# 1972 Cincinnati Bengals season

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

1972 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## 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

| 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 :
| viewtalkedit | 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