| The Patriots had visions of improving on their 1971 finish, their best showing in 5 years, with young Jim Plunkett leading the charge. Gone were veteran Patriots such as career rushing leader Jim Nance, defensive stalwarts Houston Antwine and Don Webb from the team. The Patriots got off to a quick start by eeking out a pair of one point victories over the Falcons and Redskins and stood at 2-1 after three weeks. However, an on going fued between ?General Manager Upton Bell and Coach John Mazur spread to the field as the Patriots would lose their next 9 games in a row to include a 52-0 drubbing at the hands of the undefeated Dolphins. Coach Mazur quit after a 2-7 start and was replaced by legendary Vince Lombardi assitstant coach Phil Bengston. Interim Coach Bengston would guide the team to a 1-4 finish as the Patriots returned to last place in the division after a one year abscence. The team's struggles were mirrored by the Plunkett to Vataha struggles. While Plunkett put up similar numbers, his TD to INT ratio went from 19-16 to 8-25 and Vataha numbers dropped drastically from 51 catches to 25. By the end both Bell and Mazur were gone and replaced by Coach Chuck Fairbanks. |
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| Passing Cmp Att Pct. Yards TDs INTs QBRtg Jim Plunkett 169 355 47.6 2196 8 25 45.7 Brian Dowling 29 54 53.7 383 2 1 81.0 Pat Studstill 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 39.6 Bob Gladieux 0 1 0.0 0 0 1 0.0 Carl Garrett 0 1 0.0 0 0 1 0.0 |
| Rushing Att. Yards AVG TDs Josh Ashton 128 546 4.3 3 Carl Garrett 131 488 3.7 5 Jim Plunkett 36 230 6.4 1 John Tarver 42 132 3.1 0 Bob Gladieux 24 56 2.3 0 Brian Dowling 7 35 5.0 3 Jack Maitland 13 33 2.5 0 Pat Studstill 1 11 11.0 0 Reggie Rucker 3 5 1.7 0 Bob Winsdor 1 -4 -4.0 0 |
| Receiving Rec Yards AVG TDs Reggie Rucker 44 681 15.5 3 Bob Windsor 33 383 11.6 1 Carl Garrett 30 410 13.7 0 Randy Vataha 25 369 14.8 2 Josh Ashton 22 207 9.4 1 Bob Gladieux 19 192 10.0 0 John Tarver 11 112 10.0 0 Tom Reynolds 8 152 19.0 2 Jack Maitland 4 33 8.3 0 Tom Beer 2 40 20.0 0 |
| Kicking XP XPA FG FGA PTS Charlie Gogolak 9 9 6 8 27 Mike Walker 15 15 2 8 21 |
| Interceptions
Honor Jackson 4; Rickie Harris 3; Larry Crwell 1; George Haey 1; Dick Blanchard 1 |
| AFC East W L T .Pct PF PA Dolphins 14 0 0 1000 385 171 Jets 7 7 0 .500 367 324 Colts 5 9 0 .357 235 252 Bills 4 9 1 .321 257 377 Patriots 3 11 0 .214 192 446 AFC Division Playoffs: Pittsburgh 13 Oakland 7 Miami 20 Cincinnati 14 AFC Championship Miami 21 Pittsburgh 17 Superbowl VI Miami 14 Washington 7 |
| 1972 |
| Cincinnati 7-31 0-1 Atlanta 21-20 1-1 Washington 24-23 2-1 @Buffalo 14-38 2-2 N.Y. Jets 13-41 2-3 @Pittsburgh 3-33 2-4 @N.Y. Jets 10-34 2-5 Baltimore 17-24 2-6 @Miami 0-52 2-7 Buffalo 14-27 2-8 @Baltimore 0-31 2-9 Miami 21-37 2-10 @New Orleans 17-10 3-10 @Denver 21-45 3-11 |
| Roster QB - Brian Dowling QB - Jim Plunkett RB - Carl Garrett RB - Bob Gladieux RB - Jack Maitland RB - Henry Matthews FB - John Tarver HB/FB - Josh Ashton WR - Hubie Bryant WR - Tom Reynolds WR - Reggie Rucker WR/P - Pat Studstill WR - Randy Vataha TE - Tom Beer TE - Bob Windsor T - Mike Montler T - Tom Neville T - Bob Reynolds G - Sam Adams G - Len St. Jean G - Halvor Hagen C/G - Bill Lenkaitas C - Jon Morris DE - Ron Berger DE - Jim White DT/DE - Dennis Wirgowski DT - Rick Cash DT - Dave Rowe DT - Julius Adams LB - Ron Acks LB - Dick Blanchard LB - Jim Cheyunski LB - Ralph Condrich LB - Ron Kadziel LB - Steve Kiner LB - Ed Weisacosky DB - Ron Bolton DB - Larry Carwell DB - Rickie Harris DB - George Hoey DB - Honor Jackson DB - Art McMahon DB - John Outlaw DB - Clarence Scott K - Charlie Gogolak K - Mike Walker |
| Offense Ranking Points: 192 (24 of 26) Run: 386-1532 (23 of 26) Pass: 2579 (7 of 26) Defense Ranking Points: 446 (26 of 26) Run: 548-2717 (26 of 26) Pass: 2634 (25 of 26) |
| Pro Bowlers: None |
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| Coach: John Mazur 1972: 2-7 Career: 9-21 |
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| Coach: Phil Bengston 1972: 1-4 Career: 1-4 |
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