1972 Cincinnati Bengals season

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 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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1972 Cincinnati Bengals draft
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 18 Paul Robinson 40 Pete Watson 33 Fred Willis 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 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 (DL) 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 (LB) 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 (DB) 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				Practice squad -- Dan Kratzer WR Reserve 12 Greg Cook QB (IR) 29 Sandy Durko S (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

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

References

^ "1972 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
^ "1972 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

External links

1972 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com

[1] "1972 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2014.

[2] "1972 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

[1]

[2]

v t e Cincinnati Bengals
Founded in 1968 Based and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio
Franchise	Franchise History Seasons Coaches All-time roster First-round draft picks Draft history Starting quarterbacks
Stadiums	Nippert Stadium Riverfront Stadium Paycor Stadium
Culture	Paul Brown Sam Wyche Ickey Shuffle "Welcome to the Jungle" Ben–Gals Laura Vikmanis Bengalized
Lore	Freezer Bowl
Rivalries	Baltimore Ravens Cleveland Browns Kansas City Chiefs Pittsburgh Steelers
Division championships (11)	1970 1973 1981 1988 1990 2005 2009 2013 2015 2021 2022
Conference championships (3)	1981 1988 2021
Retired numbers	54
Ring of Honor	Anthony Muñoz Paul Brown Ken Anderson Ken Riley Willie Anderson Isaac Curtis Boomer Esiason Chad Johnson
Media	Broadcasters Radio network Flagships: WCKY WEBN WLW Television: WKRC-TV
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: North Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1968–1969)

v t e Cincinnati Bengals seasons
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance