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.

Regular season

Schedule

style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| 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	Template:Dow tooltip	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

Week One: Cincinnati Bengals (0–0) at New England Patriots (0–0)

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: • Wind
• 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

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

External links

• 1972 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com