1973 Cincinnati Bengals season

1973 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coachPaul Brown
Home stadiumRiverfront Stadium
Results
Record10–4
Division place1st AFC Central
PlayoffsLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Dolphins) 16–34

The 1973 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 4th season in the National Football League, and the 6th overall.

The Bengals split their first eight games, then swept their last six to win their second AFC Central Division title. Cincinnati qualified for the postseason but lost in the Divisional Playoffs to the Super Bowl winner, the Miami Dolphins 34–16.

RB Essex Johnson became the first Bengal to achieve 100+ yards rushing and receiving in the same game. He rushed for 121 yards on 21 carries and got 116 yards on two receptions on Sep 30, 1973 at San Diego. Perhaps one of the best marks of the season for the Bengals was giving the eventual NFC Champion Minnesota Vikings their most lopsided loss of the season 27–0.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1973 NFL draft
1973 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 15 Isaac Curtis *  Wide receiver San Diego State
2 43 Al Chandler  Tight end Oklahoma
3 68 Tim George  Wide receiver Carson–Newman
5 121 Bob McCall  Running back Arizona
6 146 Bob Jones  Defensive back Virginia Union
7 171 Bob Maddox  Defensive end Frostburg State
8 199 Joe Wilson  Running back Holy Cross
9 224 John Dampeer  Guard Notre Dame
10 249 Lenvil Elliott  Running back Northeast Missouri State
11 277 William Montgomery  Defensive back Morehouse
12 302 Boobie Clark  Running back Bethune–Cookman
13 327 Brooks West  Defensive tackle UTEP
14 355 Hurles Scales  Defensive back North Texas State
15 380 Ted McNulty  Quarterback Indiana
16 405 Harry Unger  Running back Auburn
17 433 Wayne Estabrook  Quarterback Whittier
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1973 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

  • President – John Sawyer
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches



Roster

1973 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 16 at Denver Broncos L 10–28 0–1 Mile High Stadium 49,059
2 September 23 Houston Oilers W 24–10 1–1 Riverfront Stadium 51,823
3 September 30 at San Diego Chargers W 20–13 2–1 San Diego Stadium 46,733
4 October 7 at Cleveland Browns L 10–17 2–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,805
5 October 14 Pittsburgh Steelers W 19–7 3–2 Riverfront Stadium 55,819
6 October 21 Kansas City Chiefs W 14–6 4–2 Riverfront Stadium 56,397
7 October 28 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–20 4–3 Three Rivers Stadium 45,761
8 November 4 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–38 4–4 Texas Stadium 54,944
9 November 11 at Buffalo Bills W 16–13 5–4 Rich Stadium 76,927
10 November 18 New York Jets W 20–14 6–4 Riverfront Stadium 55,745
11 November 25 St. Louis Cardinals W 42–24 7–4 Riverfront Stadium 50,918
12 December 2 Minnesota Vikings W 27–0 8–4 Riverfront Stadium 57,859
13 December 9 Cleveland Browns W 34–17 9–4 Riverfront Stadium 58,266
14 December 16 at Houston Oilers W 27–24 10–4 Astrodome 21,955
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

Team 1 234Total
Oilers 7 030 10
• Bengals 0 10014 24
Scoring summary
Q1HOUGresham 103 yard kickoff return (Butler kick)HOU 7–0
Q2CINJohnson 11 yard run (Muhlmann kick)Tie 7–7
Q2CINMuhlmann 27 yard field goalCIN 10–7
Q3HOUButler 38 yard field goalTie 10–10
Q4CINClark 3 yard run (Muhlmann kick)CIN 17–10
Q4CINTrumpy 35 yard pass from Anderson (Muhlmann kick)CIN 24–10

[2]

Week 5 vs Steelers

See also: 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers season and Bengals–Steelers rivalry
Pittsburgh Steelers (4–0) at Cincinnati Bengals (2–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Steelers 0 0 077
Bengals 6 3 7319

at Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio

Game information

Week 7 at Steelers

Cincinnati Bengals (4–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 6 0713
Steelers 3 7 10020

at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
10 4 0 .714 4–2 8–3 286 231 W6
Pittsburgh Steelers 10 4 0 .714 4–2 7–4 347 210 W2
Cleveland Browns 7 5 2 .571 4–2 6–3–2 234 255 L2
Houston Oilers 1 13 0 .071 0–6 1–10 199 447 L6

Team stats

1973 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS Bengals Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS 252 219
Rushing 124 109
Passing 108 97
Penalty 20 13
TOTAL NET YARDS 4512 3705
Avg Per Game 322.3 264.6
Total Plays 871 840
Avg. Per Play 5.2 4.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 2236 1807
Avg. Per Game 159.7 129.1
Total Rushes 515 459
NET YARDS PASSING 2276 1898
Avg. Per Game 162.6 135.6
Sacked Yards Lost 24–163 43–342
Gross Yards 2439 2240
Att. Completions 332–180 338–182
Completion Pct. 54.2 53.8
Intercepted 12 18
PUNTS-AVERAGE 68–41 77–41.7
PENALTIES-YARDS 83–799 78–710
FUMBLES-BALL LOST 25–14 31–16
TOUCHDOWNS 32 27
Rushing 13 15
Passing 18 9
Returns 1 3
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Tot
Bengals 39 100 79 68 286
Opponents 50 61 58 62 231

Team leaders

  • Passing: Ken Anderson (329 Att, 179 Comp, 2428 Yds, 54.4 Pct, 18 TD, 12 Int, 81.2 Rating)
  • Rushing: Essex Johnson (195 Att, 997 Yds, 5.1 Avg, 46 Long, 4 TD)
  • Receiving: Isaac Curtis (45 Rec, 843 Yds, 18.7 Avg, 77 Long, 9 TD)
  • Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 94 points (21 FG; 31 PAT)

Postseason

Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
Divisional December 23 at Miami Dolphins L 16–34 0–1 Miami Orange Bowl 74,651

Awards and records

Pro Bowl Selections

References

  1. ^ "1973 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-22.
  3. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 452
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