1972 Cincinnati Bengals season

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.

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

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 did not 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

Main article: 1972 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 (QB) 14 Ken Anderson 11 Virgil Carter Running backs (RB) 44 Doug Dressler 19 Essex Johnson 26 Reece Morrison 30 Jess Phillips 40 Pete Watson Wide receivers (WR) 89 Drew Buie 18 Charlie Joiner 25 Chip Myers 17 Speedy Thomas Tight ends (TE) 88 Bruce Coslet 87 Mike Kelly 84 Bob Trumpy

Offensive linemen (OL) 50 Tom DeLeone C/G 72 Howard Fest G 76 Vernon Holland T 54 Bob Johnson C 68 Steve Lawson G 73 Pat Matson G 75 Stan Walters T Defensive linemen (DL) 82 Royce Berry DE 70 Ron Carpenter DT 79 Steve Chomyszak DT 80 Ken Johnson DE/DT 74 Mike Reid DT 83 Sherman White DE

Linebackers (LB) 52 Doug Adams MLB 51 Ken Avery OLB 58 Al Beauchamp OLB 66 Bill Bergey MLB 56 Tim Kearney OLB 55 Jim LeClair OLB 53 Bill Peterson OLB 60 Ron Pritchard OLB Defensive backs (DB) 37 Tommy Casanova FS 34 Neal Craig SS 23 Bernard Jackson CB 24 Ernie Kellermann FS 20 Lemar Parrish CB 13 Ken Riley CB Special teams (ST) 15 Dave Lewis P 16 Horst Mühlmann K

Practice squad 63 Guy Dennis G 41 Dave Green K/P 78 Willie Jones DE -- Dan Kratzer WR Reserve 12 Greg Cook (IR) 29 Sandy Durko S (IR) 71 Rufus Mayes T (IR) Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 17	at New England Patriots	W 31–7	1–0	Schaefer Stadium	Recap
2	September 24	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 15–10	2–0	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
3	October 1	at Cleveland Browns	L 6–27	2–1	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
4	October 8	Denver Broncos	W 21–10	3–1	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
5	October 15	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 23–16	4–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
6	October 22	at Los Angeles Rams	L 12–15	4–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
7	October 29	Houston Oilers	W 30–7	5–2	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
8	November 5	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–40	5–3	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
9	November 12	Oakland Raiders	L 14–20	5–4	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
10	November 19	Baltimore Colts	L 19–20	5–5	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
11	November 26	at Chicago Bears	W 13–3	6–5	Soldier Field	Recap
12	December 3	New York Giants	W 13–10	7–5	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
13	December 9	Cleveland Browns	L 24–27	7–6	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
14	December 17	at Houston Oilers	W 61–17	8–6	Astrodome	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 at Patriots

See also: 1972 New England Patriots season

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 (23 °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. Drive: Second quarter CIN – Horst Muhlmann 38-yard field goal. Bengals 10–0. Drive: 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

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	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