The 1972 NFL season was the 53rd regular season of the National Football League. The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to finish a championship season undefeated and untied when they beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
Major rule changes
- The inbounds lines or hashmarks were moved closer to the center of the field, 23 yards, 1 foot, 9 inches from the sidelines. The hashmarks are now 18 feet, 6 inches apart (the same width as the goalposts), cutting down on severe angles for short field goal attempts.
- If a legal receiver goes out of bounds, either accidentally or forced out, and returns to touch or catch the pass in bounds, the penalty is a loss of down (but no penalty yardage will be assessed).
- If a punt or missed field goal crosses the receivers' goal line, a member of the receiving team may advance the ball into the field of play.
- All fouls committed by the offensive team behind the line of scrimmage will be assessed from the previous spot.
- Tie games, previously ignored in computing of winning percentage, were made equal to a half-game win and a half-game loss.
Division races
Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
| Week |
Eastern |
|
Central |
|
Western |
|
Wild Card |
|
| 1 |
3 teams |
1-0-0 |
2 teams |
1-0-0 |
3 teams |
1-0-0 |
5 teams |
1-0-0 |
| 2 |
2 teams |
2-0-0 |
MINNESOTA |
1-1-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
1-0-1 |
2 teams |
2-0-0 |
| 3 |
WASHINGTON |
2-1-0 |
2 teams |
2-1-0 |
2 teams |
2-1-0 |
3 teams |
2-1-0 |
| 4 |
WASHINGTON |
3-1-0 |
DETROIT* |
3-1-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
2-1-1 |
2 teams |
3-1-0 |
| 5 |
WASHINGTON |
4-1-0 |
GREEN BAY |
4-1-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
3-1-1 |
DALLAS |
4-1-0 |
| 6 |
WASHINGTON |
5-1-0 |
GREEN BAY* |
4-2-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
4-1-1 |
4 teams |
4-2-0 |
| 7 |
WASHINGTON |
6-1-0 |
GREEN BAY* |
4-3-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
4-2-1 |
DALLAS |
5-2-0 |
| 8 |
WASHINGTON |
7-1-0 |
GREEN BAY* |
5-3-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
5-2-1 |
DALLAS |
6-2-0 |
| 9 |
WASHINGTON |
8-1-0 |
GREEN BAY |
6-3-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
5-3-1 |
DALLAS |
7-2-0 |
| 10 |
WASHINGTON |
9-1-0 |
GREEN BAY |
7-3-0 |
LOS ANGELES* |
5-4-1 |
DALLAS |
8-2-0 |
| 11 |
WASHINGTON |
10-1-0 |
GREEN BAY* |
7-4-0 |
SAN FRANCISCO |
6-4-1 |
DALLAS |
8-3-0 |
| 12 |
WASHINGTON |
11-1-0 |
GREEN BAY |
8-4-0 |
ATLANTA |
7-5-0 |
DALLAS |
9-3-0 |
| 13 |
WASHINGTON |
11-2-0 |
GREEN BAY |
9-4-0 |
SAN FRANCISCO |
7-5-1 |
DALLAS |
10-3-0 |
| 14 |
WASHINGTON |
11-3-0 |
GREEN BAY |
10-4-0 |
SAN FRANCISCO |
8-5-1 |
DALLAS |
10-4-0 |
American Football Conference
| Week |
Eastern |
|
Central |
|
Western |
|
Wild Card |
|
| 1 |
2 teams |
1-0-0 |
2 teams |
1-0-0 |
DENVER |
1-0-0 |
2 teams |
1-0-0 |
| 2 |
2 teams |
2-0-0 |
CINCINNATI |
2-0-0 |
4 teams |
1-1-0 |
2 teams |
2-0-0 |
| 3 |
MIAMI |
3-0-0 |
CLEVELAND |
2-1-0 |
KANSAS CITY |
2-1-0 |
4 teams |
2-1-0 |
| 4 |
MIAMI |
4-0-0 |
CINCINNATI |
3-1-0 |
KANSAS CITY |
3-1-0 |
SAN DIEGO* |
2-1-1 |
| 5 |
MIAMI |
5-0-0 |
CINCINNATI |
4-1-0 |
OAKLAND |
3-1-1 |
N.Y. JETS* |
3-2-0 |
| 6 |
MIAMI |
6-0-0 |
CINCINNATI* |
4-2-0 |
OAKLAND |
3-2-1 |
PITTSBURGH* |
4-2-0 |
| 7 |
MIAMI |
7-0-0 |
CINCINNATI* |
5-2-0 |
OAKLAND |
4-2-1 |
PITTSBURGH* |
5-2-0 |
| 8 |
MIAMI |
8-0-0 |
PITTSBURGH |
6-2-0 |
KANSAS CITY |
5-3-0 |
CLEVELAND* |
5-3-0 |
| 9 |
MIAMI |
9-0-0 |
PITTSBURGH |
7-2-0 |
OAKLAND |
5-3-1 |
CLEVELAND* |
6-3-0 |
| 10 |
MIAMI |
10-0-0 |
CLEVELAND |
7-3-0 |
OAKLAND |
6-3-1 |
PITTSBURGH |
7-3-0 |
| 11 |
MIAMI |
11-0-0 |
CLEVELAND |
8-3-0 |
OAKLAND |
7-3-1 |
PITTSBURGH |
8-3-0 |
| 12 |
MIAMI |
12-0-0 |
PITTSBURGH |
9-3-0 |
OAKLAND |
8-3-1 |
CLEVELAND |
8-4-0 |
| 13 |
MIAMI |
13-0-0 |
PITTSBURGH |
10-3-0 |
OAKLAND |
9-3-1 |
CLEVELAND |
9-4-0 |
| 14 |
MIAMI |
14-0-0 |
PITTSBURGH |
11-3-0 |
OAKLAND |
10-3-1 |
CLEVELAND |
10-4-0 |
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
x - clinched wild card berth, y - clinched division title
Note: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings
Playoffs
- Note: Prior to the 1975 season, the home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly rotation.
See also
References
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