1972 Oakland Raiders season

1972 Oakland Raiders season
Owner	Al Davis
General manager	Al Davis
Head coach	John Madden
Home field	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 7–13

The 1972 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 13th season. The Raiders won the AFC West for the second time in three seasons. They lost in the AFC Division Round to the Pittsburgh Steelers when Franco Harris scored the game-winning touchdown on the Immaculate Reception. The Raiders still dispute that this was an illegal touchdown to this day.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1972 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Roster

1972 Oakland Raiders roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 3 Daryle Lamonica 15 Don Milan 12 Ken Stabler Running backs (RB) 40 Pete Banaszak 28 Clarence Davis 32 Don Highsmith 44 Marv Hubbard 23 Charlie Smith Wide receivers (WR) 25 Fred Biletnikoff 21 Cliff Branch 49 Mike Siani Tight ends (TE) 87 Raymond Chester 88 Bob Moore

Offensive linemen (OL) 76 Bob Brown T 64 George Buehler G 50 Dave Dalby C 00 Jim Otto C 65 Paul Seiler G 78 Art Shell T 63 Gene Upshaw G Defensive linemen (DL) 84 Tony Cline DE 82 Horace Jones DE 74 Tom Keating DT 71 Kelvin Korver DT 60 Otis Sistrunk DE 80 Art Thoms DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Dan Conners 51 Joe Carroll 86 Gerald Irons 54 Terry Mendenhall 34 Gus Otto 45 Greg Slough 41 Phil Villapiano Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}} Special teams 16 George Blanda K 4 Jerry DePoyster P

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 17, 1972	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 34–28	50,141
2	September 24, 1972	at Green Bay Packers	W 20–14	56,263
3	October 1, 1972	San Diego Chargers	T 17–17	53,455
4	October 9, 1972	at Houston Oilers	W 34–0	51,378
5	October 15, 1972	Buffalo Bills	W 28–16	53,501
6	October 22, 1972	Denver Broncos	L 30–23	53,551
7	October 29, 1972	Los Angeles Rams	W 45–17	54,660
8	November 5, 1972	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 27–14	82,094
9	November 12, 1972	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–14	59,485
10	November 19, 1972	at Denver Broncos	W 37–20	51,656
11	November 26, 1972	Kansas City Chiefs	W 26–3	54,801
12	December 3, 1972	at San Diego Chargers	W 21–19	54,611
13	December 11, 1972	New York Jets	W 24–16	54,843
14	December 17, 1972	Chicago Bears	W 28–21	54,711

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 7 0 21 28 • Steelers 14 3 10 7 34 Date: September 17 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 72 °F, wind 13

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 10 0 10 0 20 Packers 7 7 0 0 14 Date: September 24 Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 61 °F, wind 10

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Chargers 0 7 0 10 17 Raiders 14 0 0 3 17 Date: October 1 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 61 °F, wind 10

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 3 7 3 21 34 Oilers 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 9 Location: Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas Game start: 8:00 p.m. Game weather: indoors (dome) Television network: ABC

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Lakers 3 10 0 3 16 • Raiders 0 0 7 21 28 Date: October 15 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 62 °F, wind 13

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 7 17 0 6 30 Raiders 0 3 10 10 23 Date: October 22 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 60 °F, wind 5

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 3 7 7 17 • Raiders 28 7 0 10 45 Date: October 29 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 55 °F, wind 13

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 0 7 7 14 • Chiefs 0 17 3 7 27 Date: November 5 Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri Game start: 3:00 p.m. Game weather: 53 °F, wind 12

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 0 3 7 10 20 Bengals 0 7 0 7 14 Date: November 12 Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 44 °F, wind 6

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 7 13 3 14 37 Broncos 10 3 0 7 20 Date: November 19 Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado Game start: 12:00 p.m. Game weather: 30 °F, wind 9

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Chiefs 0 3 0 0 3 • Raiders 10 13 0 3 26 Date: November 26 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 50 °F, wind 8

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 7 7 0 7 21 Chargers 0 10 6 3 19 Date: December 3 Location: San Diego Stadium, San Diego, California Game start: 1:00 p.m.

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 7 6 0 3 16 • Raiders 3 7 7 7 24 Date: December 11 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 6:00 p.m. Game weather: 34 °F, wind 9

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 7 0 7 7 21 • Raiders 7 0 7 14 28 Date: December 17 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 44 °F, wind 11

Scoring summary 1 CHI Ron Smith 94-yard kickoff return (Mac Percival kick) CHI 7–0 1 OAK Charlie Smith 14-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica (George Blanda kick) Tie 7–7 3 OAK Charlie Smith 19-yard pass from Ken Stabler (George Blanda kick) OAK 14–7 3 CHI Ross Brupbacher recovered fumble in end zone (Mac Percival kick) Tie 14–14 4 OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (George Blanda kick) OAK 21–14 4 OAK Clarence Davis 45-yard run (George Blanda kick) OAK 28–14 4 CHI Don Shy 1 yard run (Mac Percival kick) OAK 28–21

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders	10	3	1	.750	3–2–1	7–3–1	365	248	W6
Kansas City Chiefs	8	6	0	.571	4–2	6–5	287	254	W3
Denver Broncos	5	9	0	.357	2–4	4–6	325	350	W2
San Diego Chargers	4	9	1	.321	2–3–1	4–6–1	264	344	L3

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	December 23, 1972	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 13–7	50,350

Game summaries

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 0 0 7 7 • Steelers 0 0 3 10 13 Date: December 23 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 42 °F, wind 6 TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy

References

• Raiders on Pro Football Reference
• Raiders on Database Football