1972 Washington Redskins season

The 1972 Washington Redskins season was the team's 41st, and 36th in Washington, D.C. The Redskins were trying to build on the success of the previous season, in which they had made the postseason for the first time in 26 seasons.

1972 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Edward Bennett Williams
Head coach	George Allen
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Packers) 16–3 Won NFC Championship (Cowboys) 26–3 Lost Super Bowl VII (Dolphins) 14–7

The Redskins playing against the Dolphins in Super Bowl VII.

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 former logo, which featured a Native American head in profile within a gold circle.[1] With the Washington Senators relocating to Texas in 1971 and the Baltimore Bullets not relocating until 1973 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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
8	203	Moses Denson	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	Don Bunce	Quarterback	Stanford
13	332	Frank Grant	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

Roster

1972 Washington Redskins roster

	Quarterbacks 9 Sonny Jurgensen 17 Billy Kilmer 18 Sam Wyche Running backs 43 Larry Brown 26 Bob Brunet 31 Charlie Harraway FB 25 Mike Hull 28 Herb Mul-Key Wide receivers 86 Boyd Dowler 80 Roy Jefferson 24 Bill Malinchak 85 Clifton McNeil 42 Charley Taylor Tight ends 81 Mack Alston 87 Jerry Smith		Offensive linemen 58 George Burman C 56 Len Hauss C 75 Terry Hermeling T 73 Paul Laaveg G 76 Walt Rock T 62 Ray Schoenke G 74 Jim Snowden T 60 John Wilbur G Defensive linemen 89 Verlon Biggs DE 77 Bill Brundige DT 68 Mike Fanucci DE 82 Jimmie Jones DE 79 Ron McDole DE 64 Manny Sistrunk DT 72 Diron Talbert DT		Linebackers 55 Chris Hanburger 53 Harold McLinton 32 Jack Pardee 66 Myron Pottios 67 Rusty Tillman Defensive backs 41 Mike Bass CB 45 Speedy Duncan CB 37 Pat Fischer CB 13 Alvin Haymond 23 Brig Owens S 16 Richie Petitbon SS 22 Rosey Taylor FS 29 Ted Vactor Special teams 4 Mike Bragg P 5 Curt Knight K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Game recap
1	September 18	at Minnesota Vikings	W 24–21	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	47,900	Recap
2	September 24	St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–10	2–0	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
3	October 1	at New England Patriots	L 23–24	2–1	Schaefer Stadium	60,999	Recap
4	October 8	Philadelphia Eagles	W 14–0	3–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
5	October 15	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 33–3	4–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,454	Recap
6	October 22	Dallas Cowboys	W 24–20	5–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
7	October 29	at New York Giants	W 23–16	6–1	Yankee Stadium	62,878	Recap
8	November 5	at New York Jets	W 35–17	7–1	Shea Stadium	63,962	Recap
9	November 12	New York Giants	W 27–13	8–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
10	November 20	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–13	9–1	RFK Stadium	53,034	Recap
11	November 26	Green Bay Packers	W 21–16	10–1	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap
12	December 3	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 23–7	11–1	Veterans Stadium	65,720	Recap
13	December 9	at Dallas Cowboys	L 24–34	11–2	Texas Stadium	65,136	Recap
14	December 17	Buffalo Bills	L 17–24	11–3	RFK Stadium	53,039	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Washington Redskins	11	3	0	.786	7–1	10–1	336	218	L2
Dallas Cowboys	10	4	0	.714	6–2	7–4	319	240	L1
New York Giants	8	6	0	.571	5–3	7–4	331	247	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	4	9	1	.321	1–6–1	3–7–1	193	303	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	2	11	1	.179	0–7–1	0–10–1	145	352	L5

Postseason

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance	Game recap
Divisional	December 24	Green Bay Packers	W 16–3	RFK Stadium	53,140	Recap
NFC Championship	December 31	Dallas Cowboys	W 26–3	RFK Stadium	53,129	Recap
Super Bowl VII	January 14, 1973	Miami Dolphins	L 7–14	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	90,182	Recap

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).

References

1. "Washington Redskins at Gridiron Uniform Database". Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 400
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2010-06-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 451