1972 New England Patriots season

1972 New England Patriots season
Head coach	John Mazur (fired) Phil Bengtson (interim)
General manager	Upton Bell (fired) Peter Hadhazy (interim)
Owner	Billy Sullivan
Home field	Schaeffer Stadium
Results
Record	3–11
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	none
AP All-Pros	none
Uniform

The New England Patriots finished the National Football League’s 1972 season with a record of three wins and eleven losses, and finished last in the AFC East division.

Although they managed to win three games, the 1972 Patriots had the second-worst point differential of any team in a 14-game NFL season, ahead of only the expansion 1976 Buccaners.^[1] They lost eight of their fourteen games by three touchdowns or more, and their first two wins were by a single point.

Staff

New England Patriots 1972 staff
Front Office President – Billy Sullivan Assistant General Manager/Interim General Manager – Peter Hadhazy Director of Player Personnel – Bucko Kilroy Director of Pro Scouting – Rommie Loudd Head Coaches Interim Head Coach – Phil Bengtson Offensive Coaches Offensive Backs/Receivers – Sam Rutigliano Receivers – Jerry Stoltz Offensive Line – Bruce Beatty			Defensive Coaches Defensive Line – Dick Evans Linebackers – John Meyer Defensive Backfield – Tom Fletcher Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Burnie Miller

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 17, 1972	Cincinnati Bengals	L 31–7	60,999
2	September 24, 1972	Atlanta Falcons	W 21–20	60,999
3	October 1, 1972	Washington Redskins	W 24–23	60,999
4	October 8, 1972	at Buffalo Bills	L 38–14	41,749
5	October 15, 1972	New York Jets	L 41–13	60,999
6	October 22, 1972	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 33–3	46,081
7	October 29, 1972	at New York Jets	L 34–10	62,867
8	November 6, 1972	Baltimore Colts	L 24–17	60,999
9	November 12, 1972	at Miami Dolphins	L 52–0	80,010
10	November 19, 1972	Buffalo Bills	L 27–24	60,999
11	November 26, 1972	at Baltimore Colts	L 31–0	54,907
12	December 3, 1972	Miami Dolphins	L 37–21	60,999
13	December 10, 1972	at New Orleans Saints	W 17–10	64,889
14	December 17, 1972	at Denver Broncos	L 45–21	51,656

Game summaries

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 14 0 9 23 • Patriots 0 7 10 7 24 Date: October 1 Location: Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 54°F; wind 14

Scoring summary Q2 WSH Charley Taylor 30 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick) WSH 7–0 Q2 WSH Charley Taylor 4 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick) WSH 14–0 Q2 NE Josh Ashton 2 yard run (Charlie Gogolak kick) WSH 14–7 Q3 NE Reggie Rucker 11 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick) Tie 14–14 Q3 NE Charlie Gogolak 42 yard field goal NE 17–14 Q4 WSH Jerry Smith 9 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick) WSH 21–17 Q4 NE Josh Ashton 24 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick) NE 24–21 Q4 WSH Malinchak blocked punt through end zone NE 24–23

^[2]

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. All NFL teams sorted by point differential from 1961 to 1977
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-May-04.