# 1972 Chicago Bears season

The 1972 Chicago Bears season was their 53rd regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 4–9–1 record, another below .500 showing, in head coach Abe Gibron's first season. But they had good success on the QB Rushing. QB Bobby Douglass ran on 143 carries for 968 yards and 8 Touchdowns. This would be later broken by Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick who became the first and only Quarterback to run over 1,000 yards in the NFL. But it would be held as a franchise record until Justin Fields broke that in the 2022 season. Only three other QBs have run for over 1,000 yards in one season, but they were all in the CFL.

## NFL Draft

1972 Chicago Bears draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Lionel Antoine | Offensive tackle | Southern Illinois | traded from the New York Giants |
| 1 | 12 | Craig Clemons | Safety | Iowa | |
| 3 | 62 | Johnny Musso | Running back | Alabama | |
| 5 | 117 | Bob Parsons | Tight end | Penn State | |
| 6 | 133 | Bob Pifferini | Linebacker | UCLA | |
| 7 | 167 | Jim Fassel | Quarterback | Long Beach State | |
| 7 | 182 | Jim Osborne | Defensive tackle | Southern | |
| 8 | 192 | Ralph Wirtz | Wide receiver | North Dakota State | |
| 9 | 219 | Larry Horton | Defensive end | Iowa | |
| 10 | 247 | Jack Turnbull | Center | Oregon State | |
| 11 | 272 | Ed Wimberly | Defensive back | Jackson State | |
| 12 | 297 | Doug Neill | Running back | Texas A&M | |
| 13 | 322 | Jay Rood | Tackle | Southern (SD) | |
| 14 | 347 | Bob Brown | Wide receiver | Rice | |
| 15 | 377 | Roger Lawson | Running back | Western Michigan | |
| 16 | 402 | Bill McKinney | Linebacker | West Texas A&M | |
| 17 | 427 | LaVerne Dickinson | Defensive back | Southern | |
| Made roster ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | Atlanta Falcons | L 21–37 | 0–1 | Soldier Field | 55,701 |
| 2 | September 24 | Los Angeles Rams | T 13–13 | 0–1–1 | Soldier Field | 55,701 |
| 3 | October 1 | Detroit Lions | L 24–38 | 0–2–1 | Soldier Field | 55,701 |
| 4 | October 8 | at Green Bay Packers | L 17–20 | 0–3–1 | Lambeau Field | 56,263 |
| 5 | October 15 | at Cleveland Browns | W 17–0 | 1–3–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 72,339 |
| 6 | October 23 | Minnesota Vikings | W 13–10 | 2–3–1 | Soldier Field | 55,701 |
| 7 | October 29 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 27–10 | 3–3–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,464 |
| 8 | November 5 | at Detroit Lions | L 0–14 | 3–4–1 | Tiger Stadium | 54,418 |
| 9 | November 12 | Green Bay Packers | L 17–23 | 3–5–1 | Soldier Field | 55,701 |
| 10 | November 19 | San Francisco 49ers | L 21–34 | 3–6–1 | Soldier Field | 55,701 |
| 11 | November 26 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 3–13 | 3–7–1 | Soldier Field | 55,701 |
| 12 | December 3 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 10–23 | 3–8–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 49,784 |
| 13 | December 10 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 21–12 | 4–8–1 | Veterans Stadium | 65,720 |
| 14 | December 17 | at Oakland Raiders | L 21–28 | 4–9–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,711 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |