1972 Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) |
| 1st place American Football Conference Central Division 11-3-0 .786 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: Chuck Noll |
| Bud Carson | Defensive Backs |
| Bob Fry | Offensive Line |
| Dick Hoak | Offensive Backs |
| Babe Parilli | Quarterbacks |
| George Perles | Defensive Line |
| Charlie Sumner | Linebackers |
| Lionel Taylor | Receivers |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/5/1972 | H | New York Giants | 28-10 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 34715 | |
| Sat | 8/12/1972 | N | New York Jets | 22-3 | W | Seattle, WA | University of Washington Stadium | 44038 | |
| Sat | 8/19/1972 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 31-17 | W | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 53288 | |
| Sat | 8/26/1972 | N | Baltimore Colts | 13-16 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 37221 | |
| Sat | 9/2/1972 | N | New Orleans Saints | 56-7 | W | Memphis, TN | Liberty Bowl | 43302 | |
| Sun | 9/9/1972 | H | Washington Redskins | 10-10 | T | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 42227 | |
| Sun | 9/17/1972 | H | Oakland Raiders | 34-28 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50141 | |
| Sun | 9/24/1972 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 10-15 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 54292 | |
| Sun | 10/1/1972 | A | St. Louis Cardinals | 25-19 | W | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49140 | |
| Sun | 10/8/1972 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 13-17 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 65682 | |
| Sun | 10/15/1972 | H | Houston Oilers | 24-7 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 42929 | |
| Sun | 10/22/1972 | H | New England Patriots | 33-3 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 46081 | |
| Sun | 10/29/1972 | A | Buffalo Bills | 38-21 | W | Buffalo, NY | War Memorial Stadium | 45882 | |
| Sun | 11/5/1972 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 40-17 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50350 | |
| Sun | 11/12/1972 | H | Kansas City Chiefs | 16-7 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50350 | |
| Sun | 11/19/1972 | A | Cleveland Browns | 24-26 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 83009 | |
| Sun | 11/26/1972 | H | Minnesota Vikings | 23-10 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50348 | |
| Sun | 12/3/1972 | H | Cleveland Browns | 30-0 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50350 | |
| Sun | 12/10/1972 | A | Houston Oilers | 9-3 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 36528 | |
| Sun | 12/17/1972 | A | San Diego Chargers | 24-2 | W | San Diego, CA | San Diego Stadium | 52873 | |
| AFC Divisional Playoff | |||||||||
| Sat | 12/23/1972 | H | Oakland Raiders | 13-7 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50350 | |
| AFC Championship | |||||||||
| Sun | 12/31/1972 | H | Miami Dolphins | 17-21 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50350 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| 49 | Ralph Anderson | LS-LCB-TS-RCB | 6-1 | 180 | 23 | West Texas A&M | 14 | 7 |
| 46 | Warren Bankston | RB | 6-4 | 230 | 25 | Tulane | 7 | 0 |
| 37 | Chuck Beatty | LS | 6-2 | 203 | 26 | North Texas | 8 | 6 |
| 20 | Rocky Bleier | RB | 5-11 | 205 | 26 | Notre Dame | 14 | 0 |
| 47 | Mel Blount | RCB | 6-3 | 205 | 24 | Southern University | 14 | 14 |
| 38 | Ed Bradley | LLB-RLB-MLB | 6-2 | 239 | 22 | Wake Forest | 12 | 0 |
| 12 | Terry Bradshaw | QB | 6-3 | 210 | 24 | Louisiana Tech | 14 | 14 |
| 87 | Larry Brown | TE | 6-4 | 270 | 23 | Kansas | 9 | 1 |
| 44 | Lee Calland | RCB | 6-0 | 190 | 31 | Louisville | 7 | 1 |
| 60 | Jim Clack | C | 6-3 | 250 | 25 | Wake Forest | 14 | 0 |
| 53 | Henry Davis | MLB | 6-3 | 235 | 30 | Grambling State | 14 | 14 |
| 57 | Sam Davis | LOG | 6-1 | 245 | 28 | Allen | 11 | 11 |
| 35 | Steve Davis | RB | 6-1 | 216 | 24 | Delaware State | 11 | 0 |
| 29 | John Dockery | RCB-LCB | 6-0 | 186 | 28 | Harvard | 6 | 0 |
| 27 | Glen Edwards | RS-LS | 6-0 | 185 | 25 | Florida A&M | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | John Fuqua | RB | 5-11 | 200 | 26 | Morgan State | 13 | 13 |
| 64 | Steve Furness | LDT-RDT | 6-4 | 255 | 22 | Rhode Island | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | Roy Gerela | K | 5-10 | 185 | 24 | New Mexico State | 14 | 0 |
| 17 | Joe Gilliam | QB | 6-2 | 187 | 22 | Tennessee State | 2 | 0 |
| 71 | Gordon Gravelle | ROT-LOT | 6-5 | 255 | 23 | Brigham Young | 14 | 3 |
| 75 | Joe Greene | LDT | 6-4 | 270 | 26 | North Texas | 14 | 14 |
| 68 | L.C. Greenwood | LDE | 6-6 | 246 | 26 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 13 | 13 |
| 59 | Jack Ham | LLB | 6-3 | 224 | 24 | Penn State | 14 | 14 |
| 67 | Craig Hanneman | LDE-RDT-RDE | 6-3 | 240 | 23 | Oregon State | 13 | 1 |
| 5 | Terry Hanratty | QB | 6-1 | 206 | 24 | Notre Dame | 7 | 0 |
| 32 | Franco Harris | RB | 6-2 | 225 | 22 | Penn State | 14 | 10 |
| 63 | Ernie Holmes | RDT-LDT | 6-3 | 260 | 24 | Texas Southern | 14 | 0 |
| 77 | Mel Holmes | ROG-ROT | 6-3 | 251 | 22 | North Carolina A&T State | 14 | 1 |
| 55 | Jon Kolb | LOT | 6-2 | 240 | 25 | Oklahoma State | 14 | 14 |
| 43 | Frank Lewis | WR | 6-1 | 196 | 25 | Grambling State | 13 | 8 |
| 56 | Ray Mansfield | C | 6-3 | 252 | 31 | Washington | 14 | 14 |
| 60 | Ben McGee | RDT | 6-2 | 255 | 33 | Jackson State | 14 | 14 |
| 89 | John McMakin | TE | 6-3 | 225 | 22 | Clemson | 14 | 13 |
| 72 | Gerry Mullins | ROT-LOG | 6-3 | 244 | 23 | Southern California | 14 | 14 |
| 26 | Preston Pearson | RB | 6-1 | 190 | 27 | Illinois | 11 | 5 |
| 48 | John Rowser | LCB | 6-1 | 183 | 28 | Michigan | 14 | 14 |
| 34 | Andy Russell | RLB | 6-2 | 217 | 31 | Missouri | 14 | 14 |
| 25 | Ron Shanklin | WR | 6-1 | 183 | 24 | Cooke County JC; North Texas | 14 | 13 |
| 88 | Dave Smith | WR | 6-1 | 205 | 25 | Waynesburg; Indiana (Pennsylvania) | 6 | 6 |
| 61 | Brian Stenger | MLB-RLB | 6-4 | 233 | 25 | Notre Dame | 14 | 0 |
| 66 | Bruce Van Dyke | ROG | 6-2 | 248 | 28 | Missouri | 13 | 13 |
| 23 | Mike Wagner | RS | 6-1 | 200 | 23 | Western Illinois | 14 | 14 |
| 39 | Bobby Walden | P | 6-0 | 192 | 34 | Georgia | 14 | 0 |
| 90 | George Webster | RLB-LLB | 6-4 | 225 | 27 | Michigan State | 6 | 1 |
| 78 | Dwight White | RDE | 6-4 | 253 | 23 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 14 | 14 |
| 36 | Carl Winfrey | LLB | 6-0 | 230 | 23 | Wisconsin | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | Al Young | WR | 6-1 | 195 | 23 | South Carolina State | 14 | 1 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 13 | Franco Harris | RB | Penn State |
| 2 | 38 | Gordon Gravelle | T | Brigham Young |
| 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 | Bob 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 | T | Michigan State |
| 13 | 323 | Ernie Messmer | T | Villanova |
| 14 | 348 | Tommy Durrance | RB | Florida |
| 15 | 368 | John Hulecki | G | Massachusetts |
| 15 | 373 | Charlie Harrington | G | Wichita State |
| 16 | 403 | Nat Hawkins | WR | Nevada-Las Vegas |
| 17 | 428 | Ron Linehan | LB | Idaho |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 66 | 103 | 73 | 101 | |
| Opponents Totals | 28 | 40 | 46 | 61 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 228 | 131 | 79 | 18 | 66/188 35.1% | / % | 81 | 728 | |
| Opponents Totals | 228 | 88 | 116 | 24 | 70/208 33.7% | / % | 77 | 712 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Gerela | 0 | 35 | 36 | 97.2 | 28 | 41 | 68.3 | 0 | 119 |
| Franco Harris | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | ||
| Terry Bradshaw | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | ||
| Frank Lewis | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| John Fuqua | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Ron Shanklin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Mel Blount | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Larry Brown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Henry Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Steve Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jack Ham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| John McMakin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Gerry Mullins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Ralph Anderson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| (Team) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 37 | 35 | 37 | 94.6 | 28 | 41 | 68.3 | 1 | 343 |
| Opponents Totals | 18 | 17 | 18 | 94.4 | 16 | 27 | 59.3 | 1 | 175 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Gerela | 28 | 41 | 68.3 | 4 | 49 | 9/9 | 8/10 | 8/12 | 3/9 | 0/1 |
| Team Totals | 28 | 41 | 68.3 | 4 | 49 | 9/9 | 8/10 | 8/12 | 3/9 | 0/1 |
| Opponents Totals | 16 | 27 | 59.3 | 3/3 | 4/6 | 6/9 | 3/6 | 0/3 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franco Harris | 188 | 1055 | 5.6 | 75t | 10 |
| John Fuqua | 150 | 665 | 4.4 | 47 | 4 |
| Terry Bradshaw | 58 | 346 | 6.0 | 20t | 7 |
| Preston Pearson | 67 | 264 | 3.9 | 21 | 0 |
| Steve Davis | 20 | 85 | 4.3 | 28t | 1 |
| Frank Lewis | 3 | 68 | 22.7 | 41 | 0 |
| Warren Bankston | 7 | 20 | 2.9 | 11 | 0 |
| Rocky Bleier | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| John McMakin | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Gilliam | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 497 | 2520 | 5.1 | 75t | 22 |
| Opponents Totals | 445 | 1715 | 3.9 | 94t | 6 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Bradshaw | 308 | 147 | 147 | 149 | 1887 | 6.1 | 12.8 | 78t | 12 | 3.9 | 12 | 3.9 | 29 | 237 | 1650 | 64.1 |
| Joe Gilliam | 11 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 48 | 4.4 | 6.9 | 9 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 8 | 40 | 73.3 |
| Terry Hanratty | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 5.8 | 11.5 | 14 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 67.7 |
| Bobby Walden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Team Totals | 324 | 156 | 156 | 156 | 1958 | 6.0 | 12.6 | 78t | 12 | 3.7 | 12 | 3.7 | 32 | 247 | 1711 | 64.3 |
| Opponents Totals | 411 | 206 | 206 | 177 | 2393 | 5.8 | 11.6 | 70t | 9 | 2.2 | 28 | 6.8 | 40 | 337 | 2056 | 47.0 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Shanklin | 38 | 669 | 17.6 | 57 | 3 |
| Frank Lewis | 27 | 391 | 14.5 | 52 | 5 |
| John McMakin | 21 | 277 | 13.2 | 78t | 1 |
| Franco Harris | 21 | 180 | 8.6 | 29 | 1 |
| John Fuqua | 18 | 152 | 8.4 | 28 | 0 |
| Preston Pearson | 11 | 79 | 7.2 | 15 | 0 |
| Dave Smith | 10 | 98 | 9.8 | 25 | 0 |
| Al Young | 6 | 86 | 14.3 | 33 | 0 |
| Larry Brown | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13t | 1 |
| Warren Bankston | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Steve Davis | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Gerry Mullins | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3t | 1 |
| Team Totals | 156 | 1958 | 12.6 | 78t | 12 |
| Opponents Totals | 206 | 2393 | 11.6 | 70t | 9 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Ham | 7 | 83 | 11.9 | 32t | 1 |
| Mike Wagner | 6 | 77 | 12.8 | 35 | 0 |
| John Rowser | 4 | 30 | 7.5 | 23 | 0 |
| Mel Blount | 3 | 75 | 25.0 | 34 | 0 |
| Ralph Anderson | 3 | 68 | 22.7 | 41 | 0 |
| Henry Davis | 2 | 32 | 16.0 | 28 | 0 |
| Chuck Beatty | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Glen Edwards | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 28 | 395 | 14.1 | 41 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 12 | 195 | 16.3 | 65t | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Walden | 65 | 2846 | 43.8 | 72 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 169 | 37.9 | |
| Roy Gerela | 1 | 29 | 29.0 | 29 | 0 | |||||
| Team Totals | 66 | 2875 | 43.6 | 72 | 2 | 169 | ||||
| Opponents Totals | 74 | 2982 | 40.3 | 65 | 1 | 262 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Edwards | 22 | 19 | 202 | 9.2 | 54 | 0 |
| Frank Lewis | 5 | 1 | 56 | 11.2 | 26 | 0 |
| Rocky Bleier | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Preston Pearson | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 30 | 20 | 262 | 8.7 | 54 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 37 | 10 | 169 | 4.6 | 30 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Pearson | 13 | 292 | 22.5 | 42 | 0 | |
| Franco Harris | 8 | 183 | 22.9 | 32 | 0 | |
| Steve Davis | 7 | 207 | 29.6 | 82 | 0 | |
| Rocky Bleier | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Warren Bankston | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Glen Edwards | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 | |
| John McMakin | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 33 | 760 | 23.0 | 82 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 54 | 1190 | 22.0 | 47 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Greene | 11.0 | |
| Dwight White | 10.0 | |
| L.C. Greenwood | 4.0 | |
| Ernie Holmes | 4.0 | |
| Ralph Anderson | 2.0 | |
| Jack Ham | 2.0 | |
| Craig Hanneman | 2.0 | |
| Ben McGee | 2.0 | |
| Mike Wagner | 2.0 | |
| Andy Russell | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 40.0 | 337.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 32.0 | 247.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ralph Anderson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Warren Bankston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rocky Bleier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mel Blount | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 1 |
| Terry Bradshaw | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -9 | 0 | |
| Larry Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Davis | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Davis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Glen Edwards | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Fuqua | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | |
| Joe Greene | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Ham | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Terry Hanratty | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Franco Harris | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -5 | 0 | |
| Ernie Holmes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mel Holmes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Lewis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ben McGee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Mullins | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Preston Pearson | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Andy Russell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Dwight White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 27 | 16 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 28 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 37 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 0 |
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