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1972 NFL season
The 1972 NFL season was the 53rd regular season of the National Football League. The Miami Dolphins became the first (and to date the only) NFL team to finish a championship season undefeated and untied when they beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
Kansas City moved their home games to Arrowhead Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex and became the 12th team to play its home games on artificial turf.
Contents
Major rule changes
- The inbounds lines or hashmarks were moved closer to the center of the field, 23 yards, 1 foot, 9 inches from the sidelines. The hashmarks are now 18 feet, 6 inches apart (the same width as the goalposts), cutting down on severe angles for short field goal attempts.
- If a legal receiver goes out of bounds, either accidentally or forced out, and returns to touch or catch the pass in bounds, the penalty is a loss of down (but no penalty yardage will be assessed).
- If a punt or missed field goal crosses the receivers' goal line, a member of the receiving team may advance the ball into the field of play. Previously, the ball was dead when a scrimmage kick crossed the goal line and the receivers were awarded an automatic touchback.
- All fouls committed by the offensive team behind the line of scrimmage will be assessed from the previous spot.
- Tie games, previously ignored in computing of winning percentage, were made equal to a half-game win and a half-game loss.
Division races
Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dallas, St. Louis, Washington | 1–0–0 | Detroit, Green Bay | 1–0–0 | Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles | 1–0–0 | St.L, Wash., Atl., San Fran., Green Bay | 1–0–0 |
2 | Dallas, Washington | 2–0–0 | Minnesota | 1–1–0 | Los Angeles | 1–0–1 | Dallas, Washington | 2–0–0 |
3 | Washington | 2–1–0 | Detroit, Green Bay | 2–1–0 | Atlanta, San Francisco | 2–1–0 | 3 teams | 2–1–0 |
4 | Washington | 3–1–0 | Detroit* | 3–1–0 | Los Angeles | 2–1–1 | 2 teams | 3–1–0 |
5 | Washington | 4–1–0 | Green Bay | 4–1–0 | Los Angeles | 3–1–1 | Dallas | 4–1–0 |
6 | Washington | 5–1–0 | Green Bay* | 4–2–0 | Los Angeles | 4–1–1 | 4 teams | 4–2–0 |
7 | Washington | 6–1–0 | Green Bay* | 4–3–0 | Los Angeles | 4–2–1 | Dallas | 5–2–0 |
8 | Washington | 7–1–0 | Green Bay* | 5–3–0 | Los Angeles | 5–2–1 | Dallas | 6–2–0 |
9 | Washington | 8–1–0 | Green Bay | 6–3–0 | Los Angeles | 5–3–1 | Dallas | 7–2–0 |
10 | Washington | 9–1–0 | Green Bay | 7–3–0 | Los Angeles* | 5–4–1 | Dallas | 8–2–0 |
11 | Washington | 10–1–0 | Green Bay* | 7–4–0 | San Francisco | 6–4–1 | Dallas | 8–3–0 |
12 | Washington | 11–1–0 | Green Bay | 8–4–0 | Atlanta | 7–5–0 | Dallas | 9–3–0 |
13 | Washington | 11–2–0 | Green Bay | 9–4–0 | San Francisco | 7–5–1 | Dallas | 10–3–0 |
14 | WASHINGTON | 11–3–0 | GREEN BAY | 10–4–0 | SAN FRANCISCO | 8–5–1 | DALLAS | 10–4–0 |
American Football Conference
Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Miami, NY Jets | 1–0–0 | Cincinnati, Pittsburgh | 1–0–0 | Denver | 1–0–0 | Miami, NY Jets | 1–0–0 |
2 | Miami, NY Jets | 2–0–0 | Cincinnati | 2–0–0 | Oakland, Denver, Kansas City, San Diego | 1–1–0 | Miami, NY Jets | 2–0–0 |
3 | Miami | 3–0–0 | Cleveland | 2–1–0 | Kansas City | 2–1–0 | Pittsburgh, San Diego, Cincinnati, NY Jets | 2–1–0 |
4 | Miami | 4–0–0 | Cincinnati | 3–1–0 | Kansas City | 3–1–0 | San Diego* | 2–1–1 |
5 | Miami | 5–0–0 | Cincinnati | 4–1–0 | Oakland | 3–1–1 | NY Jets* | 3–2–0 |
6 | Miami | 6–0–0 | Cincinnati* | 4–2–0 | Oakland | 3–2–1 | Pittsburgh* | 4–2–0 |
7 | Miami | 7–0–0 | Cincinnati* | 5–2–0 | Oakland | 4–2–1 | Pittsburgh* | 5–2–0 |
8 | Miami | 8–0–0 | Pittsburgh | 6–2–0 | Kansas City | 5–3–0 | Cleveland* | 5–3–0 |
9 | Miami | 9–0–0 | Pittsburgh | 7–2–0 | Oakland | 5–3–1 | Cleveland* | 6–3–0 |
10 | Miami | 10–0–0 | Cleveland | 7–3–0 | Oakland | 6–3–1 | Pittsburgh | 7–3–0 |
11 | Miami | 11–0–0 | Cleveland | 8–3–0 | Oakland | 7–3–1 | Pittsburgh | 8–3–0 |
12 | Miami | 12–0–0 | Pittsburgh | 9–3–0 | Oakland | 8–3–1 | Cleveland | 8–4–0 |
13 | Miami | 13–0–0 | Pittsburgh | 10–3–0 | Oakland | 9–3–1 | Cleveland | 9–4–0 |
14 | MIAMI | 14–0–0 | PITTSBURGH | 11–3–0 | OAKLAND | 10–3–1 | CLEVELAND | 10–4–0 |
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
x – clinched wild card berth, y – clinched division title
Note: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings
AFC East | ||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-Miami Dolphins | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 385 | 171 |
New York Jets | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 367 | 324 |
Baltimore Colts | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 235 | 252 |
Buffalo Bills | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 257 | 377 |
New England Patriots | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 192 | 446 |
AFC Central | ||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
y-Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 343 | 175 |
x-Cleveland Browns | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 268 | 249 |
Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 299 | 229 |
Houston Oilers | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 164 | 380 |
AFC West | ||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
y-Oakland Raiders | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 365 | 248 |
Kansas City Chiefs | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 287 | 254 |
Denver Broncos | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 325 | 350 |
San Diego Chargers | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 264 | 344 |
NFC East | ||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-Washington Redskins | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 336 | 218 |
x-Dallas Cowboys | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 319 | 240 |
New York Giants | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 331 | 247 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 193 | 303 |
Philadelphia Eagles | 2 | 11 | 1 | .179 | 145 | 352 |
NFC Central | ||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
y-Green Bay Packers | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 304 | 226 |
Detroit Lions | 8 | 5 | 1 | .607 | 339 | 290 |
Minnesota Vikings | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 301 | 252 |
Chicago Bears | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 225 | 275 |
NFC West | ||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
y-San Francisco 49ers | 8 | 5 | 1 | .607 | 353 | 249 |
Atlanta Falcons | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 269 | 274 |
Los Angeles Rams | 6 | 7 | 1 | .464 | 291 | 286 |
New Orleans Saints | 2 | 11 | 1 | .179 | 215 | 361 |
Playoffs
- Note: Prior to the 1975 season, the home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly rotation.
Divisional Playoffs | Conf. Championship Games | Super Bowl VII | ||||||||
December 24 – Miami Orange Bowl | rowspan="4" style="border-width:0 0 1px 0; border-style: solid;border-color:black;"#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other This page is a soft redirect. |
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December 31 – Three Rivers Stadium | ||||||||||
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Miami Dolphins | 21 | |||||||||
December 23 – Three Rivers Stadium | ||||||||||
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Pittsburgh Steelers | 17 | |||||||
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January 14 – L.A. Coliseum | ||||||||||
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Miami Dolphins | 14 | |||||||||
December 23 – Candlestick Park | rowspan="4" style="border-width:0 0 1px 0; border-style: solid;border-color:black;"#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other This page is a soft redirect. |
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Washington Redskins | 7 | |||||||||
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December 31 – RFK Stadium | ||||||||||
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Dallas Cowboys | 3 | |||||||||
December 24 – RFK Stadium | ||||||||||
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Washington Redskins | 26 | |||||||
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Awards
Most Valuable Player | Larry Brown, Running Back, Washington |
Coach of the Year | Don Shula, Miami |
Offensive Player of the Year | Larry Brown, Running Back, Washington |
Defensive Player of the Year | Joe Greene, Defensive Tackle, Pittsburgh |
Offensive Rookie of the Year | Franco Harris, Running Back, Pittsburgh |
Defensive Rookie of the Year | Willie Buchanon, Cornerback, Green Bay |
References
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
External links
- NFL History 1971–1980 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
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