1973 Denver Broncos season

American football team season December 2013 February 2026 Denver Broncos 1973 7–5–2 3rd AFC West John Ralston John Ralston Gerald Phipps Mile High Stadium Did not qualify Broncos seasons thumb | right | Uniforms worn by the Denver Broncos during 1973 The 1973 Denver Broncos season was the team's 14th year in professional football and its fourth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by second-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos posted a winning record for the first time in franchise history, with seven wins, five losses, and two ties, which tied for sixth-best in the conference. It was the first time in franchise history that they won more than five games. Their 7-2-1 record against conference opponents was the second best in the AFC, behind only the Miami Dolphins' 9-2. However, they finished 0-3-1 against NFC opponents. Denver tied for second in the AFC West (third with tiebreaker), 1½ games behind the Oakland Raiders. After a 1-3 start, Denver went unbeaten in seven straight games. The last of these was a 14-10 win over Kansas City, only the third win in 28 games all-time vs. the Chiefs franchise. The win put the Broncos in first place in the division at 6-3-2. After a split of the next two games, the final game of the regular season was a 21-17 loss at Oakland, making the Raiders division champions. One of the ties, in their first-ever game with the Cardinals,Arizona Cardinals versus Denver Broncos was the nearest Denver came to losing to that franchise until 2010, and also their only NFL appearance in St. Louis until 2000 against the relocated Rams at Edward Jones Dome.St. Louis Rams at home to Denver Broncos To date, the 1973 Broncos along with the Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers are the last teams to record 2 ties in a single season. Overtime for regular season games was introduced the following year, and the occurrence of tie games decreased. Offseason NFL draft 1973 NFL draft 1973 Denver Broncos 1 9 Otis Armstrong Running back Purdue yes yes 2 36 Barney Chavous DE South Carolina State yes 3 54 Paul Howard G BYU yes 3 70 John Wood DT LSU 4 88 Tom Jackson LB Louisville yes yes 5 113 Charles McTorry DB Tennessee State 7 165 Mike Askea OT Stanford yes 7 166 John Grant DT USC yes 9 217 Lyle Blackwood DB Texas Christian 10 244 Al Marshall WR Boise State 11 269 Elton Brown DE Utah State 12 296 Jim O'Malley LB Notre Dame yes 13 319 Ed Smith DE Colorado College yes 13 321 Ed White RB Tulsa 14 348 John Hufnagel QB Penn State 15 373 Calvin Jones DB Washington yes 16 398 Oliver Ross RB Alabama A&M yes 16 400 Ken Muhlbeier C Idaho 17 425 Kenneth Morgan TE Elon Personnel Staff / Coaches 1973 Denver Broncos Team Owner / Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps Team President – Allan Phipps Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach – John Ralston Offensive Coordinator/Backfield – Max Coley Wide Receivers – Dick Coury Offensive Line – Jerry Frei Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs – Joe Collier Defensive Line – Doc Urich Linebackers – Bob Gambold Special Teams – Myrel Moore Source:1973 Denver Broncos Press Guide http://media.denverbroncos.com/section_display.cfm?section_id=131 4 July 19, 2012 Roster 1973 Denver Broncos 45 6 0 14 John Hufnagel y 12 Charley Johnson 10 Steve Ramsey American football 11 Bobby Anderson American football 24 Otis Armstrong y 33 Joe Dawkins 44 Floyd Little 30 Oliver Ross running back y 82 Jeff Baker y no 25 Haven Moses 80 Jerry Simmons wide receiver 42 Billy Van Heusen P 84 Gene Washington American football, born 1944 81 Billy Masters American football 88 Riley Odoms 73 Mike Askea y T 74 Mike Current T 60 Paul Howard American football y G 68 Larron Jackson G/T 59 Larry Kaminski C 61 Tommy Lyons American football G 50 Bobby Maples C 64 Mike Schnitker G 77 Lyle Alzado DE 79 Barney Chavous DE y 55 Pete Duranko DT 63 John Grant American football y DT/DE 62 Jerry Inman DT 75 Ed Smith defensive end y DE 70 Paul Smith defensive end DT 53 Ken Criter MLB 58 Tom Graham American football MLB 57 Tom Jackson American football, born 1951 OLB y OLB 45 Bill Laskey American football OLB 56 Ray May OLB 66 Jim O'Malley y OLB 51 Mike Simone OLB 20 Charlie Greer FS 43 Lonnie Hepburn CB 26 Calvin Jones cornerback CB y 41 Leroy Mitchell CB 21 Randy Montgomery CB 48 John Pitts American football SS 36 Bill Thompson American football SS 23 Maurice Tyler FS 15 Jim Turner placekicker K 76 Tom Domres DT IR -- Marv Frazier y no WR IR 67 George Goeddeke C IR 22 Fran Lynch RB IR 78 Marv Montgomery T IR 54 Chip Myrtle LB None - N/A Source: Regular season 1973 NFL season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 16 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–10 1–0 Mile High Stadium 49,059 2 September 23 San Francisco 49ers L 34–36 1–1 Mile High Stadium 50,966 3 September 30 Chicago Bears L 14–33 1–2 Mile High Stadium 51,159 4 October 7 at Kansas City Chiefs L 14–16 1–3 Arrowhead Stadium 71,414 5 October 14 at Houston Oilers W 48–20 2–3 Astrodome 32,801 6 October 22, 1973 Oakland Raiders T 23–23 2–3–1 Mile High Stadium 51,270 7 October 28 at New York Jets W 40–28 3–3–1 Shea Stadium 55,108 8 November 4 at St. Louis Cardinals T 17–17 3–3–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 46,565 9 November 11 San Diego Chargers W 30–19 4–3–2 Mile High Stadium 51,034 10 November 18 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 23–13 5–3–2 Three Rivers Stadium 48,580 11 November 25 Kansas City Chiefs W 14–10 6–3–2 Mile High Stadium 51,331 12 December 2 Dallas Cowboys L 10–22 6–4–2 Mile High Stadium 51,508 13 December 9 at San Diego Chargers W 42–28 7–4–2 San Diego Stadium 44,954 14 December 16 at Oakland Raiders L 17–21 7–5–2 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 51,910 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KUMnAAAAIBAJ&pg=4637%2C5631538 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Turner's kick ties Raiders October 23, 1973 4B Game summaries Week 2 (Sunday, September 23, 1973): vs. San Francisco 49ers Denver Broncos 1973 2; text-align:center autocollapse Week 2: San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos – Game summary September 23, 1973 2:00 p.m. MDT 49ers (1–1) 0 20 10 6 Broncos (1–1) 10 3 7 14 Mile High Stadium • Denver, Colorado 50,966 John McDonough CBS Don Criqui (play–by–play), Tommy Mason (color commentator) and Brent Musburger (studio reporter) Pro Football Reference; San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos – September 23, 1973 right San Francisco 49ers SF Denver Broncos DEN SF DEN collapsed 36 34 Point spread: Broncos +4 Time of game: 49ersGame statisticsBroncos16 First downs 2239–135 Rushes–yards 32–115212 Passing yards 24014–35–1 Passes Completions–Attempts–Interceptions 17–36–50–0 Sacked–yards 0–0212 Net passing yards 240347 Total yards 355101 Return yards 1146–46.0 Punts Number–Average yardage 4–35.82–0 Fumbles–lost 3–18–73 Penalties–yards 4–32 Time of possession Week 10 at Steelers Denver Broncos 1973 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Ten: Denver Broncos (4–3–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (8–1) November 18, 1973 1:00 p.m. Broncos 3 3 7 10 Steelers 3 3 0 7 Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 48,580 35 F C Fred Silva Box Score left Denver Broncos Broncos Pittsburgh Steelers Steelers Charley Johnson 13/20, 86 Yds, TD Floyd Little 27 Rush, 88 Yds, TD Riley Odoms 6 Rec, 47 Yds, TD Terry Hanratty 10/19, 217 Yds, TD Franco Harris 11 Rush, 53 Yds John McMakin 3 Rec, 64 Yds DEN PIT collapsed 1 Broncos FG 32 Jim Turner 3 0 1 Steelers FG 15 Roy Gerela 3 3 2 Steelers FG 13 Roy Gerela 3 6 2 Broncos FG 11 Jim Turner 6 6 3 Broncos RushTD Floyd Little 10 good Jim Turner run/pass good/failed/incomplete 13 6 4 Steelers RecTD Ron Shanklin Terry Hanratty 42 good Roy Gerela run/pass good/failed/incomplete 13 13 4 Broncos FG 46 Jim Turner 16 13 4 Broncos RecTD Riley Odoms Charley Johnson 2 good Jim Turner run/pass good/failed/incomplete 23 13 23 13 Standings Awards and honors UPI AFC Coach of the Year: John Ralston References External links Denver Broncos – 1973 media guide 1973 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1973 Denver Broncos season at jt-sw.com Denver Broncos Category:Denver Broncos seasons Category:1973 in sports in Colorado