1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season | |
---|---|
Head Coach | Chuck Noll |
Home Field | Three Rivers Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 11–3 |
Place | 1st AFC Central |
Playoff Finish | Lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship game |
Pro Bowlers | 2
|
Team MVP | Franco Harris |
Timeline | |
Previous season | Next season |
1971 | 1973 |
The 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the 40th in franchise history. The team went 11–3 that season, and won their first-ever AFC Central Division title.
Offseason[]
NFL Draft[]
rd.1.Franco Harris RB.Penn State
Roster[]
Depth chart[]
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Staff[]
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Preseason[]
Schedule[]
Game summaries[]
Regular season[]
Schedule[]
Week | Date | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1 | September 17, 1972 | Oakland Raiders | W 34–28 |
2 | September 24, 1972 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 15–10 |
3 | October 1, 1972 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 25–19 |
4 | October 8, 1972 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 17–13 |
5 | October 15, 1972 | Houston Oilers | W 24–7 |
6 | October 22, 1972 | New England Patriots | W 33–3 |
7 | October 29, 1972 | at Buffalo Bills | W 38–21 |
8 | November 5, 1972 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 40–17 |
9 | November 12, 1972 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 16–7 |
10 | November 19, 1972 | at Cleveland Browns | L 26–24 |
11 | November 26, 1972 | Minnesota Vikings | W 23–10 |
12 | December 3, 1972 | Cleveland Browns | W 30–0 |
13 | December 10, 1972 | at Houston Oilers | W 9–3 |
14 | December 17, 1972 | at San Diego Chargers | W 24–2 |
Game summaries[]
Week 1 (Sunday September 17, 1972): Oakland Raiders[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raiders | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 28 |
Steelers | 14 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 34 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 51,141
- Referee: Pat Haggerty
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – H. Davis 5 blocked punt return (Gerela kick)7–0
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 20 run (Gerela kick)14–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 48 17–0
- Oakland – Chester 26 pass from Blanda (Blanda kick)17–7
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 8 20–7
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 2 run (Gerela kick)27–7
- Oakland – Siani 24 pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick)27–14
- Pittsburgh – Shanklin 57 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)34–14
- Oakland – Highsmith 1 run (Blanda kick)34–21
- Oakland – Siani 70 pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick)34–28
Week 2 (Sunday September 24, 1972): Cincinnati Bengals[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Bengals | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 54,292
- Referee: Dick Jorgensen
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 41 3–0
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 12 run (Gerela kick)7–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 17 10–3
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 32 10–6
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 20 10–9
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 32 12–10
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 34 15–10
Week 3 (Sunday October 1, 1972): St. Louis Cardinals[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 3 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 25 |
Cardinals | 0 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 49,140
- Referee: Fred Wyant
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 17 3–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 20 6–0
- St. Louis – FG Bakken 19 6–3
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (Gerela kick)13–3
- Pittsburgh – Safety, Anderson tackled Anderson in end zone 15–3
- St. Louis – FG Bakken 44 15–6
- St. Louis – Anderson 8 run (kick failed)15–12
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 15 18–12
- St. Louis – Thompson 8 blocked punt return (Bakken kick)19–18
- Pittsburgh – Lewis 38 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)25–19
Week 4 (Sunday October 8, 1972): Dallas Cowboys[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Cowboys | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 65,682
- Referee: Ben Dreith
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 39 3–0
- Dallas – FG Fritsch 40 3–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 39 6–3
- Pittsburgh – Blount 35 fumble recovery return (Gerela kick)13–3
- Dallas – Hill 1 run (Fritsch kick)13–10
- Dallas – Sellers 55 pass from Hill (Fritsch kick)17–13
Week 5 (Sunday October 15, 1972): Houston Oilers[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oilers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Steelers | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
at the Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 42,929
- Referee: Bernie Ulman
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Houston – Walsh recovered blocked punt in end zone (Butler kick)7–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 28 7–3
- Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Gerela kick)10–7
- Pittsburgh – Lewis 11 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)17–7
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 8 run (Gerela kick)24–7
Week 6 (Sunday October 22, 1972): New England Patriots[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Patriots | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Steelers | 10 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 33 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 46,081
- Referee: Norm Schachter
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 19 3–0
- Pittsburgh – Ham 32 interception return (Gerela kick)10–0
- Pittsburgh – Shanklin 30 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)17–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 22 20–0
- New England – FG Gogolak 16 20–3
- Pittsburgh – Steve Davis 28 run (Gerela kick)27–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 35 30–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 33 33–3
Week 7 (Sunday October 29, 1972): Buffalo Bills[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 0 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 38 |
Bills | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 45,882
- Referee: Tommy Bell
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – Harris 2 run (Gerela kick) 7–0
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (Gerela kick)14–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 29 17–0
- Buffalo – Simpson 94 run (Leypoldt kick)17–7
- Pittsburgh – Harris 18 run (Gerela kick)24–7
- Buffalo – B. Chandler 11 pass from Shaw (Leypoldt kick)24–14
- Pittsburgh – Harris 17 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)31–14
- Buffalo – B. Chandler 4 pass from Shaw (Leypoldt kick)31–21
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 4 run (Gerela kick)38–21
Week 8 (Sunday November 5, 1972): Cincinnati Bengals[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bengals | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 17 |
Steelers | 10 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 40 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 50,350
- Referee: Fred Silva
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 7 run (Gerela kick)7–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 15 10–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 22 13–0
- Pittsburgh – Lewis 28 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed)19–0
- Pittsburgh – Brown 13 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)26–0
- Cincinnati – Carter 1 run (Muhlmann kick)26–7
- Pittsburgh – Lewis 34 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)33–7
- Cincinnati – Myers 2 pass from Carter (Muhlmann kick)33–14
- Pittsburgh – Harris 2 run (Gerela kick)40–14
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 37 40–17
Week 9 (Sunday November 12, 1972): Kansas City Chiefs[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chiefs | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Steelers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 16 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 54,476
- Referee: Jim Tunney
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Kansas City – Kearney 65 interception return (Stenerud kick)7–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 25 7–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 10 7–6
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 49 9–7
- Pittsburgh – Harris 7 run (Gerela kick)16–7
Week 10 (Sunday November 19, 1972): Cleveland Browns[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Browns | 10 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 26 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 83,009
- Referee: Dick Jorgensen
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 39 3–0
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 26 3–3
- Cleveland – Phipps 1 run (Cockroft kick)10–3
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 38 13–3
- Cleveland – Pitts 17 pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)20–3
- Pittsburgh – Mullins 3 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)20–10
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 12 23–10
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run (Gerela kick) 23–17
- Pittsburgh – Harris 75 run (Gerela kick)23–24
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 26 26–24
Week 11 (Sunday November 26, 1972): Minnesota Vikings[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vikings | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
Steelers | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 23 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 50,348
- Referee: Fred Swearingen
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Minnesota – FG Cox 24 3–0
- Pittsburgh – Harris 12 run (Gerela kick)7–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 17 10–3
- Minnesota – Voigt 5 pass from Tarkenton (Cox kick)10–10
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (kick blocked)16–10
- Pittsburgh – Lewis 17 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)23–10
Week 12 (Sunday December 3, 1972): Cleveland Browns[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Browns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Steelers | 3 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 30 |
at the Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 50,350
- Referee: Tommy Bell
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 19 3–0
- Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Gerela kick)10–0
- Pittsburgh – Harris 11 run (Gerela kick)17–0
- Pittsburgh – McMakin 78 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)24–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 44 27–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 37 30–0
Franco Harris breaks Jim Brown's record for consecutive 100 yd games.
Week 13 (Sunday December 10, 1972): Houston Oilers[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
Oilers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
at the Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 36,528
- Referee: John McDonough
- TV announcers:
Scoring Drives:
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 24 3–0
- Houston – FG Butler 34 3–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 39 6–3
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 13 9–3
Week 14 (Sunday December 17, 1972): San Diego Chargers[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
Chargers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
at San Diego Stadium, San Diego, California
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance:
- Referee: Pat Haggerty
- TV announcers:
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:
- San Diego – Safety, Costa tackled Bradshaw in end zone 2–0
- Pittsburgh – Harris 2 run (Gerela kick)7–2
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 2 run (Gerela kick)14–2
- Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 24 17–2
- Pittsburgh – Shanklin 17 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick)24–2
Standings[]
AFC Central | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 343 | 175 | W-4 |
Cleveland Browns | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 268 | 249 | W-2 |
Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 299 | 229 | W-1 |
Houston Oilers | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 164 | 380 | L-11 |
Postseason[]
Game summaries[]
Week 15 (Saturday December 23, 1972): Oakland Raiders[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Steelers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time:
- Game weather:
- Game attendance: 50,350
- Referee: Fred Swearingen
- TV announcers: NBC Curt Gowdy
Scoring Drives:
- PIT – FG Gerela 18 PIT 3–0
- PIT – FG Gerela 29 PIT 6–0
- OAK – Stabler 30 run (Blanda kick) OAK 7–6
- PIT – Harris 60 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) PIT 13–7
Week 16 (Sunday December 31, 1972): Miami Dolphins[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dolphins | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Steelers | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Game time: 12:30 pm EST
- Game weather: 67 degrees, partly cloudy
- Game attendance: 50,350
- Referee: Ben Dreith
- TV announcers: NBC (Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis)
Scoring Drives:
- 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 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[]
|
AFC | East | Central | West | East | Central | West | NFC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baltimore | Cincinnati | Denver | Dallas | Chicago | Atlanta | ||
Buffalo | Cleveland | Kansas City | NY Giants | Detroit | Los Angeles | ||
Miami | Houston | Oakland | Philadelphia | Green Bay | New Orleans | ||
New England | Pittsburgh | San Diego | St. Louis | Minnesota | San Francisco | ||
NY Jets | Washington | ||||||
1972 NFL Draft • NFL Playoffs • Pro Bowl • Super Bowl VII |