1972 Season

The 1972 Dallas Cowboys season was their 13th in the league. The team failed to improve their previous output of 11–3, winning only ten games.^[1] They qualified for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season but settled for the wildcard spot. A pre-season injury to quarterback Roger Staubach and the trade of Duane Thomas (both had been integral figures in the 1971 championship team) hindered the offense (mitigated somewhat since their replacements, Craig Morton and Calvin Hill, were former starters). In the divisional playoff round, Staubach came off the bench to engineer an improbable 30–28 comeback win over the 49ers (Dallas had trailed by 28–16 with less than 2 minutes to play). The win over the 49ers still ranks as one of the all-time great Cowboys wins. However, the momentum could not carry them to a victory over Washington in the NFC Championship game.

Regular season

Roger Staubach was lost in the 3rd pre season game with the Los Angeles Rams when Marlin McKeever tackled him.It required him to get a shoulder operation. Veteran backup Quarterback Craig Morton would lead the Cowboys for the 1972 season. When the Cowboys got down in the December 23rd playoff game Tom Landry inserted Roger who led them from a come from behind 30–28 victory over San Francisco.In 1972 The Cowboys would build up big leads in games only hang on in to win the game. Some examples of this would be the Monday Night when they hosted Detroit, the November 5 game in San Diego, 11/7 home game vs St Louis and the December 9 home game against Washington. The December 18.1972 Sports Illustrated ran a story on the 1972 Dallas Cowboys in their game with the Washington Redskins. Cowboy middle linebacker #55 Lee Roy Jordan is on the cover. The SI story is on pages 20–23. But another factor in the 1972 Cowboys was that All Pro defensive tackle Bob Lilly was playing injured most of the year. Lilly played with a bad back for most of the 1972 season. He had a bone spur near heel and an injured muscle just above his knee. Lilly was also selected for his 10th pro bowl but did not play in the game.Lilly had 2 1/2 sacks while overall the team totaled 32.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 17, 1972	Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–6	55,850
2	September 24, 1972	at New York Giants	W 23–14	62,725
3	October 1, 1972	at Green Bay Packers	L 16–13	47,103
4	October 8, 1972	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–13	65,682
5	October 15, 1972	at Baltimore Colts	W 21–0	58,992
6	October 22, 1972	at Washington Redskins	L 24–20	53,039
7	October 30, 1972	Detroit Lions	W 28–24	65,378
8	November 5, 1972	at San Diego Chargers	W 34–28	54,476
9	November 12, 1972	St. Louis Cardinals	W 33–24	65,218
10	November 19, 1972	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–7	65,720
11	November 23, 1972	San Francisco 49ers	L 31–10	65,124
12	December 3, 1972	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 27–6	49,787
13	December 9, 1972	Washington Redskins	W 34–24	65,136
14	December 17, 1972	New York Giants	L 23–3	64,602

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1972 roster
Quarterbacks 14 Craig Morton 12 Roger Staubach Running Backs 32 Walt Garrison FB 35 Calvin Hill 23 Mike Montgomery WR 44 Robert Newhouse FB 30 Dan Reeves 27 Bill Thomas Wide Receivers 19 Lance Alworth 22 Bob Hayes 21 Billy Parks 88 Ron Sellers Tight Ends 89 Mike Ditka 84 Jean Fugett 87 Billy Truax		Offensive Linemen 62 John Fitzgerald C 51 Dave Manders C 73 Ralph Neely T 76 John Niland G 61 Blaine Nye G 71 Rodney Wallace T/G 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive Linemen 66 George Andrie DE 63 Larry Cole DE 77 Bill Gregory DT 74 Bob Lilly DT 75 Jethro Pugh DT 85 Tody Smith DE 67 Pat Toomay DE		Linebackers 53 John Babinecz MLB 86 Ralph Coleman OLB 52 Dave Edwards OLB 54 Chuck Howley OLB 55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB 57 Mike Keller MLB 50 D. D. Lewis OLB Defensive Backs 26 Herb Adderley CB 31 Benny Barnes CB 34 Cornell Green SS 43 Cliff Harris FS/RS 20 Mel Renfro CB 46 Mark Washington CB 41 Charlie Waters FS/CB Special Teams 81 Marv Bateman P 15 Toni Fritsch K		Reserve Lists Currently vacant Rookies in italics 45 Active, 0 Inactive