# 1973 Baltimore Colts season

The 1973 Baltimore Colts season was the 21st season for the team in the National Football League. Under first-year head coach Howard Schnellenberger, the Colts finished with a record of 4 wins and 10 losses, tied for fourth in the AFC East with the New York Jets. The Colts lost the tiebreaker to the Jets based on head-to-head sweep (0–2).
Baltimore was the only team to lose to the Houston Oilers, bowing 31–27 in week eight at home. The Oilers broke an 18-game losing streak with the victory.
Hired in February, Schnellenberger was previously the offensive coordinator with the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins, who went undefeated in 1972 under head coach Don Shula.
This was the first year since 1955 in which long-time quarterback Johnny Unitas was not on the Baltimore roster.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1973 Baltimore Colts draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 2 | Bert Jones * | Quarterback | LSU |
| 1 | 10 | Joe Ehrmann * | Defensive tackle | Syracuse |
| 2 | 35 | Mike Barnes * | Defensive end | Miami (FL) |
| 3 | 61 | Bill Olds * | Running back | Nebraska |
| 3 | 62 | Jamie Rotella | Linebacker | Tennessee |
| 4 | 83 | Gery Palmer | Tackle | Kansas |
| 4 | 85 | Ollie Smith | Wide receiver | Tennessee State |
| 5 | 114 | David Taylor | Guard | Catawba |
| 8 | 189 | Ray Oldham | Defensive back | Middle Tennessee |
| 8 | 191 | Bill Windauer | Guard | Iowa |
| 11 | 270 | Dan Neal | Center | Kentucky |
| 12 | 295 | Bernard Thomas | Defensive end | Iowa |
| 13 | 322 | Tom Pierantozzi | Quarterback | West Chester |
| 14 | 347 | Ed Williams | Running back | West Virginia |
| 15 | 347 | Jackie Brown | Defensive back | South Carolina |
| 16 | 399 | Marty Januszkiewicz | Running back | Syracuse |
| 17 | 426 | Guy Falkenhagen | Tackle | Northern Michigan |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season

Before the season, the Colts traded long-time quarterback Johnny Unitas to the San Diego Chargers. Unitas had been splitting quarterback duties with Earl Morrall and Marty Domres over the past few seasons; he played one season for San Diego and retired.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Game recap |
| 1 | September 16 | at Cleveland Browns | L 14–24 | 0–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 74,303 | Recap |
| 2 | September 23 | New York Jets | L 10–34 | 0–2 | Memorial Stadium | 55,942 | Recap |
| 3 | September 30 | New Orleans Saints | W 14–10 | 1–2 | Memorial Stadium | 52,293 | Recap |
| 4 | October 7 | at New England Patriots | L 16–24 | 1–3 | Schaefer Stadium | 57,044 | Recap |
| 5 | October 14 | at Buffalo Bills | L 13–31 | 1–4 | Rich Stadium | 78,875 | Recap |
| 6 | October 21 | at Detroit Lions | W 29–27 | 2–4 | Tiger Stadium | 48,058 | Recap |
| 7 | October 28 | Oakland Raiders | L 21–34 | 2–5 | Memorial Stadium | 59,008 | Recap |
| 8 | November 4 | Houston Oilers | L 27–31 | 2–6 | Memorial Stadium | 52,707 | Recap |
| 9 | November 11 | at Miami Dolphins | L 0–44 | 2–7 | Orange Bowl | 60,332 | Recap |
| 10 | November 18 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–22 | 2–8 | RFK Stadium | 52,675 | Recap |
| 11 | November 25 | Buffalo Bills | L 17–24 | 2–9 | Memorial Stadium | 52,250 | Recap |
| 12 | December 2 | at New York Jets | L 17–20 | 2–10 | Shea Stadium | 51,167 | Recap |
| 13 | December 9 | Miami Dolphins | W 16–3 | 3–10 | Memorial Stadium | 58,446 | Recap |
| 14 | December 16 | New England Patriots | W 18–13 | 4–10 | Memorial Stadium | 52,065 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 7–1 | 9–2 | 343 | 150 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 6–2 | 7–4 | 259 | 230 | W4 |
| New England Patriots | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 1–7 | 3–8 | 258 | 300 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 4–4 | 4–7 | 240 | 306 | L2 |
| Baltimore Colts | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–6 | 2–9 | 226 | 341 | W2 |