1972 Dallas Cowboys season

1972 Dallas Cowboys season
Head Coach	Tom Landry
Home Field	Texas Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Place	2nd NFC East
Playoff Finish	Lost Conference Championship
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1971	1973

The 1972 Dallas Cowboys season was their 13th in the league. The team failed to improve their previous output of 11–3, winning only ten games. They qualified for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season but settled for the wildcard spot. A pre-season injury to quarterback Roger Staubach and the trade of Duane Thomas (both had been integral figures in the 1971 championship team) hindered the offense (mitigated somewhat since their replacements, Craig Morton and Calvin Hill, were former starters). In the divisional playoff round, Staubach came off the bench to engineer an improbable 30–28 comeback win over the 49ers (Dallas had trailed by 28–16 with less than 2 minutes to play). The win over the 49ers still ranks as one of the all-time great Cowboys wins. However, the momentum could not carry them to a victory over Washington in the NFC Championship game.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 17, 1972	Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–6	55,850
2	September 24, 1972	at New York Giants	W 23–14	62,725
3	October 1, 1972	at Green Bay Packers	L 16–13	47,103
4	October 8, 1972	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–13	65,682
5	October 15, 1972	at Baltimore Colts	W 21–0	58,992
6	October 22, 1972	at Washington Redskins	L 24–20	53,039
7	October 30, 1972	Detroit Lions	W 28–24	65,378
8	November 5, 1972	at San Diego Chargers	W 34–28	54,476
9	November 12, 1972	St. Louis Cardinals	W 33–24	65,218
10	November 19, 1972	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–7	65,720
11	November 23, 1972	San Francisco 49ers	L 31–10	65,124
12	December 3, 1972	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 27–6	49,787
13	December 9, 1972	Washington Redskins	W 34–24	65,136
14	December 17, 1972	New York Giants	L 23–3	64,602

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week One: Phildelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys  – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 3 3 0 0 6 Cowboys 0 7 14 7 28 at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas Date: September 17 Game time: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 80 degrees, wind 11 mph Box Score Game information First quarter PHI - Tom Dempsey 30 yard field goal, Eagles 3-0 Second quarter PHI - Tom Dempsey 42 yard field goal, Eagles 6-0 DAL - Ron Sellers 37 yard pass from Craig Morton (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 7-6 Third quarter DAL - Lance Alworth 13 yard pass from Craig Morton (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 14-6 DAL - Calvin Hill 3 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 21-6 Fourth quarter DAL - Robert Newhouse 1 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 28-6 Top passers PHI – John Reaves - 11/19, 143 yards, 2 interceptions DAL – Craig Morton - 13/26, 235 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions Top rushers PHI – Po James - 13 carries, 28 yards DAL – Calvin Hill - 17 carries, 65 yards, 1 touchdown Top receivers PHI – Harold Jackson - 9 receptions, 161 yards DAL – Ron Sellers - 3 receptions, 88 yards, 1 touchdown

Week 2: at New York Giants

Week Two: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants  – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 7 3 3 10 23 Giants 0 7 0 7 14 at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York Date: September 24 Game time: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 60 degrees, wind 8 mph Box Score Game information First quarter DAL - Walt Garrison 1 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 7-0 Second quarter DAL - Toni Fritsch 54 yard field goal, Cowboys 10-0 NYG - Rich Houston 55 yard pass from Norm Snead (Pete Gogolak kick), Cowboys 10-7 Third quarter DAL - Toni Fritsch 13 yard field goal, Cowboys 13-7 Fourth quarter DAL - Toni Fritsch 8 yard field goal, Cowboys 16-7 NYG - Rich Houston 94 yard pass from Norm Snead (Pete Gogolak kick), Cowboys 16-14 DAL - Lance Alworth 3 yard pass from Craig Morton (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 23-14 Top passers DAL - Craig Morton - 15/27, 158 yards, 1 touchdown NYG - Norm Snead - 19/26, 298 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception Top rushers DAL - Calvin Hill - 20 carries, 91 yards NYG - Ron Johnson - 14 carries, 42 yards Top receivers DAL - Billy Parks - 4 receptions, 49 yards NYG - Rich Houston - 5 receptions, 175 yards, 2 touchdowns

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	December 23, 1972	at San Francisco 49ers	W 30–28	61,214
Conference Championship	December 31, 1972	at Washington Redskins	L 26–3	53,129

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins	11	3	0	.786	336	218	L-2
Dallas Cowboys	10	4	0	.714	319	247	L-1
New York Giants	8	6	0	.571	331	247	W-1
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.321	193	303	W-2
Philadelphia Eagles	2	11	1	.179	145	352	L-5

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1972 roster
Quarterbacks 14 Craig Morton 12 Roger Staubach Running Backs 32 Walt Garrison FB 35 Calvin Hill 23 Mike Montgomery WR 44 Robert Newhouse FB 30 Dan Reeves 27 Bill Thomas Wide Receivers 19 Lance Alworth 22 Bob Hayes 21 Billy Parks 88 Ron Sellers Tight Ends 89 Mike Ditka 84 Jean Fugett 87 Billy Truax		Offensive Linemen 62 John Fitzgerald C 51 Dave Manders C 73 Ralph Neely T 76 John Niland G 61 Blaine Nye G 71 Rodney Wallace T/G 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive Linemen 66 George Andrie DE 63 Larry Cole DE 77 Bill Gregory DT 74 Bob Lilly DT 75 Jethro Pugh DT 85 Tody Smith DE 67 Pat Toomay DE		Linebackers 53 John Babinecz MLB 86 Ralph Coleman OLB 52 Dave Edwards OLB 54 Chuck Howley OLB 55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB 57 Mike Keller MLB 50 D. D. Lewis OLB Defensive Backs 26 Herb Adderley CB 31 Benny Barnes CB 34 Cornell Green SS 43 Cliff Harris FS/RS 20 Mel Renfro CB 46 Mark Washington CB 41 Charlie Waters FS/CB Special Teams 81 Marv Bateman P 15 Toni Fritsch K		Reserve Lists Currently vacant Rookies in italics 45 Active, 0 Inactive

Trivia

This season marks the first time in Cowboys history they wore their white jerseys for every game. The second and only other time so far was 2010.