# 1973 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1973 St. Louis Cardinals season was the franchise's 54th season in the National Football League (NFL). Led by first-year head coach Don Coryell, the Cardinals matched their previous output of 4–9–1, finishing with that record for the third straight season. They failed to reach the playoffs for the 25th straight season (not counting an appearance in the Playoff Bowl following the 1964 season).
The game vs. the Oakland Raiders was the first between the teams, and the last until 1983, by which time the Raiders have moved to Los Angeles. It would be the last time the Raiders played at the Cardinals until 1998 in Tempe, Arizona, and the Raiders' last game in St. Louis until 2002 when they played the Rams.
Their tied game, their first NFL game against the Denver Broncos, was the nearest they would come to beating that franchise until 2010, and the only time the Broncos would play at Busch Memorial Stadium (they would play at Edward Jones Dome in 2000).
Hired in January, Coryell was previously the head coach at San Diego State for twelve seasons.

## Offseason

1973 St. Louis Cardinals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 5 | Dave Butz * | Defensive tackle | Purdue |
| 2 | 45 | Gary Keithley | Quarterback | UTEP |
| 3 | 59 | Fred Sturt | Guard | Bowling Green |
| 3 | 63 | Terry Metcalf | Running back | Long Beach State |
| 5 | 109 | Tom Brahaney | Center | Oklahoma |
| 6 | 137 | Dwayne Crump | Defensive back | Fresno State |
| 6 | 148 | Phil Andre | Defensive back | Washington |
| 7 | 164 | Ken Jones | Tackle | Oklahoma |
| 8 | 188 | Ken Garrett | Running back | Wake Forest |
| 9 | 213 | Ken King | Linebacker | Kentucky |
| 10 | 242 | Bonnie Sloan | Defensive tackle | Austin Peay |
| 11 | 267 | Dan Sanspree | Defensive end | Auburn |
| 12 | 292 | Dean Unruh | Tackle | Oklahoma |
| 13 | 317 | Ed Robinson | Defensive back | Lamar |
| 14 | 346 | Dan Peiffer | Center | Southeast Missouri State |
| 15 | 371 | Mel Parker | Linebacker | Duke |
| 16 | 396 | Jim Hann | Linebacker | Montana |
| 17 | 421 | Eric Crone | Quarterback | Harvard |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 16 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 34–23 | 1–0 | Veterans Stadium | 61,103 |
| 2 | September 23 | Washington Redskins | W 34–27 | 2–0 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,316 |
| 3 | September 30 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 10–45 | 2–1 | Texas Stadium | 64,729 |
| 4 | October 7 | Oakland Raiders | L 10–17 | 2–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,051 |
| 5 | October 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 24–27 | 2–3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 44,400 |
| 6 | October 21 | at Washington Redskins | L 13–31 | 2–4 | RFK Stadium | 54,381 |
| 7 | October 28 | New York Giants | W 35–27 | 3–4 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47,589 |
| 8 | November 4 | Denver Broncos | T 17–17 | 3–4–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 46,565 |
| 9 | November 11 | at Green Bay Packers | L 21–25 | 3–5–1 | Lambeau Field | 52,922 |
| 10 | November 18 | at New York Giants | L 13–24 | 3–6–1 | Yale Bowl | 65,795 |
| 11 | November 25 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 24–42 | 3–7–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 50,918 |
| 12 | December 2 | Detroit Lions | L 16–20 | 3–8–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 44,982 |
| 13 | December 9 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 32–10 | 4–8–1 | Atlanta Stadium | 48,030 |
| 14 | December 16 | Dallas Cowboys | L 3–30 | 4–9–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 43,946 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Dallas Cowboys | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 6–2 | 8–3 | 382 | 203 | W3 |
| Washington Redskins | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 6–2 | 8–3 | 325 | 198 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 8 | 1 | .393 | 3–4–1 | 3–7–1 | 310 | 393 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 3–5 | 4–7 | 286 | 365 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 2 | 11 | 1 | .179 | 1–6–1 | 1–9–1 | 226 | 362 | L4 |