# 1973 Detroit Lions season

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. The football team had missed the playoffs for the third in a row straight season.

## NFL draft

1973 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 17 | Ernie Price | DE | Texas A&M | from Chicago |
| 2 | 44 | Leon Crosswhite | RB | Oklahoma | |
| 3 | 58 | John Brady | TE | Washington | from Chicago |
| 3 | 71 | Jim Laslavic | LB | Penn State | |
| 3 | 75 | Levi Johnson | CB | Texas A&I | from Los Angeles |
| 4 | 81 | Mike Hennigan | LB | Tennessee Tech | |
| 4 | 91 | Dick Jauron * | S | Yale | from Atlanta |
| 4 | 96 | Jim Hooks | RB | Central State (OK) | |
| 7 | 175 | John Andrews | DT | Morgan State | |
| 8 | 200 | Prentice McCray | S | Arizona State | |
| 8 | 203 | John Bledsoe | RB | Ohio State | from Cleveland |
| 9 | 227 | Ira Dean | DB | Baylor | |
| 10 | 252 | Ray Bonner | DB | Middle Tennessee State | |
| 11 | 279 | Scott Freeman | WR | Wyoming | |
| 12 | 304 | Tom Scott | WR | Washington | |
| 13 | 331 | John Moss | LB | Pittsburgh | |
| 14 | 356 | Jay Corey | OT | Santa Clara | |
| 15 | 408 | Larry Nickels | WR | Dayton | |
| 17 | 435 | Earl Belgrave | OT | Ohio State | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||
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).

## 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 | 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 | 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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Steelers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 24 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA
* Date: September 16
* Game time: 4:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C); wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
* Game attendance: 48,913
* Referee: Fred Wyant
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Lions
Greg Landry 11/27, 219 Yds, TD, 3 INT 8 Rush, 65 Yds
Ron Jessie 3 Rec, 131 Yds, TD
Steelers
Terry Bradshaw 15/23, 124 Yds, 2 TD, INT
John Fuqua 26 Rush, 100 Yds
Barry Pearson 6 Rec, 58 Yds :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | DET | PIT |
| 2 | | | | | Steelers | 11-yard field goal by Roy Gerela | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | | | | | Steelers | Bradshaw 1-yard touchdown run, Gerela kick good | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | | | | | Lions | Jessie 84-yard touchdown reception from Landry, Mann kick good | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | | | | | Lions | 40-yard field goal by Mann | 10 | 10 |
| 4 | | | | | Steelers | McMakin 24-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good | 10 | 17 |
| 4 | | | | | Steelers | Shanklin 6-yard touchdown reception from Bradshaw, Gerela kick good | 10 | 24 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 10 | 24 |

### Week 14

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Dolphins | 14 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 34 |
at Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
* Date: Saturday, December 15
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
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 Munson 8/17, 73 Yds, INT
Steve Owens 27 Rush, 113 Yds, TD 6 Rec, 56 Yds
Dolphins
Bob Griese 11/15, 141 Yds, 4 TD
Larry Csonka 10 Rush, 51 Yds
Paul Warfield 6 Rec, 103 Yds, 4 TD :

## Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Minnesota Vikings | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 6–0 | 10–1 | 296 | 168 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 6 | 7 | 1 | .464 | 3–2–1 | 6–4–1 | 271 | 247 | L1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 5 | 7 | 2 | .429 | 1–4–1 | 4–6–1 | 202 | 259 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 1–5 | 1–9 | 195 | 334 | L6 |