Philadelphia Eagles 1972 Real Bad

[LeonardRachiele]

fter an 0-5 start the previous year, the Eagles went 6-2-1. Winning the final three games gave them a 6-7-1 record for 1971. Just after the season, owner Leonard Tose and Coach Ed Khayatt were foolishly talking about a Super Bowl come 1972. In the six wins all but one came against teams that were below .500. Detroit was 7-5-2 and here were the others.

two wins over the New York Giants (4-10) at home 23 to 7 and away 41 to 28; two wins over the St Louis Cardinals (4-9-1) away 37 to 20 and home 19 to 7.

From the above, it obvious that the mid season surge was over rated. The Philadelphia Eagles caught some teams napping and this would not happen again.

Here is how bad the 72 team was:

–The Washington Redskins shut them out 14 to 0;
–In five other games the Eagles did not score a touchdown;
–they scored only 12 touchdowns all season, an average of .857 touchdowns a game;
–as stated, the Eagles defeated only one team with a better than .500 record, the Detroit Lions 23 to 20;
–they did not win a home game or a game against an NFC team all year; their best effort in both cases was 6 to 6 tie with the St. Louis Cardinals.
–their two victories 18 to 17 with the Houston Oilers and 21 to 20 with the Kansas City Chiefs were by one point. In both games they had to turn back late rallies. They lead the Chiefs 21 to 0 and the Oilers 15 to 3. They held on for victories but just barely.

There were two bright spots for the Eagles. Wide Receiver Harold Jackson led the NFL both in receptions (62) and yards gained (1,048). Jackson caught four touchdown passes. His best catch was for a 77 yard touchdown; this was in the away game that the Eagles lost to New York Giants 62 to 10. Bill Bradley led the league with nine interceptions for 73 yards. One of the most versatile players in Eagles’ history, Bradley punted for 56 times for 2,250 yards and returned 22 punts for 155 yards. He also had the thankless but critical job of spotting the ball for field goals and extra points.

[Bryan]

From the above, it obvious that the mid season surge was over rated. The Philadelphia Eagles caught some teams napping and this would not happen again.

Here is how bad the 72 team was:

–The Washington Redskins shut them out 14 to 0;
–In five other games the Eagles did not score a touchdown;
–they scored only 12 touchdowns all season, an average of .857 touchdowns a game;
–as stated, the Eagles defeated only one team with a better than .500 record, the Detroit Lions 23 to 20;
–they did not win a home game or a game against an NFC team all year; their best effort in both cases was 6 to 6 tie with the St. Louis Cardinals.
–their two victories 18 to 17 with the Houston Oilers and 21 to 20 with the Kansas City Chiefs were by one point. In both games they had to turn back late rallies. They lead the Chiefs 21 to 0 and the Oilers 15 to 3. They held on for victories but just barely.

WAT?

Not sure if any of the above was necessary; I think the Eagles going 2-11-1 kind of says it all. But I don't think the 1971 midseason surge was overrated. The defense and special teams really gelled in 1971. They had a very young, tough defense and it seemed like they finally figured out what to do with Leroy Keyes and TIm Rossovich. Keyes had a good year at SS, and Rossovich emerged as the team leader at MLB. The defense forced 47 turnovers, an incredible number considering the lack of established talent on the Eagles. Tom Dempsey replaced the completely inept Happy Feller at kicker in midseason and was the team MVP the 2nd half of the year. The Eagles were expected to have one of the top defensive units in 1972, and 1st round pick QB John Reaves was supposed to add a spark to the offense. It wasn't that far-fetched to think the Eagles would take the next step in 1972.

Reaves was terrible, giving new meaning to "Florida Flop", and the offense was even worse in 1972 than the previous season. Management didn't like Rossovich and shipped him to San Diego, and the LB corps in 1972 was atrocious. Injuries decimated the defensive front seven. Dempsey had an off-year. So, yeah, they weren't very good in 1972.

[Retro Rider]

I assumed when reading this post that the 1972 Eagles would have had one of the lowest point per game averages in NFL history. However, they're not the worst.

Lowest point per game averages since 1955:

1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 7.4 ppg. (103 points scored; shut out 6 times)
1974 Atlanta Falcons - 7.9 ppg.
1992 Seattle Seahawks - 8.8 ppg.
1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 8.9 ppg.
1991 Indianapolis Colts - 8.9 ppg.
1977 Green Bay Packers - 9.6 ppg.
1998 Philadelphia Eagles - 10.1 ppg.
2000 Cleveland Browns - 10.1 ppg.
1972 Philadelphia Eagles - 10.4 ppg.
2006 Oakland Raiders - 10.5 ppg.
1970 Boston Patriots - 10.6 ppg.
2009 St. Louis Rams - 10.9 ppg.
1974 Chicago Bears - 10.9 ppg.
1990 New England Patriots - 11.3 ppg.
1977 Buffalo Bills - 11.4 ppg.
http://mcubed.net/nfl/ptlpfpg.shtml

If you include the years 1944-1954, the '72 Eagles rank #14:
https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/which- ... since-1944