1972 Washington Redskins season explained

Team:	Washington Redskins
Year:	1972
Record:	11–3
Division Place:	1st NFC East
Owner:	Edward Bennett Williams
President:	Edward Bennett Williams
Off Coach:	Ted Marchibroda
Def Coach:	LaVern Torgeson
General Manager:	George Allen
Coach:	George Allen
Stadium:	RFK Stadium
Playoffs:	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Packers) 16–3 Won NFC Championship (vs. Cowboys) 26–3 Lost Super Bowl VII (vs. Dolphins) 7–14
Shortnavlink:	Redskins seasons

The 1972 Washington Redskins season was the 41st in the National Football League (NFL) and the 36th in Washington, D.C. The Redskins were trying to build on the success of the previous season, in which they had finished 9–4–1 and made the postseason for the first time in 26 seasons. They ultimately finished the year 11–3 (the best record in the Allen era).

Head coach George Allen, in just his second season with the team, took the Redskins to their first Super Bowl. The team, who had missed the postseason in the entirety of the 1950s and 1960s, won its first postseason game since 1943, and appeared in its first league championship game since 1945.

The NFC champion Redskins would ultimately lose a very close Super Bowl VII, 14–7, to the undefeated Miami Dolphins.

The 1972 season was the first in which the team wore its longtime logo, which featured a Native American head in profile within a gold circle. The logo would stay with the team for the next 48 seasons until both it and the team nickname were retired after the 2019 season.^[1] With the Washington Senators relocating to Texas in 1971, the Baltimore Bullets not relocating until the summer of 1973, and the Washington Capitals having their inaugural season in 1974, the 1972 Redskins were at the time the D.C. area's only team playing in one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

Offseason

NFL Draft

See main article: 1972 NFL draft.

1972 Washington Redskins Draft
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
8	203		Running Back	Maryland-Eastern Shore
9	229	Steve Boekholder	Defensive End	Drake
10	255	Mike Oldham	Wide Receiver	Michigan
11	281	Jeff Welch	Defensive Back	Arkansas Tech
12	307		Quarterback	Stanford
13	332		Wide Receiver	Southern Colorado
15	365	Mike O'Quinn	Guard	McNeese State
15	385	Carl Taibi	Defensive End	Colorado
16	411	Steve Higginbotham	Defensive Back	Alabama
17	437	Kevin Clemente	Linebacker	Boston College

Pre season

Schedule

Week	Opponent	Time	TV	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1		8:00p.m. EDT	WMAL-TV	W 33–3	1–0	Tampa Stadium	42,864
2	Denver Broncos	8:00p.m. EDT	WMAL-TV	W 41–0	2–0	RFK Stadium	46,043
3	Philadelphia Eagles	8:00p.m. EDT	WMAL-TV	W 34–10	3–0	RFK Stadium	47,843
4	at Detroit Lions	9:00p.m. EDT	CBS	L 10–23	3–1	Tiger Stadium	52,647
5	Miami Dolphins	8:00p.m. EDT	NBC	W 27–24	4–1	RFK Stadium	52,098
6	at Pittsburgh Steelers	8:00p.m. EDT	WMAL-TV	T 10–10	4–1–1	Three Rivers Stadium	42,227

Pre Season Game Officials

Pre season Game summaries

Week P1 (Friday, August 4, 1972): vs. Baltimore Colts

Time of Game:

Week P2 (Friday, August 11, 1972): vs. Denver Broncos

Time of Game: 2 hours, 45 minutes

Week P3 (Friday, August 18, 1972): vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Time of Game:

Week P4 (Friday, August 25, 1972): at Detroit Lions

Time of Game:

Week P5 (Thursday, August 31, 1972): vs. Miami Dolphins

Time of Game: 2 hours, 27 minutes

Week P6 (Saturday, September 9, 1972): at Pittsburgh Steelers

Time of Game:

Regular season

See main article: 1972 NFL season.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Time	TV	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1		at Minnesota Vikings	9:00p.m. EDT	ABC	W 24–21	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900	Recap
2	September 24	St. Louis Cardinals	1:00p.m. EDT	CBS	W 24–10	2–0	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
3	October 1	at New England Patriots	1:00p.m. EDT	CBS	L 23–24	2–1	Schaefer Stadium	60,999	Recap
4	October 8	Philadelphia Eagles	1:00p.m. EDT	CBS	W 14–0	3–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
5	October 15	at St. Louis Cardinals	2:00p.m. EDT	CBS	W 33–3	4–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,454	Recap
6	October 22	Dallas Cowboys	4:00p.m. EDT	CBS	W 24–20	5–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
7	October 29	at New York Giants	1:00p.m. EST	CBS	W 23–16	6–1	Yankee Stadium	62,878	Recap
8	November 5	at New York Jets	1:00p.m. EST	CBS	W 35–17	7–1	Shea Stadium	63,962	Recap
9	November 12	New York Giants	1:00p.m. EST	CBS	W 27–13	8–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
10		Atlanta Falcons	9:00p.m. EST	ABC	W 24–13	9–1	RFK Stadium	53,034	Recap
11	November 26	Green Bay Packers	1:00p.m. EST	CBS	W 21–16	10–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
12	December 3	at Philadelphia Eagles	1:00p.m. EST	CBS	W 23–7	11–1	Veterans Stadium	65,720	Recap
13		at Dallas Cowboys	4:00p.m. EST	CBS	L 24–34	11–2	Texas Stadium	65,136	Recap
14	December 17	Buffalo Bills	1:00p.m. EST	NBC	L 17–24	11–3	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Regular Season Game summaries

Week 1 (Monday, September 18, 1972): at Minnesota Vikings

Time of Game:

Redskins	Game Statistics	Vikings
11	First downs	26
31–146	Rushes–yards	43–182
57	Passing yards	233
7–17–1		18–31–0
0–0	Sacked–yards	4–33
57	Net passing yards	200
203	Total yards	382
86	Return yards	56
4–39.5		4–30.8
1–0	Fumbles–lost	3–2
5–41	Penalties–yards	4–34

Week 2 (Sunday, September 24, 1972): vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Time of Game:

Cardinals	Game Statistics	Redskins
16	First downs	19
25–79	Rushes–yards	37–181
179	Passing yards	97
16–28–2		13–22–0
5–39	Sacked–yards	1–6
140	Net passing yards	91
219	Total yards	272
65	Return yards	77
5–39.2		5–39.6
2–1	Fumbles–lost	0–0
6–58	Penalties–yards	6–40

Week 3 (Sunday, October 1, 1972): at New England Patriots

Time of Game: 2 hours, 34 minutes

Redskins	Game Statistics	Patriots
15	First downs	23
28–136	Rushes–yards	34–127
213	Passing yards	255
14–30–1		17–34–1
0–0	Sacked–yards	1–2
213	Net passing yards	253
349	Total yards	380
153	Return yards	61
4–39.8		4–27.5
1–1	Fumbles–lost	2–1
760–	Penalties–yards	2–20

Week 4 (Sunday, October 8, 1972): vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Time of Game:

Eagles	Game Statistics	Redskins
12	First downs	22
26–60	Rushes–yards	33–147
214	Passing yards	237
16–31–1		14–24–3
4–38	Sacked–yards	1–13
176	Net passing yards	224
236	Total yards	371
44	Return yards	67
6–34.7		3–39.0
1–1	Fumbles–lost	2–1
7–45	Penalties–yards	3–15

Week 5 (Sunday, October 15, 1972): at St. Louis Cardinals

Time of Game:

Redskins	Game Statistics	Cardinals
20	First downs	10
43–160	Rushes–yards	21–66
230	Passing yards	94
15–20–1		9–24–2
0–0	Sacked–yards	1–9
230	Net passing yards	85
390	Total yards	151
104	Return yards	115
2–39.0		5–41.2
5–2	Fumbles–lost	4–2
6–65	Penalties–yards	3–15

Week 6 (Sunday, October 22, 1972): vs. Dallas Cowboys

Time of Game:

Cowboys	Game Statistics	Redskins
18	First downs	17
26–111	Rushes–yards	37–133
174	Passing yards	180
14–27–2		11–16–0
3–14	Sacked–yards	1–8
160	Net passing yards	172
276	Total yards	305
124	Return yards	60
3–42.7		4–40.5
1–0	Fumbles–lost	2–1
2–20	Penalties–yards	5–47

Week 7 (Sunday, October 29, 1972): at New York Giants

Time of Game:

Redskins	Game Statistics	Giants
16	First downs	19
36–210	Rushes–yards	25–112
127	Passing yards	258
9–17–1		25–37–0
0–0	Sacked–yards	1–10
127	Net passing yards	248
337	Total yards	360
100	Return yards	126
4–38.5		3–44.0
1–1	Fumbles–lost	3–2
6–61	Penalties–yards	4–30

Week 8 (Sunday, November 5, 1972): at New York Jets

Time of Game:

Redskins	Game Statistics	Jets
7	First downs	19
28–89	Rushes–yards	29–106
222	Passing yards	148
7–16–1		15–28–3
0–0	Sacked–yards	3–32
222	Net passing yards	116
311	Total yards	222
182	Return yards	136
6–38.2		7–38.9
1–1	Fumbles–lost	1–1
11–121	Penalties–yards	2–30

Week 9 (Sunday, November 12, 1972): vs. New York Giants

Time of Game:

Giants	Game Statistics	Redskins
14	First downs	21
29–118	Rushes–yards	39–143
117	Passing yards	256
14–26–2		15–23–1
0–0	Sacked–yards	3–19
117	Net passing yards	237
235	Total yards	380
120	Return yards	153
5–46.6		3–34.7
2–0	Fumbles–lost	1–0
4–35	Penalties–yards	4–35

Week 10 (Monday, November 20, 1972): vs. Atlanta Falcons

Time of Game:

Falcons	Game Statistics	Redskins
14	First downs	18
33–151	Rushes–yards	42–159
138	Passing yards	109
11–21–1		10–19–1
6–33	Sacked–yards	0–0
105	Net passing yards	109
256	Total yards	268
86	Return yards	145
5–46.8		5–42.6
4–3	Fumbles–lost	2–1
3–25	Penalties–yards	3–25

Week 11 (Sunday, November 26, 1972): vs. Green Bay Packers

Time of Game:

Packers	Game Statistics	Redskins
12	First downs	16
35–120	Rushes–yards	35–132
85	Passing yards	158
7–21–1		14–21–0
2–18	Sacked–yards	1–9
67	Net passing yards	149
187	Total yards	281
104	Return yards	87
6–50.7		6–35.3
0–0	Fumbles–lost	1–1
4–20	Penalties–yards	3–35

Week 12 (Sunday, December 3, 1972): at Philadelphia Eagles

Time of Game:

Redskins	Game Statistics	Eagles
19	First downs	9
50–170	Rushes–yards	20–66
155	Passing yards	67
12–15–0		7–21–0
0–0	Sacked–yards	2–13
155	Net passing yards	54
325	Total yards	120
64	Return yards	137
3–40.3		6–41.5
4–0	Fumbles–lost	2–1
8–81	Penalties–yards	8–48

Week 13 (Saturday, December 9, 1972): at Dallas Cowboys

Time of Game:

Redskins	Game Statistics	Cowboys
19	First downs	14
39–143	Rushes–yards	36–246
178	Passing yards	61
14–29–2		7–17–0
1–9	Sacked–yards	0–0
169	Net passing yards	61
312	Total yards	307
192	Return yards	126
4–36.3		4–41.0
4–2	Fumbles–lost	1–1
5–55	Penalties–yards	6–66

Week 14 (Sunday, December 17, 1972): vs. Buffalo Bills

Time of Game:

Bills	Game Statistics	Redskins
17	First downs	15
45–184	Rushes–yards	35–133
107	Passing yards	62
10–21–2		4–15–3
3–27	Sacked–yards	3–24
80	Net passing yards	38
264	Total yards	171
143	Return yards	86
6–34.0		6–37.2
2–0	Fumbles–lost	1–0
9–122	Penalties–yards	6–40

Stats

Passing

Passing
Player	Pos	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Lng	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD
	QB	12	10	7–3–0	120	225	53.3	1648	19	8.4	11	4.9	89	7.3	6.8	13.7	137.3	84.8	9	67	3.8	6.76	6.26	1	2
	QB	7	4	4–0–0	39	59	66.1	633	2	3.4	4	6.8	36	10.7	8.4	16.2	90.4	84.9	2	21	3.3	10.03	7.74	1	1
Team Total		14		11–3–0	159	284	56.0	2281	21	7.4	15	5.3	89	8.0	7.1	14.3	162.9	84.8	11	88	3.7	7.43	6.57	2	3
Opp Total		14			186	367	50.7	2130	10	2.7	17	4.6		5.8	4.26	11.5	152.1	58.3	35	268	8.7	4.6	3.2

Rushing

Rushing
Player	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G
	RB	12	12	285	1216	8	38	4.3	101.3	23.8
	FB	14	14	148	567	6	24	3.8	40.5	10.6
	RB	2	1	33	155	1	35	4.7	77.5	16.5
	RB	14	1	30	82	2	18	2.7	5.9	2.1
	WR	14	14	3	39	0	17	13.0	2.8	0.2
	RB	7	0	6	22	0	6	3.7	3.1	0.9
	TE	14	14	1	9	0	9	9.0	0.6	0.1
	QB	12	10	3	–3	0	1	–1.0	–0.3	0.3
	QB	7	4	4	–5	0	0	–1.3	–0.7	0.6
Team Total		14		513	2082	17	38	4.1	148.7	36.6
Opp Total		14		427	1733	12		4.1	123.8	30.5

Receiving

Receiving
Player	Pos	G	GS	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%
	WR	14	14	49	673	13.7	7	70	3.5	48.1	0.0%
	WR	14	14	35	550	15.7	3	45	2.5	39.3	0.0%
		RB	12	12	32	473	14.8	4	89	2.7	39.4	0.0%
	TE	14	14	21	353	16.8	7	34	1.5	25.2	0.0%
	FB	14	14	15	105	7.0	0	24	1.1	7.5	0.0%
	RB	2	1	4	66	16.5	0	28	2.0	33.0	0.0%
	TE	14	0	2	53	26.5	0	36	0.1	3.8	0.0%
	RB	14	1	1	8	8.0	0	8	0.1	0.6	0.0%
Team Total		14		159	2281	14.3	21	89	11.4	162.9
Opp Total		14		186	1862	10.0	10		13.3	133.0

Kicking

Punting

Kick Return

Kick Return
Player	Pos	G	GS	Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt
	DB	8	0	15	364	0	41	24.3
	DB	4	0	10	291	0	41	29.1
	RB	2	1	8	209	0	44	26.1
	RB	14	1	8	190	0	45	23.8
	RCB	14	14	2	22	0	21	11.0
	LB	14	0	2	6	0	6	3.0
	DB	14	0	1	21	0	21	21.0
	DE	14	0	1	15	0	15	15.0
	MLB	13	8	1	15	0	15	15.0
Team Total		14		48	1133	0	45	23.6
Opp Total		14		53	1191	0		22.5

Punt Return

Punt Return
Player	Pos	G	GS	Ret	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/R
	DB	14	0	17	88	0	28	5.2
	DB	8	0	11	70	0	18	6.4
	DB	4	0	6	1	0	6	0.2
Team Total		14		34	159	0	28
Opp Total		14		19	39	0

Sacks

Sacks
Player	Pos	G	GS	Sk
	RDE	14	14	8.0
	RDT	14	14	7.5
	LDE	14	14	6.0
	LLB	14	14	4.0
	RLB	14	14	3.5
	LDT	11	10	2.5
	DT	12	4	2.0
	DE	3	0	1.0
	RCB	14	14	0.5
Team Total		14		35
Opp Total		14		11

Interceptions

Interceptions
Player	Pos	G	GS	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD
	RLB	14	14	4	98	1	41
	LCB	14	14	4	61	0	35
	RCB	14	14	3	53	0	29
	MLB	13	8	2	22	0	19
	DB	14	0	1	28	0	28
	FS	14	14	1	17	0	17
	DB	8	0	1	8	0	8
	SS	14	11	1	0	0	0
Team Total		14		17	287	1	41
Opp Total		14

Fumbles

Fumbles
Player	Pos	G	GS	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD
	RB	12	12		9	3	0	0
	DB	14	0		4	2	0	0
	QB	7	4		4	0	–9	0
	DB	8	0		2	1	0	0
	FB	14	14		2	0	0	0
	WR	14	14		1	1	0	0
	RB	7	0		1	1	0	0
	WR	14	14		1	1	9	0
	RB	14	1		1	0	0	0
	QB	12	10		1	0	0	0
	RB	2	1		1	0	0	0
	RDE	14	14		0	2	16	1
	LG	14	14		0	2	2	0
	RLB	14	14		0	2	0	0
	LLB	13	13		0	2	0	0
	MLB	12	7		0	2	0	0
	RT	14	14		0	2	0	0
	SS	14	11		0	1	5	0
	DB	3	3		0	1	5	0
	TE	14	0		0	1	0	0
	LCB	14	14		0	1	0	0
	LT	14	14		0	1	0	0
	WR	6	0		0	1	0	0
	MLB	13	8		0	1	0	0
	G	12	0		0	1	0	0
	RDT	14	14		0	1	0	0
Team Total		14			27	30	28	1
Opp Total		14			28	13		0

Tackles

Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Player	Pos	G	GS	RshTD	RecTD	PR TD	KR TD	FblTD	IntTD	OthTD	AllTD	XPM	XPA	FGM	FGA	Sfty	Pts	Pts/G
	K	14	0									40	41	14	30		82	5.9
	RB	12	12	8	4						12						72	6.0
	TE	14	14		7						7						42	3.0
	WR	14	14		7						7						42	3.0
	FB	14	14	6							6						36	2.6
	WR	14	14		3						3						18	1.3
	RB	14	1	2							2						12	0.9
	WR	6	0							1	1					1	8	1.3
	RCB	14	14							1	1						6	0.4
	RDE	14	14					1			1						6	0.4
	RLB	14	14						1		1						6	0.4
	RB	2	1	1							1						6	3.0
Team Total		14		17	21			1	1	2	42	40	41	14	30	1	336
Opp Total		14		12	10				1		23	23	23	19	33		218

Team

Team
			Total Yds & TO					Passing							Rushing					Penalties
Player	PF	Yds	Ply	Y/P	TO	FL	1stD	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int	NY/A	1stD	Att	Yds	TD	Y/A	1stD	Pen	Yds	1stPy
Team Stats	336	4275	808	5.3	26	11	235	159	284	2193	21	15	7.4	106	513	2082	17	4.1	110	78	721	19
Opp Stats	218	3595	829	4.3	32	15	223	186	367	1862	10	17	4.6	108	427	1733	12	4.1	95	64	568	20
Lg Rank Offense	7	11			3	8	14		23	12	3	8	2		6	10	6	14
Lg Rank Defense	3	4			14	10	9		21	6	3	16	4		4	7	10	13

Quarter-by-quarter

Quarter-by-quarter
Team	1	2	3	4	T
Redskins	30	105	92	109	336
Opponent	58	56	43	61	218

Postseason

See main article: 1972–73 NFL playoffs.

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Time	TV	Result	Venue	Attendance	Recap
Divisional	December 24	Green Bay Packers	12Noon EST	CBS	W 16–3	RFK Stadium	53,140	Recap
NFC Championship	December 31	Dallas Cowboys	3:00p.m. EST	CBS	W 26–3	RFK Stadium	53,129	Recap
Super Bowl VII	January 14, 1973	Miami Dolphins	3:30p.m. EST	NBC	L 7–14	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	90,182	Recap

Playoff Game Officials

Playoff
Round	Opponent	Referee	Umpire	Head Linesman	Line Judge	Back Judge	Field Judge	Alternate
			(15) Ralph Morcroft		(59) Bob Beeks
			(57) Joe Connell		(33) Art Hoist
				(36) Tony Veteri Sr.			(50) Tony Skover	(81) Fred Silva (41) Walt Parker

Playoff Game summaries

NFC Divisional Playoffs (Sunday, December 24, 1972): vs. Green Bay Packers

Point spread

Redskins –5

Time of Game:

Packers	Game Statistics	Redskins
10	First downs	13
29–78	Rushes–yards	36–138
150	Passing yards	100
12–24–1		7–14–0
2–17	Sacked–yards	1–6
133	Net passing yards	94
211	Total yards	232
95	Return yards	94
8–36.6		6–46.5
0–0	Fumbles–lost	1–1
6–54	Penalties–yards	4–30

NFC Championship Game (Sunday, December 31, 1972): vs. Dallas Cowboys

Point spread

Redskins –3

Time of Game:

Cowboys	Game Statistics	Redskins
8	First downs	16
21–96	Rushes–yards	44–122
98	Passing yards	194
9–21–0		14–18–0
3–25	Sacked–yards	0–0
73	Net passing yards	194
169	Total yards	316
49	Return yards	10
7–43.1		4–36.0
1–1	Fumbles–lost	2–1
4–30	Penalties–yards	4–38

Super Bowl VII (Sunday, January 14, 1973): vs. Miami Dolphins

See main article: Super Bowl VII.

Point spread

Redskins –3

Over/Under: 33.0 (under)
Time of Game: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Dolphins	Game Statistics	Redskins
12	First downs	16
37–184	Rushes–yards	36–141
88	Passing yards	104
8–11–0		14–28–3
2–19	Sacked–yards	2–17
69	Net passing yards	87
253	Total yards	228
132	Return yards	54
7–43.0		5–31.2
2–1	Fumbles–lost	1–0
3–35	Penalties–yards	3–25
27:29	Time of Possession	32:31

Awards and records

Larry Brown, NFL MVP^[2]
Larry Brown, Bert Bell Award^[3]
Larry Brown, AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year
Billy Kilmer, NFL leader (tied) in touchdown passes (19).^[4] NFL leader in passer rating (84.8).

Milestones

Notes and References

Web site: Washington Redskins at Gridiron Uniform Database . 2013-11-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131016222350/http://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/redskins.html . 2013-10-16 . dead .
NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY,, p. 400
Web site: Maxwell Football Club - Bert Bell Award Past Recipients . 2010-06-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090619081037/http://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/content/awards/bell/past_bell.htm . 2009-06-19 .
NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY,, p. 451