# 1973 Los Angeles Rams season

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. 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 Los Angeles Rams Draft :
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 11 | Fred Dryer (via trade) | Defensive End | San Diego State | Rams #1 Pick sent to New England Patriots for Dryer |
| 2 | 31 | Cullen Bryant | Running Back | Colorado | Chargers #2 Pick acquired for Deacon Jones, Greg Wojic and Lee White |
| 2 | 37 | Ron Jaworski | Quarterback | Youngstown State | |
| 2 | 42 | Jim Youngblood | Linebacker | Tennessee Tech | Chiefs #2 Pick acquired for Willie Ellison |
| 3 | 60 | Tim Stokes | Tackle | Oregon | #3 pick from Chargers in D. Jones deal. |
| 4 | 95 | Eddie McMillan | Cornerback | Florida State | #4 Pick acquired from Chiefs for Pete Beathard |

## 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 | 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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Rams | 0 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 24 |
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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Rams | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 26 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Playoffs

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
| Divisional | December 23, 1973 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 27–16 | 64,291 |

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Los Angeles Rams | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 5–1 | 9–2 | 388 | 178 | W6 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 4–2 | 7–4 | 318 | 224 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 2–4 | 4–7 | 262 | 319 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 1–5 | 4–7 | 163 | 312 | L1 |