1972 Oakland Raiders season

The 1972 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 13th season. The Raiders won the AFC West for the second time in three seasons. They lost in the AFC Division Round to the Pittsburgh Steelers 13–7 when Franco Harris scored the game-winning touchdown on the Immaculate Reception. The Raiders still dispute that this was an illegal touchdown.

1972 Oakland Raiders season
Owner	Al Davis
General manager	Al Davis
Head coach	John Madden
Home stadium	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoffs	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 7–13
← 1971 Raiders seasons 1973 →

This was the only season that the Raiders made the playoffs between 1967 and 1977 that the Raiders failed to advance to the AFL or AFC Championship Game.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1972 NFL draft

1972 Oakland Raiders draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	21	Mike Siani	Wide receiver	Villanova
2	33	Kelvin Korver	Offensive tackle	Northwestern (Iowa)
2	43	John Vella	Offensive tackle	Southern California
3	72	Mel Lunsford	Defensive tackle	Central State (Ohio)
4	98	Cliff Branch * †	Wide receiver	Colorado
4	100	Dave Dalby *	Center	UCLA
6	131	Dan Medlin	Defensive tackle	North Carolina State
7	173	Ray Jamieson	Running back	Memphis
7	176	Skip Thomas	Defensive back	Southern California
7	178	Dennis Pete	Defensive back	San Francisco State
8	202	Jackie Brown	Running back	Stanford
9	228	Dave Bigler	Running back	Morningside
10	254	Phillip Price	Defensive back	Idaho State
11	277	Joe Carroll	Linebacker	Pittsburgh
12	306	Kent Gaydos	Tight end	Florida State
13	333	Ted Covington	Wide receiver	San Fernando Valley
14	358	Dennis Cambal	Running back	William & Mary
15	365	Charles Hester	Running back	Central State (Ohio)
15	384	Dave Snesrud	Linebacker	Hamline
16	410	Willie Wright	Tight end	North Carolina A&T State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Roster

1972 Oakland Raiders roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 George Blanda K  3 Daryle Lamonica 12 Ken Stabler Running backs (RB) 40 Pete Banaszak 28 Clarence Davis 44 Marv Hubbard 47 Jeff Queen 23 Charlie Smith Wide receivers (WR) 25 Fred Biletnikoff 21 Cliff Branch 49 Mike Siani Tight ends (TE) 87 Raymond Chester 88 Bob Moore

Offensive linemen (OL) 76 Bob Brown T 64 George Buehler G 50 Dave Dalby C 00 Jim Otto C 65 Paul Seiler G 78 Art Shell T 63 Gene Upshaw G 75 John Vella T Defensive linemen (DL) 84 Tony Cline DE 82 Horace Jones DE 74 Tom Keating DT 85 Carleton Oats DT 60 Otis Sistrunk DT 80 Art Thoms DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Dan Conners MLB 51 Joe Carroll MLB 86 Gerald Irons OLB 34 Gus Otto OLB 45 Greg Slough OLB 41 Phil Villapiano OLB Defensive backs (DB) 43 George Atkinson SS 24 Willie Brown CB 31 Jack Tatum FS 26 Skip Thomas CB/S 20 Jimmy Warren CB 48 Nemiah Wilson CB Special teams (ST)  4 Jerry DePoyster P

Practice squad 30 Dennis Cambal TE 10 Al Denson WR 18 Kent Gaydos TE 56 Warren Koegel C 71 Kelvin Korver DT 79 Dan Medlin G 15 Don Milan QB Reserve 83 Ben Davidson DE (IR) 32 Don Highsmith RB (IR) 42 Tommy Maxwell S (IR) 54 Terry Mendenhall LB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 17	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 28–34	0–1	Three Rivers Stadium	50,141
2	September 24	at Green Bay Packers	W 20–14	1–1	Lambeau Field	56,263
3	October 1	San Diego Chargers	T 17–17	1–1–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	53,455
4	October 9	at Houston Oilers	W 34–0	2–1–1	Houston Astrodome	51,378
5	October 15	Buffalo Bills	W 28–16	3–1–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	53,501
6	October 22	Denver Broncos	L 23–30	3–2–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	53,551
7	October 29	Los Angeles Rams	W 45–17	4–2–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,660
8	November 5	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 14–27	4–3–1	Arrowhead Stadium	82,094
9	November 12	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–14	5–3–1	Riverfront Stadium	59,485
10	November 19	at Denver Broncos	W 37–20	6–3–1	Mile High Stadium	51,656
11	November 26	Kansas City Chiefs	W 26–3	7–3–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,801
12	December 3	at San Diego Chargers	W 21–19	8–3–1	San Diego Stadium	54,611
13	December 11	New York Jets	W 24–16	9–3–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,843
14	December 17	Chicago Bears	W 28–21	10–3–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,711
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	7	0	21	28
• Steelers	14	3	10	7	34

• Date: September 17
• Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), wind 13 mph (21 km/h)

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Week 2

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Raiders	10	0	10	0	20
Packers	7	7	0	0	14

• Date: September 24
• Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Game start: 1:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), wind 10 mph (16 km/h)
• Referee: Norm Schachter
• Television network: NBC

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Week 3

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Chargers	0	7	0	10	17
Raiders	14	0	0	3	17

• Date: October 1
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), wind 10 mph (16 km/h)

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Week 4

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Raiders	3	7	3	21	34
Oilers	0	0	0	0	0

• Date: October 9
• Location: Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas
• Game start: 8:00 p.m.
• Game weather: indoors (dome)
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith

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Week 5

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	3	10	0	3	16
• Raiders	0	0	7	21	28

• Date: October 15
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), wind 13 mph (21 km/h)

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Week 6

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Broncos	7	17	0	6	30
Raiders	0	3	10	10	23

• Date: October 22
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C), wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h)

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Week 7

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	3	7	7	17
• Raiders	28	7	0	10	45

• Date: October 29
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C), wind 13 mph (21 km/h)

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Week 8

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	0	7	7	14
• Chiefs	0	17	3	7	27

• Date: November 5
• Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
• Game start: 3:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h)

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Week 9

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Raiders	0	3	7	10	20
Bengals	0	7	0	7	14

• Date: November 12
• Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C), wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)

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Week 10

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Raiders	7	13	3	14	37
Broncos	10	3	0	7	20

• Date: November 19
• Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
• Game start: 12:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 30 °F (−1 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h)

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Week 11

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	0	3	0	0	3
• Raiders	10	13	0	3	26

• Date: November 26
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), wind 8 mph (13 km/h)

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Week 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Raiders	7	7	0	7	21
Chargers	0	10	6	3	19

• Date: December 3
• Location: San Diego Stadium, San Diego, California
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.

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Week 13

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets	7	6	0	3	16
• Raiders	3	7	7	7	24

• Date: December 11
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Game start: 6:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h)
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith

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Week 14

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	7	7	21
• Raiders	7	0	7	14	28

• Date: December 17
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)

Scoring summary

1		CHI	Ron Smith 94-yard kickoff return (Mac Percival kick)	CHI 7–0
1		OAK	Charlie Smith 14-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick)	Tie 7–7
3		OAK	Charlie Smith 19-yard pass from Ken Stabler (George Blanda kick)	OAK 14–7
3		CHI	Ross Brupbacher recovered fumble in end zone (Mac Percival kick)	Tie 14–14
4		OAK	Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (George Blanda kick)	OAK 21–14
4		OAK	Clarence Davis 45-yard run (George Blanda kick)	OAK 28–14
4		CHI	Don Shy 1 yard run (Mac Percival kick)	OAK 28–21

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Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders	10	3	1	.750	3–2–1	7–3–1	365	248	W6
Kansas City Chiefs	8	6	0	.571	4–2	6–5	287	254	W3
Denver Broncos	5	9	0	.357	2–4	4–6	325	350	W2
San Diego Chargers	4	9	1	.321	2–3–1	4–6–1	264	344	L3

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	December 23	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–13	0–1	Three Rivers Stadium	50,350

Game summaries

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	0	0	7	7
• Steelers	0	0	3	10	13

• Date: December 23
• Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C), wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy

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Awards and honors