# 1972 New Orleans Saints season

The 1972 New Orleans Saints season was the team's sixth as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They failed to improve on their previous season’s output of 4–8–2, winning only two games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
The Saints suffered through their second 2–11–1 season in three years, tying with the Philadelphia Eagles for the second worst record in the league, only surpassed by the Houston Oilers’ 1–13. Coincidentally, one of the Saints' two wins came at the Eagles' expense. It would be their worst until they went 2–12 in 1975.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1972 New Orleans Saints draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Royce Smith | Guard | Georgia | |
| 2 | 31 | Willie Hall | Linebacker | USC | |
| 3 | 60 | Bob Kuziel | Center | Pittsburgh | |
| 3 | 74 | Tom Myers * | Safety | Syracuse | |
| 4 | 85 | Mike Crangle | Defensive end | Tennessee-Martin | |
| 4 | 99 | Joe Federspiel | Linebacker | Kentucky | |
| 4 | 101 | Mike Coleman | Defensive end | Knoxville College | |
| 5 | 111 | Bill Butler | Running back | Kansas State | |
| 5 | 112 | Carl Johnson | Guard | Nebraska | Played offensive tackle in college |
| 5 | 126 | Bob Davies | Defensive back | South Carolina | |
| 6 | 137 | Wayne Dorton | Guard | Arkansas State | |
| 6 | 150 | Curt Watson | Running back | Tennessee | |
| 7 | 164 | Ernie Jackson | Defensive back | Duke | |
| 8 | 189 | Ron Vinson | Wide receiver | Abilene Christian | |
| 9 | 216 | Kent Branstetter | Defensive tackle | Houston | |
| 10 | 241 | Andy Kupp | Guard | Idaho | |
| 11 | 267 | Paul Dongieux | Linebacker | Mississippi | |
| 12 | 293 | Steve Lockhart | Tight end | Arkansas State | |
| 13 | 320 | Cephus Weatherspoon | Wide receiver | Fort Lewis | |
| 14 | 345 | Steve Barrios | Wide receiver | Tulane | |
| 15 | 372 | Rusty Lachaussee | Quarterback | Tulane | |
| 16 | 397 | Joe Balthrop | Guard | Tennessee | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 14–34 | 0–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 66,303 |
| 2 | September 25 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 17–20 | 0–2 | Tulane Stadium | 70,793 |
| 3 | October 1 | San Francisco 49ers | L 2–37 | 0–3 | Tulane Stadium | 69,840 |
| 4 | October 8 | at New York Giants | L 21–45 | 0–4 | Yankee Stadium | 62,507 |
| 5 | October 15 | Atlanta Falcons | L 14–21 | 0–5 | Tulane Stadium | 66,294 |
| 6 | October 22 | at San Francisco 49ers | T 20–20 | 0–5–1 | Candlestick Park | 59,167 |
| 7 | October 29 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 21–3 | 1–5–1 | Tulane Stadium | 65,664 |
| 8 | November 5 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 6–37 | 1–6–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 49,784 |
| 9 | November 12 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 20–36 | 1–7–1 | Atlanta Stadium | 58,850 |
| 10 | November 19 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–27 | 1–8–1 | Tiger Stadium | 53,752 |
| 11 | November 26 | Los Angeles Rams | W 19–16 | 2–8–1 | Tulane Stadium | 64,325 |
| 12 | December 3 | at New York Jets | L 17–18 | 2–9–1 | Shea Stadium | 62,496 |
| 13 | December 10 | New England Patriots | L 10–17 | 2–10–1 | Tulane Stadium | 64,889 |
| 14 | December 17 | Green Bay Packers | L 20–30 | 2–11–1 | Tulane Stadium | 65,881 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |

## Notable events

* In their third game against the 49ers, the Saints became the thirty-second NFL team, and the first since the 1970 Cleveland Browns, to score only a safety in a full game. This was done again in the last week of the regular season by the San Diego Chargers, but after that was done only by the 1980 Buffalo Bills, the 1983 Minnesota Vikings, the 1993 Cincinnati Bengals, 2011 Atlanta Falcons (playoffs), and 2013 Jacksonville Jaguars.
* The regular season finale vs. Green Bay kicked off at noon CST instead of the usual 1 p.m. Noon would become the kickoff time for all home games in the early window beginning in 1982.