1972 New Orleans Saints season

1972 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	J. D. Roberts
Owner	John W. Mecom, Jr.
Home field	Tulane Stadium
Results
Record	2–11–1
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1972 New Orleans Saints season was the team's sixth as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They failed to improve on their previous season's output of 4–8–2, winning only two games.^[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

The Saints suffered through their second 2-11-1 season in three years. It would be their worst until they went 2-12 in 1975.

Offseason

NFL draft

1972 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	8	Royce Smith	Guard	Georgia
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1972 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. Executive Vice President – Richard F. Gordon, Jr. Head coaches Head Coach – J. D. Roberts Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Ken Shipp Offensive Line – Jim Royer			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Jim Champion Linebackers – Marv Matuszak Defensive Backfield – Bud Whitehead

^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 17, 1972	at Los Angeles Rams	L 34–14	66,303
2	September 25, 1972	Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–17	70,793
3	October 1, 1972	San Francisco 49ers	L 37–2	69,840
4	October 8, 1972	at New York Giants	L 45–21	62,507
5	October 15, 1972	Atlanta Falcons	L 21–14	66,294
6	October 22, 1972	at San Francisco 49ers	T 20–20	59,167
7	October 29, 1972	Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–3	65,664
8	November 5, 1972	at Minnesota Vikings	L 37–6	49,784
9	November 12, 1972	at Atlanta Falcons	L 36–20	58,850
10	November 19, 1972	at Detroit Lions	L 27–14	53,752
11	November 26, 1972	Los Angeles Rams	W 19–16	64,325
12	December 3, 1972	at New York Jets	L 18–17	62,496
13	December 10, 1972	New England Patriots	L 17–10	64,889
14	December 17, 1972	Green Bay Packers	L 30–20	65,881

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers	8	5	1	.607	3–2–1	6–4–1	353	249	W2
Atlanta Falcons	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–5	269	274	L2
Los Angeles Rams	6	7	1	.464	4–2	5–5–1	291	286	L2
New Orleans Saints	2	11	1	.179	1–4–1	2–8–1	215	361	L3

Notable events

• In their third game against the 49ers, the Saints became the thirty-second NFL team and the first since the 1970 Cleveland Browns, to score only a safety in a full game. This occurred again in the last week of the regular season, but after that has occurred only by the 1980 Buffalo Bills, the 1983 Minnesota Vikings and the 1993 Cincinnati Bengals.

References

1. 1972 New Orleans Saints
2. "1972 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
3. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Retrieved November 4, 2014.