1972 Philadelphia Eagles season


The 1972 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 40th in the league. They failed to improve on their previous output of 6–7–1, winning only two games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the twelfth consecutive season.
Both of the Eagles' victories were one-point decisions on the road vs. AFC teams, 21-20 over the Kansas City Chiefs and 18-17 over the Houston Oilers. The meeting with the Chiefs was the last until 1992, and Kansas City did not come to Philadelphia until 1998.
Following the disastrous season, the third with three wins or fewer since 1968, general manager Pete Retzlaff resigned, and coach Ed Khayat was fired by owner Leonard Tose.

Offseason

The Eagles will hold training camp at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. This is the last year there, next year they would move camp to Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania only 7 miles from Veterans Stadium where they played their home games in Philadelphia.

NFL Draft

The 1972 NFL Draft was held on February 1–2, 1972. the draft was 17 rounds and a total of 443 players were chosen
The Eagle chose John Reaves a quarterback from the University of Florida with the 14th pick in the 1st round. They would have the pick 14th in the 17 rounds. They chose 17 players in this year's draft.
The number 1 overall pick went to the Buffalo Bills who chose Walt Patulski a Defensive end out of the University of Notre Dame
In the 2nd round with the 40th pick, Atlanta Falcons took 1971 Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan a Quarterback out of Auburn University

Player Selections

The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with.
Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.

Roster

Pre-Season

Regular season

On November 12, Tom Dempsey kicked six field goals in one game.

Schedule

Game Recaps

A recap of the scoring plays and the game scores by quarters during the year. The record after the team's name reflects this games outcome also.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Sunday, November 12, 1972
Played at Houston Astrodome on AstroTurf in 72F degrees indoors
1234Total
Philadelphia Eagles 690318
Houston Oilers 037717

Week 10

Week 11

Sunday, November 26, 1972
Played at Yankee Stadium on grass in 50F degrees with a 15 MPH wind
1Q2Q3Q4QTotal
Philadelphia Eagles 370010
New York Giants 1424101462

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Standings

Post Season

At the 1972 season end Head Coach Ed Khayat is fired. Mike McCormack a Washington Redskins assistant coach from 1965–1972 was hired in his place. Khayat was never an NFL head coach again, although he was head coach of the New Orleans Night of the Arena Football League in 1991.

Awards and honors