanta Falcons, featuring quarterback Bob Berry and star right tackle George Kunz.
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager	Norm Van Brocklin
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
Home stadium	Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	T George Kunz TE Jim R. Mitchell DE Claude Humphrey LB Tommy Nobis
← 1971 Falcons seasons 1973 →

Offseason

NFL draft

advantage in time of possession did not score any offensive points

Main article: 1972 NFL draft

1972 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	15	Clarence Ellis	Safety	Notre Dame
2	40	Pat Sullivan	Quarterback	Auburn
2	41	Steve Okoniewski	Defensive tackle	Montana
2	42	Rosie Manning	Defensive tackle	Northeastern State
3	67	Les Goodman	Running back	Yankton
Made roster

Personnel

Staff

1972 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General manager – Norm Van Brocklin Head coaches Head coach – Norm Van Brocklin Offensive coaches Offensive backfield – Billy Ray Barnes Receivers – Harry Gilmer Offensive line – Duane Putnam

Defensive coaches Head defensive – Marion Campbell Defensive line – Bob Griffin Defensive backfield – Fred Bruney

Roster

1972 Atlanta Falcons roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Bob Berry  7 Pat Sullivan Running backs (RB) 28 Willie Belton 43 Dave Hampton 25 Art Malone 23 Joe Profit 44 Eddie Ray Wide receivers (WR) 82 Ken Burrow 81 Wes Chesson 45 Ray Jarvis 80 Todd Snyder Tight ends (TE) 83 Larry Mialik 86 Jim Mitchell

Offensive linemen (OL) 68 Ted Fritsch C 65 Len Gotshalk T 56 Dennis Havig G 75 George Kunz T 64 Andy Maurer G 61 Bill Sandeman T 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen (DL) 88 Glen Condren DT 87 Claude Humphrey DE 69 Mike Lewis DT 66 John Small DT 79 Chuck Walker DT 71 John Zook DE

Linebackers (LB) 54 Grady Allen OLB 51 Duane Benson OLB 50 Greg Brezina OLB 58 Don Hansen OLB 60 Tommy Nobis MLB Defensive backs (DB) 34 Ray Brown SS 32 Ray Easterling CB 29 Clarence Ellis FS 31 Willie Germany FS 27 Tom Hayes CB 35 Tony Plummer SS 36 Ken Reaves CB Special teams (ST) 37 Bill Bell K  6 John James P

Practice squad 59 Noel Jenke LB 72 Mel Lunsford DE 77 Rosie Manning DT 52 Ken Mitchell LB 11 Dick Shiner QB 89 Henry Sovio TE Reserve 55 Jim Miller G (IR)  5 Harmon Wages RB (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 17	at Chicago Bears	W 37–21	1–0	Soldier Field	55,701
2	September 24	at New England Patriots	L 20–21	1–1	Schaefer Stadium	60,999
3	October 1	Los Angeles Rams	W 31–3	2–1	Atlanta Stadium	57,122
4	October 8	Detroit Lions	L 23–26	2–2	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
5	October 15	at New Orleans Saints	W 21–14	3–2	Tulane Stadium	66,294
6	October 22	at Green Bay Packers	W 10–9	4–2	Milwaukee County Stadium	47,967
7	October 29	San Francisco 49ers	L 14–49	4–3	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
8	November 5	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–20	4–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	75,018
9	November 12	New Orleans Saints	W 36–20	5–4	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
10	November 20	at Washington Redskins	L 13–24	5–5	RFK Stadium	53,034
11	November 26	Denver Broncos	W 23–20	6–5	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
12	December 3	Houston Oilers	W 20–10	7–5	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
13	December 10	at San Francisco 49ers	L 0–20	7–6	Candlestick Park	61,214
14	December 17	Kansas City Chiefs	L 14–17	7–7	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers	8	5	1	.607	3–2–1	6–4–1	353	249	W2
Atlanta Falcons	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–5	269	274	L2
Los Angeles Rams	6	7	1	.464	4–2	5–5–1	291	286	L2
New Orleans Saints	2	11	1	.179	1–4–1	2–8–1	215	361	L3

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	10	4	0	.714	5–1	8–3	304	226	W3
Detroit Lions	8	5	1	.607	2–4	6–5	339	290	W1
Minnesota Vikings	7	7	0	.500	4–2	6–5	301	252	L2
Chicago Bears	4	9	1	.321	1–5	3–7–1	225	275	L1

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins	11	3	0	.786	7–1	10–1	336	218	L2
Dallas Cowboys	10	4	0	.714	6–2	7–4	319	240	L1
New York Giants	8	6	0	.571	5–3	7–4	331	247	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.321	1–6–1	3–7–1	193	303	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	2	11	1	.179	0–7–1	0–10–1	145	352	L5