1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season

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

Staff

Preseason

Schedule

Game summaries

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 17, 1972): Oakland Raiders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Postseason

Game summaries

Week 15 (Saturday December 23, 1972): Oakland Raiders

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

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