1973 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1973 6–7–1 2nd NFC Central Don McCafferty William Clay Ford Sr. Tiger Stadium Did not qualify Lions seasons 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 and get better on their previous season's output of 8–5–1, finishing a mediocre 6–7–1.https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/1973.htm 1973 Detroit Lions December 25, 2024 May 1, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190501235431/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/1973.htm live They missed the playoffs for the third straight season. NFL draft 1973 NFL draft 1973 Detroit Lions 1 17 Ernie Price DE Texas A&M from Chicago yes 2 44 Leon Crosswhite RB Oklahoma yes 3 58 John Brady TE Washington from Chicago no 3 71 Jim Laslavic LB Penn State yes 3 75 Levi Johnson CB Texas A&I from Los Angeles yes 4 81 Mike Hennigan LB Tennessee Tech yes no 4 91 Dick Jauron S Yale from Atlanta yes yes 4 96 Jim Hooks RB Central State (OK) no 7 175 John Andrews DT Morgan State yes 8 200 Prentice McCray S Arizona State no 8 203 John Bledsoe RB Ohio State from Cleveland no 9 227 Ira Dean DB Baylor no 10 252 Ray Bonner DB Middle Tennessee State no 11 279 Scott Freeman WR Wyoming no 12 304 Tom Scott WR Washington no 13 331 John Moss LB Pittsburgh no 14 356 Jay Corey OT Santa Clara no 15 408 Larry Nickels WR Dayton no 17 435 Earl Belgrave OT Ohio State no no Notes Detroit traded TE Craig Cotton and its first-round selection (19th) to Chicago in exchange for Chicago's first- and third-round selections (17th and 58th). Detroit traded DB Al Clark to Los Angeles in exchange for the Rams' third-round selection (75th). Detroit traded its second-round selection in 1972 to Atlanta in exchange for CB Rudy Redmond, RB Sonny Campbell and Atlanta's fourth-round selection (91st). Detroit traded its fifth-round selection (123rd) to Washington in exchange for TE John Hilton. Detroit traded its sixth-round selection (148th) to St. Louis in exchange for LB Rick Ogle. Detroit traded DT Jerry Rush to Cleveland in exchange for the Browns' eighth-round pick (203rd). Personnel Staff / Coaches 1973 Detroit Lions Owner - William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice President / General manager - Russ Thomas Executive Vice President - Edwin J. Anderson Treasurer - Newton S. Peters Publicity Director / Business Manager - Lyall Smith Assistant Publicity Director - Elliott Trumbull Equipment manager - Roy Marklem Assistant equipment manager - Charles "Rip" Collins Head coach – Don McCafferty Offensive Coordinator - Bill McPeak Offensive Backs - Rick Forzano Offensive Line - Leon McLaughlin Wide Receivers - Raymond Berry Defensive Backs / Secondary - Bob Hollway Defensive Line - Ed Khayat Linebackers / Special teams - John Meyer Trainer - Kent Falb Assistant Trainer - Dave Smith https://archive.org/details/lions-1973-media-guide-detroit-c/page/n3/mode/2up 1973 Detroit Lions official guide July 11, 2026 https://www.profootballarchives.com/1973nfldet.html#gsc.tab=0 1973 Detroit Lions ProFootballArchives.com July 11, 2026 Final roster 1973 Detroit Lions roster Quarterbacks 17 Bill Cappleman 19 Bill Munson Running backs 35 Leon Crosswhite y 24 Mel Farr 36 Steve Owens American football 42 Altie Taylor 34 Mickey Zofko Wide receivers 86 Al Barnes wide receiver 89 Ron Jessie 25 Earl McCullouch 45 Jim O'Brien American football K 49 Larry Walton Tight ends 81 John Hilton American football 88 Charlie Sanders Offensive linemen 60 Guy Dennis G 54 Ed Flanagan American football C 76 Rocky Freitas T 77 Mike Haggerty T 64 Gordon Jolley T 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 67 Rocky Rasley G 65 Dave Thompson American football C 75 Jim Yarbrough T offensive lineman Defensive linemen 73 Bob Bell American football DT 74 Larry Hand DE 83 Jim Mitchell defensive lineman DE 88 Herb Orvis DT 72 Ernie Price y DT 82 Ken Sanders American football DE Linebackers 58 Mike Hennigan American football y OLB 52 Jim Laslavic y MLB 53 Mike Lucci MLB 50 Paul Naumoff OLB 57 Jim Teal OLB 59 Charlie Weaver OLB Defensive backs 20 Lem Barney CB 27 Miller Farr CB 48 Willie Germany FS 26 Dick Jauron y FS 23 Levi Johnson y CB 21 Jim Thrower SS 28 Mike Weger SS 46 Doug Wyatt FS Special teams 12 Errol Mann K 18 Herman Weaver P Reserve lists 87 John Brady American football y TE IR 30 Jim Hooks y RB IR 11 Greg Landry QB IR 47 Wayne Rasmussen S IR 46 Rudy Redmond CB IR 66 John Small American football DT IR 63 Chuck Walton G IR 45 active, 7 reserve, 0 practice / taxi squad 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, 1973 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, 1973 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 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season Detroit Lions 1973 2; text-align:center collapsed Detroit Lions (0–0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0–0) September 16 4:00 p.m. Lions 0 0 10 0 Steelers 0 3 7 14 Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA 48,913 64 F; wind 11 mph on Fred Wyant Pro-Football-Reference.com Lions Greg Landry11/27, 219 Yds, TD, 3 INT8 Rush, 65 Yds Ron Jessie3 Rec, 131 Yds, TD Steelers Terry Bradshaw15/23, 124 Yds, 2 TD, INT John Fuqua26 Rush, 100 Yds Barry Pearson6 Rec, 58 Yds DET PIT collapsed 2 Steelers FG 11 Roy Gerela 0 3 3 Steelers RushTD Bradshaw 1 good Gerela run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 10 3 Lions RecTD Jessie Landry 84 good Mann run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 10 3 Lions FG 40 Mann 10 10 4 Steelers RecTD McMakin Bradshaw 24 good Gerela run/pass good/failed/incomplete 10 17 4 Steelers RecTD Shanklin Bradshaw 6 good Gerela run/pass good/failed/incomplete 10 24 10 24 Week 14 1973 Miami Dolphins season Detroit Lions 1973 2;text-align:center; autocollapse Week Fourteen: Detroit Lions (6–6–1) at Miami Dolphins (11–2) Saturday, December 15 1:00 p.m. EDT Lions 0 0 0 7 Dolphins 14 17 3 0 Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida 69 F, wind 7 mph on Pro-Football-Reference.com First quarter MIA – Paul Warfield 21-yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick) – Dolphins 7–0 MIA – Paul Warfield 7-yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick) – Dolphins 14–0 Second quarter MIA – Garo Yepremian 27-yard field goal – Dolphins 17–0 MIA – Paul Warfield 16-yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick) – Dolphins 24–0 MIA – Paul Warfield 4-yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick) – Dolphins 31–0 Third quarter MIA – Garo Yepremian 28-yard field goal – Dolphins 34–0 Fourth quarter DET – Steve Owens 5-yard run (Errol Mann kick) – Dolphins 34–7 Lions Bill Munson8/17, 73 Yds, INT Steve Owens27 Rush, 113 Yds, TD6 Rec, 56 Yds Dolphins Bob Griese11/15, 141 Yds, 4 TD Larry Csonka10 Rush, 51 Yds Paul Warfield6 Rec, 103 Yds, 4 TD Standings References External links 1973 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1973 Detroit Lions at JT-SW.com 1973 Detroit Lions at The Football Database Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Detroit Lions Category:1973 in Detroit