1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season
The 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 40th in the National Football League.
| 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Art Rooney |
| Head coach | Chuck Noll |
| Home field | Three Rivers Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–3 |
| Division place | 1st AFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Raiders) 13–7 Lost AFC Championship (vs. Dolphins) 17–21 |
| Pro Bowlers | 6
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| AP All-Pros | 4
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| Team MVP | Franco Harris |
Pittsburgh finished with an 11–3 record in 1972, their first winning season in 9 years (1963), and won their first-ever AFC Central Division title. It was the Steelers' third-ever postseason appearance, first in ten seasons (the Playoff Bowl for third place in the league), and only its second playoff game since 1947. This season is famous for the Immaculate Reception, where the Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13–7 in the playoffs on a last second touchdown by rookie running back Franco Harris.
The rebuilding of the franchise that began in 1969 with the hiring of head coach Chuck Noll finally came to fruition in his fourth year. After winning only once in that first season, the Steelers then showed steady improvement. They broke through in 1972 and made the playoffs for the first time since 1947; their three losses were by a combined eleven points. The division title was the first in team history, as was the appearance in the AFC Championship game which they lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins 21–17. It was the first of eight consecutive playoff appearances for the Steelers that led to four Super Bowl championships.
Offseason
NFL draft
| 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Franco Harris * † | RB | Penn State | |
| 2 | 38 | Gordon Gravelle | OT | BYU | |
| 3 | 63 | John McMakin | TE | Clemson | |
| 4 | 80 | Lorenzo Brinkley | DB | Missouri | |
| 4 | 88 | Ed Bradley | LB | Wake Forest | |
| 5 | 113 | Steve Furness | DE | Rhode Island | |
| 6 | 143 | Dennis Meyer | DB | Arkansas State | |
| 7 | 159 | Joe Colquitt | DE | Kansas State | |
| 7 | 168 | Robert Kelly | DB | Jackson State | |
| 8 | 193 | Stahle Vincent | RB | Rice | |
| 9 | 217 | Don Kelley | DB | Clemson | |
| 10 | 243 | Bob Brown | DT | Tampa | |
| 11 | 273 | Joe Gilliam | QB | Tennessee State | |
| 12 | 298 | Ron Curl | OT | Michigan State | |
| 13 | 323 | Ernie Messmer | OT | Villanova | |
| 14 | 348 | Tommy Durrance | RB | Florida | |
| 15 | 368 | John Hulecki | OG | UMass | |
| 15 | 373 | Charles Harrington | OG | Wichita State | |
| 16 | 403 | Nate Hawkins | WR | UNLV | |
| 17 | 428 | Ron Linehan | LB | Idaho | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Rookies in italics | ||||||
- Source:[2]
Depth chart
Staff
•Lionel Taylor - Receiver Coach
•Charlie Sumner - Linebacker Coach
• - Quarterback Coach
•Dick Hoak – Defensive backfield coach
•Bud Carson – Defensive backfield coach
•Bob Fry – Offensive line coach
•Lou Riecke - Strength Coach
•George Perles – Defensive line coach
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 17 | Oakland Raiders | W 34–28 | 1–0 | Three Rivers Stadium | ||
| 2 | September 24 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–15 | 1–1 | Riverfront Stadium | ||
| 3 | October 1 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 25–19 | 2–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | ||
| 4 | October 8 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 13–17 | 2–2 | Texas Stadium | ||
| 5 | October 15 | Houston Oilers | W 24–7 | 3–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | ||
| 6 | October 22 | New England Patriots | W 33–3 | 4–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | ||
| 7 | October 29 | at Buffalo Bills | W 38–21 | 5–2 | War Memorial Stadium | ||
| 8 | November 5 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 40–17 | 6–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | ||
| 9 | November 12 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 16–7 | 7–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | ||
| 10 | November 19 | at Cleveland Browns | L 24–26 | 7–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | ||
| 11 | November 26 | Minnesota Vikings | W 23–10 | 8–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | ||
| 12 | December 3 | Cleveland Browns | W 30–0 | 9–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | ||
| 13 | December 10 | at Houston Oilers | W 9–3 | 10–3 | Astrodome | ||
| 14 | December 17 | at San Diego Chargers | W 24–2 | 11–3 | San Diego Stadium | ||
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Week 1: vs. Oakland Raiders
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The Steelers were able to start off against the Raiders at home scoring 17 unanswered points (2TDs/PATs and a FG) and eventually ended up defeating the team by 6 for a 34–28 victory and a 1–0 start.
Week 2: at Cincinnati Bengals
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Week 3: at St. Louis Cardinals
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Week 4: at Dallas Cowboys
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Week 5: vs. Houston Oilers
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Week 6: vs. New England Patriots
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Week 7: at Buffalo Bills
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Week 8: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
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Week 9: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
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Scoring drives:
Week 10: Cleveland Browns
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Scoring drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 39 – Steelers 3–0
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 26 – Tie 3–3
- Cleveland – Phipps 1 run (Cockroft kick) – Browns 10–3
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 38 – Browns 13–3
- Cleveland – Pitts 17 pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) – Browns 20–3
- Pittsburgh – Mullins 3 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) – Browns 20–10
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 12 – Browns 23–10
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run (Gerela kick) – Browns 23–17
- Pittsburgh – Harris 75 run (Gerela kick)- Steelers 24–23
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 26 – Browns 26–24
Week 11: vs. Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings (6–4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7–3)
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Steelers | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 23 |
at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Date: Sunday, November 26
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
- Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C) • Wind 18 miles per hour (29 km/h; 16 kn)
- Game attendance: 50,348
- TV announcers (CBS): Jack Drees, George Connor, and Andy Musser
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
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Week 12: vs. Cleveland Browns
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Franco Harris breaks Jim Brown's record for consecutive 100 yd games.
Scoring drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 19 – Steelers 3–0
- Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 10–0
- Pittsburgh – Harris 11 run (Gerela kick) – Steelers 17–0
- Pittsburgh – McMakin 78 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) – Steelers 24–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 44 – Steelers 27–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 37 – Steelers 30–0
Week 13: at Houston Oilers
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Scoring drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 24 – Steelers 3–0
- Houston – FG Butler 34 – Tie 3–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 39 – Steelers 6–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 13 – Steelers 9–3
Steelers clinch their 1st playoff berth.
Week 14: San Diego Chargers
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The Pittsburgh Steelers clinched their first AFC Central Division title. The day before the game Frank Sinatra is inducted into Franco's Italian Army.
Scoring drives:
Standings
| AFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 4–2 | 9–2 | 343 | 175 | W4 |
| Cleveland Browns | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 5–1 | 9–2 | 268 | 249 | W2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 3–3 | 6–5 | 299 | 229 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 0–6 | 1–10 | 164 | 380 | L11 |
Postseason
AFC Divisional: vs. Oakland Raiders
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AFC Championship: vs. Miami Dolphins
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- PIT – Mullins recovered fumble in end zone (Gerela kick) PIT 7–0
- MIA – Csonka 9 pass from Morrall (Yepremian kick) 7–7
- PIT – FG Gerela 14 11:00 3rd PIT 10–7
- MIA – Kiick 2 run (Yepremian kick) MIA 14–10
- MIA – Kiick 3 run (Yepremian kick) MIA 21–10
- PIT – Young 12 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) MIA 21–17
References
- Football Database – 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers Draft. Retrieved 2014-Feb-10.
- "Steelers numbers". Pittsburgh Press. October 22, 1972. p. D9.
External links
- 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Profootballreference.com
- 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season statistics at jt-sw.com
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