1973 Detroit Lions season
OwnerWilliam Clay Ford Sr.
Head coachDon McCafferty
Home fieldTiger Stadium
Results
Record6–7–1
Division place2nd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1973 Detroit Lions season was their 44th in the league. Don McCafferty, who served as an assistant under Don Shula during Shula's stint as head coach of the Baltimore Colts, and who as head coach himself coached the Colts to a Super Bowl V victory over the Dallas Cowboys, would replace Joe Schmidt as head coach. However, the team would still fail to improve on their previous season's output of 8–5–1, finishing a mediocre 6–7–1.[1] The team missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

NFL draft

Main article: 1973 NFL Draft
1973 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 17 Ernie Price  DE Texas A&M from Chicago
2 44 Leon Crosswhite  RB Oklahoma
3 58 John Brady  TE Washington from Chicago
3 71 Jim Laslavic  LB Penn State
3 75 Levi Johnson  CB Texas A&I from Los Angeles
4 81 Mike Hennigan  LB Tennessee Tech
4 91 Dick Jauron *  S Yale from Atlanta
4 96 Jim Hooks  RB Central State (OK)
7 175 John Andrews  DT Morgan State
8 200 Prentice McCray  S Arizona State
8 203 John Bledsoe  RB Ohio State from Cleveland
9 227 Ira Dean  DB Baylor
10 252 Ray Bonner  DB Middle Tennessee State
11 279 Scott Freeman  WR Wyoming
12 304 Tom Scott  WR Washington
13 331 John Moss  LB Pittsburgh
14 356 Jay Corey  OT Santa Clara
15 408 Larry Nickels  WR Dayton
17 435 Earl Belgrave  OT Ohio State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

Roster

Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 87 John Brady TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 46 Rudy Redmond CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)

rookies in italics

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 16 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–24 0–1 Three Rivers Stadium 48,913 Recap
2 September 23 at Green Bay Packers T 13–13 0–1–1 Lambeau Field 55,495 Recap
3 October 1 Atlanta Falcons W 31–6 1–1–1 Tiger Stadium 45,599 Recap
4 October 7 Minnesota Vikings L 9–23 1–2–1 Tiger Stadium 49,549 Recap
5 October 14 at New Orleans Saints L 13–20 1–3–1 Tulane Stadium 57,810 Recap
6 October 21 Baltimore Colts L 27–29 1–4–1 Tiger Stadium 48,058 Recap
7 October 28 Green Bay Packers W 34–0 2–4–1 Tiger Stadium 43,616 Recap
8 November 4 San Francisco 49ers W 30–20 3–4–1 Tiger Stadium 49,531 Recap
9 November 11 at Minnesota Vikings L 7–28 3–5–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,911 Recap
10 November 18 at Chicago Bears W 30–7 4–5–1 Soldier Field 48,625 Recap
11 November 22 Washington Redskins L 0–20 4–6–1 Tiger Stadium 46,807 Recap
12 December 2 at St. Louis Cardinals W 20–16 5–6–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 44,982 Recap
13 December 9 Chicago Bears W 40–7 6–6–1 Tiger Stadium 41,729 Recap
14 December 15 at Miami Dolphins L 7–34 6–7–1 Miami Orange Bowl 53,375 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

See also: 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Detroit Lions (0–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Lions 0 0 10010
Steelers 0 3 71424

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA

Game information

Week 14

See also: 1973 Miami Dolphins season
Week Fourteen: Detroit Lions (6–6–1) at Miami Dolphins (11–2)
Period 1 2 34Total
Lions 0 0 077
Dolphins 14 17 3034

at Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

  • Date: Saturday, December 15
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

Standings

NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings 12 2 0 .857 6–0 10–1 296 168 W2
Detroit Lions 6 7 1 .464 3–2–1 6–4–1 271 247 L1
Green Bay Packers 5 7 2 .429 1–4–1 4–6–1 202 259 W1
Chicago Bears 3 11 0 .214 1–5 1–9 195 334 L6

References

  1. ^ 1973 Detroit Lions
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