1973 Atlanta Falcons season

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1973 Atlanta Falcons season
OwnerRankin M. Smith Sr.
Head coachNorm Van Brocklin
General managerNorm Van Brocklin
Home fieldAtlanta Stadium
Results
Record9–5
Division place2nd NFC West
Playoff finishDid 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.[1] 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.[2][3][4] 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.[5]

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.[6] 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

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Norm Van Brocklin

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches



Roster[]

1973 Atlanta Falcons final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists



Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Schedule[]

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

Standings[]

NFC West
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 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

References[]

  1. ^ Hudspeth, Ron (December 9, 1973). "Falcons Must Rout to Stay Alive". The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Retrieved December 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ “Bakken, Cardinals deflate Falcons’ Playoff Bubble”; in Toledo Blade; December 10, 1973; p. 21
  3. ^ Cunningham, George (December 10, 1973). "Falcons Die Again in December, 32-10". The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Retrieved December 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Falcons' Wild-Card Hopes Jolted in Upset to Cards". Tallahassee Democrat. AP. December 10, 1973. Retrieved December 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Cunningham, George (December 17, 1973). "9-5 and No Tomorrow". The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Retrieved December 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Last Unbeaten NFL team in each season". Archived from the original on 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2013-02-20.

External links[]

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