1973 Los Angeles Rams season

NFL team 36th season August 2023 March 2026 Los Angeles Rams 1973 12–2 1st NFC West Chuck Knox Carroll Rosenbloom Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Lost Divisional Playoffs(at Cowboys) 16–27 200px Rams seasons The 1973 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 36th year with the National Football League and the 28th season in Los Angeles. The Rams were 7–0 at home for the first time since 1945.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 267 On the road, the Rams were 5–2. The Rams donned new uniforms, which remained in use until 1994, their final season in Los Angeles, and though they moved to St. Louis in 1995, the uniform tradition continued until 1999, where they won Super Bowl XXXIV, and wore them for Super Bowl LIII. Among these changes, the Rams converted from white helmet horns to yellow helmet horns. The uniforms would return for their home games in 2018 and 2019. The Rams finished the season with a 12–2 record and won the NFC West and appeared in the playoffs for the first time in the post-merger era. However, in their first post-merger playoff game, they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27–16. This was the first of seven straight division titles for the Rams spanning from 1973 to 1979. Offseason NFL draft 1973 NFL draft = Made roster = Pro Bowler Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career. = Hall of Famer 1973 Los Angeles Rams draft Round Pick Player Position College Notes111 Pick Traded to the New England Patriots Rams #1 Pick sent to Patriots as part of trade for Defensive end Fred Dryer 231Cullen Bryant RB Colorado Chargers #2 Pick acquired for Deacon Jones, Greg Wojic and Lee White 237 Ron Jaworski QB Youngstown State 242 Jim Youngblood LB Tennessee Tech Chiefs #2 Pick acquired for Willie Ellison 360Tim Stokes T Oregon #3 pick from Chargers in D. Jones deal. 495Eddie McMillan CB Florida State #4 Pick acquired from Chiefs for Pete Beathard 5115 Cody Jones DE San Jose State Released in 1973 preseason; would make roster in 1974 season 5129 Steve Jones RB Duke 6133 Jim Peterson LB San Diego State 6141 Jason Caldwell WR North Carolina Central 7161Steve Brown LB Oregon State Beavers 7167Bill DuLac G Eastern Michigan 9219Jim Nicholson T Michigan State 11271 Jeff Inmon RB North Carolina Central 11285 Willie Jackson WR Florida 12297 Robert Storck DT Wisconsin 13323 Rod Milburn WR Southern 13335 Clint Spearman LB Michigan 14349 Walter Rhone DB Central Missouri 15375 Jerry Bond DB Weber State 16393 Kurt Matter DE Washington 16401 Fuller Cherry DB Arkansas–Monticello 17427 Fred Henry RB New Mexico Personnel Staff / Coaches 1973 Los Angeles Rams staff Front Office Owner – Carroll Rosenbloom President / General Manager – Don Klosterman Coaching Staff Head coach - Chuck Knox Offensive Coaches: Offensive Coordinator - Ken Meyer Offensive Backs - Dick Vermeil Offensive Line - Ray Prochaska Receivers Coach - Leeman Bennett Defensive Coaches: Defensive Coordinator - Ray Malavasi Linebackers - Tom Catlin Special Teams Coaches: Special Teams - Dick Vermeil Strength and Conditioning: None - N/A Other Assistant Coaches: Training Assistant - Garrett Giemont Advance Scott - Jack Faulkner Roster 1973 Los Angeles Rams 21 John Hadl 11 James Harris 35 Tony Baker running back, born 1945 45 Jim Bertelsen 34 Les Josephson 30 Lawrence McCutcheon 33 Rob Scribner y 38 Larry Smith running back 29 Harold Jackson American football 86 Rod Sherman 84 Jack Snow American football 88 Pat Curran American football 80 Bob Klein 73 Charley Cowan T 50 Ken Iman C 65 Tom Mack G 61 Rich Saul C/G 79 Harry Schuh T 71 Joe Scibelli G 75 John Williams offensive lineman, born 1945 T 90 Larry Brooks American football DT 89 Fred Dryer DE 67 Bill Nelson American football DT 74 Merlin Olsen DT 72 Phil Olsen American football DT 85 Jack Youngblood DE 36 Ken Geddes OLB 52 Rick Kay y OLB 64 Jack Reynolds MLB 58 Isiah Robertson OLB 66 Bob Stein American football OLB 59 Jim Youngblood y MLB 44 Al Clark American football CB 37 Bill Drake American football y FS 42 Dave Elmendorf SS 41 Eddie McMillan y CB 20 Steve Preece FS 47 Charlie Stukes CB 10 David Chapple P 27 David Ray American football K 32 Cullen Bryant y RB IR 24 Jason Caldwell y no WR IR 46 Leon Garror CB IR 87 Jim Peterson American football y LB IR 13 Lance Rentzel WR Susp. 70 Tim Stokes y T IR 60 Hank Allison G 16 Ron Jaworski y QB 76 Cody Jones y DE/DT -- Don Maynard WR 83 Terry Nelson American football y TE 77 Jim Nicholson offensive lineman y T 82 Joe Sweet WR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 16 at Kansas City Chiefs W 23–13 1–0 Arrowhead Stadium 62,315 2 September 23 Atlanta Falcons W 31–0 2–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 61,197 3 September 30 at San Francisco 49ers W 40–20 3–0 Candlestick Park 57,487 4 October 7 at Houston Oilers W 31–26 4–0 Houston Astrodome 34,875 5 October 14 Dallas Cowboys W 37–31 5–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 81,428 6 October 21 Green Bay Packers W 24–7 6–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 80,558 7 October 28 at Minnesota Vikings L 9–10 6–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,787 8 November 4 at Atlanta Falcons L 13–15 6–2 Atlanta Stadium 55,837 9 November 11 New Orleans Saints W 29–7 7–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 70,358 10 November 18 San Francisco 49ers W 31–13 8–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 78,358 11 November 25 at New Orleans Saints W 24–13 9–2 Tulane Stadium 67,192 12 December 2 at Chicago Bears W 26–0 10–2 Soldier Field 47,620 13 December 10, 1973 New York Giants W 40–6 11–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 73,328 14 December 16 Cleveland Browns W 30–17 12–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 73,948 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 6 Packers 0 0 7 0 Rams 0 10 3 11 Newly acquired quarterback John Hadl, the NFC Player of the Year in 1973, and a stingy Los Angeles defense led the 6–0 Rams to a 10–0 lead in the first half on the way to a 24–7 victory over the 2–2–2 Green Bay Packers. After a scoreless first quarter, the Rams took the lead on kicker David Ray's 44-yard field goal. The next score came on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Hadl to former Eagles wide receiver Harold Jackson. Green Bay cut the deficit to 10–7 on wide receiver Barry Smith's 23-yard touchdown catch from MacArthur Lane on a halfback option pass. Los Angeles gained momentum in the third quarter on a 40-yard field goal by David Ray. A 1-yard touchdown run by running back Larry Smith in the fourth quarter put the Rams ahead 20–7. Later in the game, the Packers found themselves deep in their own territory. Moments later, Dryer came storming in from the right side of the defense and chased down Green Bay quarterback Scott Hunter, dropping him in the end zone for a safety. On the Packers' following possession near their own goal line, Dryer attacked again. He looped through the middle of the Packers' offensive line and dragged backup quarterback Jim Del Gaizo down for his second safety of the game, setting a new NFL record. For his efforts, Dryer was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week. Week 12 Rams 10 3 0 13 Bears 0 0 0 0 December 2 Soldier Field, Chicago 1:00 p.m. 45 F, wind 16 mph on yes 1 LA David Ray 30 yard field goal Rams 3–0 1 LA Jim Bertelsen 3 yard run (David Ray kick) Rams 10–0 2 LA David Ray 16 yard field goal Rams 13–0 4 LA David Ray 39 yard field goal Rams 16–0 4 LA David Ray 26 yard field goal Rams 19–0 4 LA Les Josephson 9 yard run (David Ray kick) Rams 26–0 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Playoffs Week Date Opponent Result Attendance Divisional December 23, 1973 at Dallas Cowboys L 27–16 64,291 Standings References 30em External links 1973 Los Angeles Rams at jt-sw.com 1973 Los Angeles Rams at Pro-Football-Reference.com Los Angeles Rams Category:Los Angeles Rams seasons Category:NFC West championship seasons Los Angeles Rams