# 1972 Buffalo Bills season

The 1972 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise’s third season in the National Football League, and thirteenth overall. It was also their last season at War Memorial Stadium which had been their home field since the franchise started in 1960.

## Season summary

The 1972 season marked the return of former Bills coach Lou Saban, who had previously led the team to two AFL Championships. Saban had a new offensive philosophy for Buffalo in 1972. In his first three seasons, former number one overall pick O. J. Simpson had only carried the ball an average of 161 times per season. Saban rushed Simpson 292 times in 1972, the second-most in the league behind the Giants' Ron Johnson.
Despite losing two starting offensive lineman – center Bruce Jarvis and guard Jim Reilly—in the season opener, O. J. Simpson still led the league in rushing with 1,251 yards. This would be was Simpson’s first of four rushing titles over the next five seasons.
Although the Bills had a potent, yard-gaining rushing attack, they could not put enough points on the scoreboard, scoring only 257 points (18.3 per game) all season, ninteeenth in the league out of 26 teams. Furthermore, Buffalo's defense gave up 377 points (23.5 per game), the third-most in the NFL in 1972. As of 2023, this season was the most recent in which the Bills recorded a tie game.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1972 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 1 | Walt Patulski | DE | Notre Dame |
| 2 | 27 | Reggie McKenzie | G | Michigan |
| 4 | 79 | Randy Jackson | RB | Wichita State |
| 5 | 105 | Leon Garror | DB | Alcorn A&M |
| 5 | 108 | Bob Penchion | G | Alcorn A&M |
| 8 | 183 | Paul Gibson | WR | UTEP |
| 10 | 235 | Maurice Tyler | DB | Morgan State |
| 13 | 313 | Eddie Moss | RB | Southeast Missouri State |
| 14 | 340 | Karl Salb | DT | Kansas |
| 16 | 391 | Brian Linstrom | QB | Arizona |
| 17 | 417 | John Shelley | DB | Oklahoma |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### Roster

* October 16 – Haven Moses (WR) was traded to Denver for Dwight Harrison (WR).

## Regular season

In his fourth NFL season, running back O. J. Simpson gained over 1,000 yards rushing for the first time. The 23–24 loss on October 22 was the closest margin of victory for the Dolphins in the NFL’s only perfect season.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 17 | New York Jets | L 24–41 | 0–1 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 24 | San Francisco 49ers | W 27–20 | 1–1 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | October 1 | Baltimore Colts | L 0–17 | 1–2 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | October 8 | New England Patriots | W 38–14 | 2–2 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 15 | at Oakland Raiders | L 16–28 | 2–3 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| 6 | October 22 | at Miami Dolphins | L 23–24 | 2–4 | Orange Bowl | Recap |
| 7 | October 29 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 21–38 | 2–5 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | November 5 | Miami Dolphins | L 16–30 | 2–6 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | November 12 | at New York Jets | L 3–41 | 2–7 | Shea Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 19 | at New England Patriots | W 27–24 | 3–7 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 26 | at Cleveland Browns | L 10–27 | 3–8 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | December 3 | at Baltimore Colts | L 7–35 | 3–9 | Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 10 | Detroit Lions | T 21–21 | 3–9–1 | War Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 17 | at Washington Redskins | W 24–17 | 4–9–1 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Season summary
#### Week 2: vs. San Francisco 49ers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| Bills | 0 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 27 |
at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
* Date: September 24
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 60 °F (15.6 °C); wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
Game information :
First Quarter
SF — Gossett 47-yard field goal. 49ers 3–0
Second Quarter
BUF — Leypoldt 32-yard field goal. 3–3
BUF — Leypoldt 22-yard field goal. Bills 6–3
SF — Kwalick 20-yard pass from Spurrier (Gossett kick). 49ers 10–6
Third Quarter
SF — Gossett 20-yard field goal. 49ers 13–6
BUF — White 17-yard pass from Shaw (Leypoldt kick). 13–13
Fourth Quarter
SF — Schreiber 2-yard rush (Gossett kick). 49ers 20–13
BUF — Braxton 2-yard rush (Leypoldt kick). 20–20
BUF — Braxton 1 yard rush (Leypoldt kick). Bills 27–20
Top passers
SF — Steve Spurrier, 10/25, 171 yards, TD, 2 INT
BUF — Dennis Shaw, 8/20, 105 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
SF — Vic Washington, 9 rushes, 18 yards
BUF — O. J. Simpson, 29 rushes, 138 yards
Top receivers
SF — Gene Washington, 3 receptions, 89 yards
BUF — J. D. Hill, 2 receptions, 33 yards :

#### Week 13: vs Detroit Lions

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
* Date: December 10
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 32 °F (0 °C), wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn), wind chill 24 °F (−4.4 °C)
* Game attendance: 41,583
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
DET – Earl McCullouch 9-yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick). Lions 7–0. Drive:
BUF – J.D. Hill 58-yard pass from Dennis Shaw (John Leypoldt kick). Tie 7–7. Drive:
Third quarter
BUF – Bob Chandler 39-yard pass from Dennis Shaw (John Leypoldt kick). Bills 14–7. Drive:
DET – Nick Eddy 36-yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick). Tie 14–14. Drive:
Fourth quarter
BUF – Jan White 2-yard pass from Dennis Shaw (John Leypoldt kick). Bills 21–14. Drive:
DET – Ron Jessie 37-yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick). Tie 21–21. Drive:
Top passers
DET – Greg Landry – 8/25, 150 yards, 3 TD
BUF – Dennis Shaw – 18/32, 239 yards, 3 TD
Top rushers
DET – Greg Landry – 9 rushes, 46 yards
BUF – O.J. Simpson – 27 rushes, 116 yards
Top receivers
DET – Ron Jessie – 2 receptions, 51 yards, TD
BUF – J.D. Hill – 8 receptions, 129 yards, 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 |