1972 Buffalo Bills season

1972 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Lou Saban
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1972 Buffalo Bills season was the 13th season for the club and its third in the National Football League. It was also their last season at War Memorial Stadium which has been their home field since 1960.

The season also marked the return of former Bills coach Lou Saban,^[1] 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,^[2] the second-most in the league.^[3]

Despite losing two starting offensive lineman – center Bruce Jarvis and guard Jim Reilly—in the season opener,^[4] O.J. Simpson still led the league in rushing with 1,251 yards.^[5]

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, 19th in the league.^[6] Furthermore, Buffalo's defense gave up 377 points (23.5 per game), the third-most in the NFL in 1972.^[7]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1972 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Walt Patulski	DE	Notre Dame
2	27	Reggie McKenzie[8]	G	Michigan
4	79	Randy Jackson	RB	Wichita State
5	105	Leon Garror	DB	Alcorn State
5	108	Bob Penchion	G	Alcorn State
8	183	Paul Gibson	WR	UTEP
10	235	Maurice Tyler	DB	Morgan State
13	313	Eddie Moss	RB	Southeast Missouri State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[9]

Personnel

Staff

1972 Buffalo Bills staff
	Front office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President and General Manager – Bob Lustig Vice President – Pat McGroder Head coaches Head Coach – Lou Saban Offensive coaches Receivers – Bob Shaw Offensive Line – Jim Ringo			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Jim Dooley Defensive Backfield – Bill Atkins Special teams coaches Special Teams – Ed Cavanaugh

Regular season

O.J. Simpson would have the first 1,000 rushing yard season of his career.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Stadium	Result	Record	Streak	Attendance
1	Sep 17	New York Jets	War Memorial Stadium	L 41–24	0–1	L1	46,206
2	Sep 24	San Francisco 49ers	War Memorial Stadium	W 27–20	1–1	W1	45,845
3	Oct 1	Baltimore Colts	War Memorial Stadium	L 17–0	1–2	L1	46,206
4	Oct 8	New England Patriots	War Memorial Stadium	W 38–14	2–2	W1	41,749
5	Oct 15	at Oakland Raiders	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum	L 28–16	2–3	L1	53,501
6	Oct 22	at Miami Dolphins	Miami Orange Bowl	L 24–23	2–4	L2	80,010
7	Oct 29	Pittsburgh Steelers	War Memorial Stadium	L 38–21	2–5	L3	45,882
8	Nov 5	Miami Dolphins	War Memorial Stadium	L 30–16	2–6	L4	46,206
9	Nov 12	at New York Jets	Shea Stadium	L 41–3	2–7	L5	62,853
10	Nov 19	at New England Patriots	Schaefer Stadium	W 27–24	3–7	W1	60,999
11	Nov 26	at Cleveland Browns	Cleveland Stadium	L 27–10	3–8	L1	70,104
12	Dec 3	at Baltimore Colts	Memorial Stadium	L 35–7	3–9	L2	55,390
13	Dec 10	Detroit Lions	War Memorial Stadium	T 21–21	3–9–1	T1	41,583
14	Dec 17	at Washington Redskins	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	W 24–17	4–9–1	W1	53,039

^[10]

Season summary

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total 49ers 3 7 3 7 20 • Bills 0 6 7 14 27 Date: September 24 Location: War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, NY Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 60°F; wind 12

Scoring summary Q1 SF Gossett 47 yard field goal SF 3–0 Q2 BUF Leypoldt 32 yard field goal Tie 3–3 Q2 BUF Leypoldt 22 yard field goal BUF 6–3 Q2 SF Kwalick 20 yard pass from Spurrier (Gossett kick) SF 10–6 Q3 SF Gossett 20 yard field goal SF 13–6 Q3 BUF White 17 yard pass from Shaw (Leypoldt kick) Tie 13–13 Q4 SF Schreiber 2 yard run (Gossett kick) SF 20–13 Q4 BUF Braxton 2 yard run (Leypoldt kick) Tie 20–20 Q4 BUF Braxton 1 yard run (Leypoldt kick) BUF 27–20

• O.J. Simpson 29 Rush, 138 Yds

^[11]

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 7 7 7 21 Bills 0 7 7 7 21 Date: December 10 Location: War Memorial Stadium • Buffalo, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 32°F • Wind 11

Scoring summary 2 DET Earl McCullouch 9 yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick) Lions 7–0 2 BUF J.D. Hill 58 yard pass from Dennis Shaw (John Leypoldt kick) Tie 7–7 3 BUF Bob Chandler 39 yard pass from Dennis Shaw (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 14–7 3 DET Nick Eddy 36 yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick) Tie 14–14 4 BUF Jan White 2 yard pass from Dennis Shaw (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 21–14 4 DET Ron Jessie 37 yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick) Tie 21–21

^[12]

Standings

AFC East
	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

References

1. Saban had coached the Bills from 1962–1965 before leaving for the University of Maryland
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com: O.J. Simpson
3. Behind the Giants' Ron Johnson, Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1972 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards
4. Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 234, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
5. It was Simpson's first of four rushing titles over the next five seasons.
6. Out of 26 teams, Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1972 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
7. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1972 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics
8. 1973 All-Pro Team
9. Buffalo Bills 1972 NFL Draft
10. 1972 Buffalo Bills Schedule
11. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-27.
12. Pro-Football-Reference.com

• Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Bills on jt-sw.com
• Bills Stats on jt-sw.com