1973 Atlanta Falcons season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Atlanta Falcons 1973 9–5 2nd NFC West Norm Van Brocklin Norm Van Brocklin Rankin M. Smith Sr. Atlanta Stadium Did not qualify Falcons seasons 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. Atlanta opened the season with a massive 62-7 victory at New Orleans led by five interceptions of Archie Manning and 13 completions in 15 attempts with 3 touchdowns by Dick Shiner, who was the first quarterback in NFL history to be officially credited with a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He was relieved by Bob Lee in the second half.https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197309160nor.htm Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints - September 16th, 1973 August 8, 2025 After this explosive showing, the Falcons lost three straight without scoring any touchdowns. Then Lee took over as starter and completed 11 of 13 passes with his own perfect 158.3 rating in a 46-6 blowout of Chicago.https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197310140atl.htm Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons - October 14th, 1973 August 8, 2025 This sparked a seven-game winning streak which included defeating the Vikings when that team was 9–0 and looking at emulating the previous season‘s Dolphins’ perfect season.http://www.footballgeography.com/?p=3190 Last Unbeaten NFL team in each season 2013-02-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20130117230829/http://www.footballgeography.com/?p=3190 2013-01-17 dead 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.Hudspeth Ron https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64930976/ Falcons Must Rout to Stay Alive The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Newspapers.com December 9, 1973 December 16, 2020 However, while Keithley completed only ten of 32 passes (he and 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.“Bakken, Cardinals deflate Falcons’ Playoff Bubble”; in Toledo Blade; December 10, 1973; p. 21Cunningham George https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64931017/ Falcons Die Again in December, 32-10 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Newspapers.com December 10, 1973 December 16, 2020https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64931999/ Falcons' Wild-Card Hopes Jolted in Upset to Cards AP Tallahassee Democrat Newspapers.com December 10, 1973 December 16, 2020 Although the Falcons won the regular season finale to end the season at 9–5, Washington also won and qualified as the wild card with a 10–4 record.Cunningham George https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64932779/ 9-5 and No Tomorrow The Atlanta Journal and Constitution Newspapers.com December 17, 1973 December 16, 2020 Despite the Falcons’ success between 2008 and 2012, the win over the Vikings 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. Offseason NFL draft 1973 NFL draft 1973 Atlanta Falcons 2 39 Greg Marx Defensive end Notre Dame yes 4 94 Tom Geredine Wide receiver Northeast Missouri State yes 6 142 Nick Bebout Offensive tackle Wyoming yes 7 170 Tommy Campbell Cornerback Iowa State no 8 195 Tom Reed Guard Arkansas no 9 220 Russell Ingram Center Texas Tech no 10 248 Nick Mike-Mayer Kicker Temple yes yes 11 273 Byron Buelow Defensive back Wisconsin–La Crosse no 12 298 Mike Samples Linebacker Drake no 13 326 Chris Stecher Offensive tackle Claremont-Mudd no 14 351 John Madeya Quarterback Louisville no 15 376 Thomas Gage Defensive back Lamar no 16 404 Rufus Ferguson Running back Wisconsin no 17 428 Jim Hodge Wide receiver Arkansas no yes no Personnel Staff 1973 Atlanta Falcons Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General manager – Norm Van Brocklin Head coach – Norm Van Brocklin Offensive backfield – Billy Ray Barnes Receivers – Harry Gilmer Offensive line – Duane Putnam Head defensive – Marion Campbell Defensive line – Bob Griffin Defensive backfield – Fred Bruney Roster 1973 Atlanta Falcons 19 Bob Lee quarterback  9 John Madeya no y  7 Pat Sullivan American football 43 Dave Hampton 25 Art Malone American football 33 Henry Matthews American football 44 Eddie Ray  5 Harmon Wages 30 Joe Washington running back y 41 Al Dodd 84 Tom Geredine y 80 Louis Neal y 83 Larry Mialik 86 Jim Mitchell tight end 63 Nick Bebout y T 68 Ted Fritsch Jr. 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 87 Claude Humphrey DE 69 Mike Lewis American football DT 77 Rosie Manning DT 78 Greg Marx y DE 74 Mike Tilleman DT 79 Chuck Walker American football DT 71 John Zook DE 51 Duane Benson OLB 50 Greg Brezina OLB 58 Don Hansen OLB 52 Ken Mitchell American football y OLB 60 Tommy Nobis MLB 59 Lonnie Warwick MLB 34 Ray Brown safety SS 32 Ray Easterling FS 29 Clarence Ellis FS 27 Tom Hayes cornerback CB 22 Rolland Lawrence y CB 35 Tony Plummer SS 36 Ken Reaves CB  6 John James American football P 12 Nick Mike-Mayer y K 82 Ken Burrow WR IR 55 Jim Miller offensive guard G IR 89 Harry Sovio no TE IR 40 Don Highsmith RB 77 Rosie Manning DT 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, 1973 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 References External links 1973 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com Category:Atlanta Falcons seasons Atlanta Falcons Atlanta