1972 Season
11-3 Regular Season • AFC Central Champion • AFC Championship Game
Season Summary: After 40 years of losing football, 1972 was the year everything changed. The Steelers went 11-3, won the first division title in franchise history and finally looked like a team with a future.
A huge reason was rookie Franco Harris. Pittsburgh took him 13th overall in the draft and he immediately transformed the offense, rushing for 1,055 yards and 10 TDs and winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. Terry Bradshaw was still developing, but he started all 14 games, cut his interceptions from 22 to 12 and added 346 rushing yards and 7 TDs of his own.
The Steelers closed the regular season by winning 4 straight. The biggest was a 30-0 demolition of Cleveland with the AFC Central on the line, a game that left no doubt Pittsburgh had arrived. They finished 11-3 and headed to the postseason carrying expectations the franchise had never really known before.
Then came December 23. Trailing Oakland 7-6 with 22 seconds left and facing 4th-and-10, Bradshaw's desperation pass ricocheted backward and Franco made a shoestring catch and raced 60 yards for the Immaculate Reception. It was the first playoff win in Steelers history and ultimately became the most famous play in NFL history.
Pittsburgh's run ended a week later with a 21-17 loss to the undefeated Dolphins in the AFC Championship. But 1972 wasn't really an ending... it was the beginning. And the best was yet to come.
Click WATCH to watch the game.
Regular Season
Swipe left/right to view all statistics.
| Game | Week | Date | Result | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rate | Sk | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng | ||||
| vs Raiders | 1* | 09/17 | W 34-28 | 7 | 17 | 41.2 | 124 | 7.3 | 1 | 3 | — | 46.8 | 3 | 7 | 49 | 7.0 | 2 | — |
| at Bengals | 2* | 09/24 | L 10-15 | 18 | 34 | 52.9 | 170 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | — | 67.0 | 4 | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 1 | — |
| at Cardinals | 3* | 10/01 | W 25-19 | 25 | 40 | 62.5 | 229 | 5.7 | 1 | 1 | — | 75.9 | 2 | 7 | 35 | 5.0 | 1 | — |
| at Cowboys | 4* | 10/08 | L 13-17 | 12 | 39 | 30.8 | 166 | 4.3 | 0 | 1 | — | 34.8 | 3 | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | 0 | — |
| vs Oilers | 5* | 10/15 | W 24-7 | 9 | 19 | 47.4 | 70 | 3.7 | 1 | 0 | — | 74.4 | 3 | 7 | 34 | 4.9 | 1 | — |
| vs Patriots | 6* | 10/22 | W 33-3 | 7 | 11 | 63.6 | 173 | 15.7 | 1 | 0 | — | 137.5 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 | — |
| at Bills | 7* | 10/29 | W 38-21 | 9 | 17 | 52.9 | 93 | 5.5 | 1 | 1 | — | 64.1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 1 | — |
| vs Bengals | 8* | 11/05 | W 40-17 | 10 | 20 | 50.0 | 190 | 9.5 | 3 | 0 | — | 122.9 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | — |
| vs Chiefs | 9* | 11/12 | W 16-7 | 8 | 20 | 40.0 | 92 | 4.6 | 0 | 3 | — | 15.0 | 2 | 5 | 34 | 6.8 | 0 | — |
| at Browns | 10* | 11/19 | L 24-26 | 10 | 21 | 47.6 | 136 | 6.5 | 1 | 1 | — | 64.8 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 0 | — |
| WATCHvs Vikings | 11* | 11/26 | W 23-10 | 7 | 19 | 36.8 | 93 | 4.9 | 1 | 1 | — | 48.8 | 1 | 6 | 28 | 4.7 | 1 | — |
| WATCHvs Browns | 12* | 12/03 | W 30-0 | 9 | 17 | 52.9 | 162 | 9.5 | 1 | 0 | — | 105.5 | 1 | 5 | 27 | 5.4 | 0 | — |
| at Oilers | 13* | 12/10 | W 9-3 | 4 | 11 | 36.4 | 37 | 3.4 | 0 | 0 | — | 46.4 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 0 | — |
| at Chargers | 14* | 12/17 | W 24-2 | 12 | 23 | 52.2 | 152 | 6.6 | 1 | 1 | — | 69.5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 0 | — |
| 1972 TOTAL | 14 | — | 11-3 | 147 | 308 | 47.7 | 1,887 | 6.1 | 12 | 12 | 78 | 64.1 | 29 | 58 | 346 | 6.0 | 7 | 20 |
* Bradshaw started
Postseason
| Game | Week | Date | Result | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rate | Sk | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Lng | ||||
| WATCHvs Raiders | DIV* | 12/23 | W 13-7 | 11 | 25 | 44.0 | 175 | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 60t | 64.6 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 12 |
| vs Dolphins | AFC CHAMP* | 12/31 | L 17-21 | 5 | 10 | 50.0 | 80 | 8.0 | 1 | 2 | — | 70.8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | 5 |
| POSTSEASON | 2 | — | 1-1 | 16 | 35 | 45.7 | 255 | 7.3 | 2 | 3 | 60t | 53.9 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 0 | 12 |
* Bradshaw started