1973 Atlanta Falcons season

1973 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager	Norm Van Brocklin
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
Home field	Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1973 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's eighth year in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous season's output of 7–7 and achieved their best record until 1980, but failed to reach a maiden playoff berth.

Despite entering the last month of the regular season at 8–3, they were upset by the Buffalo Bills, forcing them into a race with the Washington Redskins for the wild card playoff spot. The NFL's tiebreaker format at the time, which favored teams with the best combined scoring offense and defense, necessitated a blowout win over a Cardinals team that had won only one of its last ten and was playing an unknown quarterback, Gary Keithley. However, while Keithley completed only ten of 32 passes (he and Falcons quarterback Bob Lee recorded a 0.0 passer rating in the game), the Falcons were instead blown out 32–10 at home courtesy of an unexpected Cardinals rushing game and six field goals from Jim Bakken. Although the Falcons won the regular season finale to end the season at 9–5, they lost the wild card tiebreaker to the 10–4 Redskins.

A highlight for the 1973 Falcons was defeating the Vikings when that team was 9–0 and looking at emulating the previous season‘s Dolphins’ perfect season. Despite the Falcons’ success between 2008 and 2012, this was the last time the Falcons defeated the last unbeaten NFL team until they defeated the 14–0 Carolina Panthers in week 16 of the 2015 season.

Personnel

Staff

1973 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General manager – Norm Van Brocklin Head coaches Head coach – Norm Van Brocklin Offensive coaches Offensive backfield – Billy Ray Barnes Receivers – Harry Gilmer Offensive line – Duane Putnam

Defensive coaches Head defensive – Marion Campbell Defensive line – Bob Griffin Defensive backfield – Fred Bruney

Roster

1973 Atlanta Falcons final roster

	Quarterbacks 19 Bob Lee  9 John Madeya  7 Pat Sullivan Running backs 43 Dave Hampton 25 Art Malone 23 Joe Profit 44 Eddie Ray  5 Harmon Wages 30 Joe Washington Wide receivers 82 Ken Burrow 41 Al Dodd 84 Tom Geredine 80 Louis Neal Tight ends 83 Larry Mialik 86 Jim Mitchell		Offensive linemen 63 Nick Bebout T 68 Ted Fritsch C 65 Len Gotshalk T 56 Dennis Havig G 75 George Kunz T 64 Andy Maurer G 61 Bill Sandeman T 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen 87 Claude Humphrey DE 69 Mike Lewis DT 77 Rosie Manning DT 78 Greg Marx DE 74 Mike Tilleman DT 79 Chuck Walker DT 71 John Zook DE		Linebackers 51 Duane Benson 50 Greg Brezina 58 Don Hansen 52 Ken Mitchell 60 Tommy Nobis 59 Lonnie Warwick Defensive backs 34 Ray Brown S 29 Clarence Ellis FS 27 Tom Hayes CB 22 Rolland Lawrence CB 35 Tony Plummer 36 Ken Reaves CB Special teams  6 John James P 12 Nick Mike-Mayer K		Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 16	at New Orleans Saints	W 62–7	1–0	Tulane Stadium	66,428
2	September 23	at Los Angeles Rams	L 0–31	1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	61,197
3	October 1	at Detroit Lions	L 6–31	1–2	Tiger Stadium	45,599
4	October 7	San Francisco 49ers	L 9–13	1–3	Atlanta Stadium	51,107
5	October 14	Chicago Bears	W 46–6	2–3	Atlanta Stadium	58,850
6	October 21	at San Diego Chargers	W 41–0	3–3	San Diego Stadium	41,527
7	October 28	at San Francisco 49ers	W 17–3	4–3	Candlestick Park	56,825
8	November 4	Los Angeles Rams	W 15–13	5–3	Atlanta Stadium	55,837
9	November 11	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 44–27	6–3	Veterans Stadium	63,114
10	November 19	Minnesota Vikings	W 20–14	7–3	Atlanta Stadium	56,519
11	November 25	at New York Jets	W 28–20	8–3	Shea Stadium	47,283
12	December 2	Buffalo Bills	L 6–17	8–4	Atlanta Stadium	54,607
13	December 9	St. Louis Cardinals	L 10–32	8–5	Atlanta Stadium	48,030
14	December 16	New Orleans Saints	W 14–10	9–5	Atlanta Stadium	34,147
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams	12	2	0	.857	5–1	9–2	388	178	W6
Atlanta Falcons	9	5	0	.643	4–2	7–4	318	224	W1
San Francisco 49ers	5	9	0	.357	2–4	4–7	262	319	L2
New Orleans Saints	5	9	0	.357	1–5	4–7	163	312	L1

External links

• 1973 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com