# 1972 New England Patriots season

The 1972 New England Patriots season was the franchise's third season in the National Football League and 13th overall. The Patriots ended the season with a record of three wins and eleven losses and finished last in the AFC East Division. The Patriots continued their period of futility as they slumped to another horrendous record, and missed the playoffs for the ninth straight season. After being embarrassed 31–7 in their home opener against Cincinnati, the Patriots would win their next two games against Atlanta and Washington. However, the Patriots would continue their mid-season misery, losing nine consecutive games to slide to 2–10 before winning their first (and only) road game against the New Orleans Saints. New England went winless against AFC opponents. Out of their 11 losses, only two were by one possession, a 24–17 loss to Baltimore and a 27–24 loss to Buffalo. The worst of these losses was a 52–0 thrashing by the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Miami Dolphins, who would go on to achieve the only undefeated season in NFL history. That Dolphins loss remains the worst loss and most points ever allowed in a game in Patriots history.
Although they won three games, the 1972 Patriots had the second-worst point differential (minus-254) of any team in a 14-game NFL season, ahead of only the expansion 1976 Buccaneers. The 1972 Patriots had the franchise’s worst point differential until the 1990 team was outscored by 265 points (181–446) in a 1–15 season. They lost eight of their fourteen games by three touchdowns or more, and their first two wins were by a single point. Pro Football Reference argues that the 1970 and 1972 Patriots were, owing to the more difficult schedule faced by the 1990 team, the weakest Patriot teams ever, and rivalled only by the 1991 Colts and 2009 Rams as the weakest team by an established franchise since the NFL–AFL merger.

## Draft

1972 New England Patriots draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 2 | 49 | Tom Reynolds | Wide receiver | San Diego State | |
| 3 | 73 | Jim White | Defensive end | Colorado State | |
| 5 | 124 | Ron Bolton | Defensive back | Norfolk State | |
| 7 | 165 | Clark Hoss | Tight end | Oregon State | |
| 7 | 166 | John Tarver | Running back | Colorado | |
| 8 | 195 | Steve Beyrle | Guard | Kansas State | |
| 9 | 220 | Mike Kelson | Offensive tackle | Arkansas | |
| 10 | 245 | Mel Caraway | Defensive back | Northwestern Oklahoma State | |
| 11 | 269 | Rodney Cason | Offensive tackle | Angelo State | |
| 12 | 296 | Steve Booras | Defensive end | Mesa Jr. College | |
| 13 | 325 | Sam Elmore | Defensive back | Eastern Michigan | |
| 14 | 350 | Ed Rideout | Wide receiver | Boston College | |
| 15 | 375 | Joel Klime | Tight end | Pittsburgh | |
| 16 | 400 | Eric Dahl | Defensive back | San Jose State | |
| 17 | 424 | Dick Graham | Wide receiver | Oklahoma State | |
| 17 | 425 | Junior Ah You | Linebacker | Arizona State | Played for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL between 1972 and 1981. |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 7–31 | 0—1 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,999 |
| 2 | September 24 | Atlanta Falcons | W 21–20 | 1—1 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,999 |
| 3 | October 1 | Washington Redskins | W 24–23 | 2—1 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,999 |
| 4 | October 8 | at Buffalo Bills | L 14–38 | 2—2 | War Memorial Stadium | 41,749 |
| 5 | October 15 | New York Jets | L 13–41 | 2—3 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,999 |
| 6 | October 22 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 3–33 | 2—4 | Three Rivers Stadium | 46,081 |
| 7 | October 29 | at New York Jets | L 10–34 | 2—5 | Shea Stadium | 62,867 |
| 8 | November 6 | Baltimore Colts | L 17–24 | 2—6 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,999 |
| 9 | November 12 | at Miami Dolphins | L 0–52 | 2—7 | Miami Orange Bowl | 80,010 |
| 10 | November 19 | Buffalo Bills | L 24–27 | 2—8 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,999 |
| 11 | November 26 | at Baltimore Colts | L 0–31 | 2—9 | Memorial Stadium | 54,907 |
| 12 | December 3 | Miami Dolphins | L 21–37 | 2—10 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,999 |
| 13 | December 10 | at New Orleans Saints | W 17–10 | 3—10 | Tulane Stadium | 64,889 |
| 14 | December 17 | at Denver Broncos | L 21–45 | 3—11 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1 vs Bengals

| 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 or 23.3 °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.
Second quarter
CIN – Horst Muhlmann 38-yard field goal. Bengals 10–0.
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 :

#### Week 3 vs Redskins

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redskins | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 23 |
| Patriots | 0 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
at Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
* Date: October 1, 1972
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 54 °F or 12.2 °C; wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
* Referee: John McDonough
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring plays
Second quarter
WAS – Charley Taylor 30 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 7–0.
WAS – Charley Taylor 4 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 14–0.
NE – Josh Ashton 2 yard run (Charlie Gogolak kick). Redskins 14–7.
Third quarter
NE – Reggie Rucker 11 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick). 14–14.
NE – Charlie Gogolak 42 yard field goal. Patriots 17–14.
Fourth quarter
WAS – Jerry Smith 9 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick). Redskins 21–17.
NE – Josh Ashton 24 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick). Patriots 24–21.
WAS – Safety; Malinchak blocked punt through end zone. Patriots 24–23.
Top passers
WAS – Billy Kilmer – 14/30, 213 yards, 3 TD, INT
NE – Jim Plunkett – 17/33, 255 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
WAS – Larry Brown – 20 rushes, 113 yards
NE – Josh Ashton – 23 rushes, 108 yards, 1 TD
Top receivers
WAS – Charley Taylor – 7 receptions, 134 yards, 2 TD
NE – Reggie Rucker – 4 receptions, 69 yards, 1 TD :

## Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 8–0 | 11–0 | 385 | 171 | W14 |
| New York Jets | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 6–2 | 6–5 | 367 | 324 | L2 |
| Baltimore Colts | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 4–4 | 5–6 | 235 | 252 | L2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 2–6 | 2–9 | 257 | 377 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 0–8 | 0–11 | 192 | 446 | L1 |