# 1973 Denver Broncos season

The 1973 Denver Broncos season was the team's 14th year in professional football and its fourth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by second-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos posted a winning record for the first time in franchise history, with seven wins, five losses, and two ties, which tied for sixth-best in the conference. It was the first time in franchise history that they won more than five games. Denver tied for second in the AFC West (third with tiebreaker), 1½ games behind the Oakland Raiders.
One of the ties, in their first-ever game with the Cardinals, was the nearest they came to losing to that franchise until 2010, and also their only NFL appearance in St. Louis until 2000 against the relocated Rams at Edward Jones Dome.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1973 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 9 | Otis Armstrong * | Running back | Purdue |
| 2 | 36 | Barney Chavous | DE | South Carolina State |
| 3 | 54 | Paul Howard | G | BYU |
| 3 | 70 | John Wood | DT | LSU |
| 4 | 88 | Tom Jackson * | LB | Louisville |
| 5 | 113 | Charles McTorry | DB | Tennessee State |
| 7 | 165 | Mike Askea | OT | Stanford |
| 7 | 166 | John Grant | DT | USC |
| 9 | 217 | Lyle Blackwood | DB | Texas Christian |
| 10 | 244 | Al Marshall | WR | Boise State |
| 11 | 269 | Elton Brown | DE | Utah State |
| 12 | 296 | Jim O'Malley | LB | Notre Dame |
| 13 | 319 | Ed Smith | DE | Colorado College |
| 13 | 321 | Ed White | RB | Tulsa |
| 14 | 348 | John Hufnagel | QB | Penn State |
| 15 | 373 | Calvin Jones | DB | Washington |
| 16 | 398 | Oliver Ross | RB | Alabama A&M |
| 16 | 400 | Ken Muhlbeier | C | Idaho |
| 17 | 425 | Kenneth Morgan | TE | Elon |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### Staff / Coaches

    Source:

### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 16 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 28–10 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 49,059 |
| 2 | September 23 | San Francisco 49ers | L 34–36 | 1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 50,966 |
| 3 | September 30 | Chicago Bears | L 14–33 | 1–2 | Mile High Stadium | 51,159 |
| 4 | October 7 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 14–16 | 1–3 | Arrowhead Stadium | 71,414 |
| 5 | October 14 | at Houston Oilers | W 48–20 | 2–3 | Astrodome | 32,801 |
| 6 | October 22 | Oakland Raiders | T 23–23 | 2–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,270 |
| 7 | October 28 | at New York Jets | W 40–28 | 3–3–1 | Shea Stadium | 55,108 |
| 8 | November 4 | at St. Louis Cardinals | T 17–17 | 3–3–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 46,565 |
| 9 | November 11 | San Diego Chargers | W 30–19 | 4–3–2 | Mile High Stadium | 51,034 |
| 10 | November 18 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 23–13 | 5–3–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | 48,580 |
| 11 | November 25 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 14–10 | 6–3–2 | Mile High Stadium | 51,331 |
| 12 | December 2 | Dallas Cowboys | L 10–22 | 6–4–2 | Mile High Stadium | 51,508 |
| 13 | December 9 | at San Diego Chargers | W 42–28 | 7–4–2 | San Diego Stadium | 44,954 |
| 14 | December 16 | at Oakland Raiders | L 17–21 | 7–5–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 51,910 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 2 (Sunday, September 23, 1973): vs. San Francisco 49ers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers (1–1) | 0 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 36 |
| Broncos (1–1) | 10 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 34 |
at Mile High Stadium • Denver, Colorado
* Date: September 23
* Game time: 2:00 p.m. MDT
* Game attendance: 50,966
* Referee: John McDonough
* TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui (play–by–play), Tommy Mason (color commentator) and Brent Musburger (studio reporter)
| Team | Category |
| SF | Passing |
| SF | Rushing |
| SF | Receiving |
| DEN | Passing |
| DEN | Rushing |
| DEN | Receiving |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | SF | DEN |
| "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. | 36 | 34 |
* Point spread: Broncos +4
* Time of Game:
| 49ers | Game Statistics | Broncos |
| 16 | First downs | 22 |
| 39–135 | Rushes–yards | 32–115 |
| 212 | Passing yards | 240 |
| 14–35–1 | Passes | 17–36–5 |
| 0–0 | Sacked–yards | 0–0 |
| 212 | Net passing yards | 240 |
| 347 | Total yards | 355 |
| 101 | Return yards | 114 |
| 6–46.0 | Punts | 4–35.8 |
| 2–0 | Fumbles–lost | 3–1 |
| 8–73 | Penalties–yards | 4–32 |
| | Time of possession | |

### Week 10 at Steelers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 3 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 23 |
| Steelers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: November 18, 1973
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C)
* Game attendance: 48,580
* Referee: Fred Silva
* Box Score
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Broncos | Passing | Charley Johnson | 13/20, 86 Yds, TD |
| Broncos | Rushing | Floyd Little | 27 Rush, 88 Yds, TD |
| Broncos | Receiving | Riley Odoms | 6 Rec, 47 Yds, TD |
| Steelers | Passing | Terry Hanratty | 10/19, 217 Yds, TD |
| Steelers | Rushing | Franco Harris | 11 Rush, 53 Yds |
| Steelers | Receiving | John McMakin | 3 Rec, 64 Yds |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | DEN | PIT |
| 1 | | | | | Broncos | 32-yard field goal by Jim Turner | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | | | | | Steelers | 15-yard field goal by Roy Gerela | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | | | | | Steelers | 13-yard field goal by Roy Gerela | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | | | | | Broncos | 11-yard field goal by Jim Turner | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | | | | | Broncos | Floyd Little 10-yard touchdown run, Jim Turner kick good | 13 | 6 |
| 4 | | | | | Steelers | Ron Shanklin 42-yard touchdown reception from Terry Hanratty, Roy Gerela kick good | 13 | 13 |
| 4 | | | | | Broncos | 46-yard field goal by Jim Turner | 16 | 13 |
| 4 | | | | | Broncos | Riley Odoms 2-yard touchdown reception from Charley Johnson, Jim Turner kick good | 23 | 13 |
| "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. | 23 | 13 |

### Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Oakland Raiders | 9 | 4 | 1 | .679 | 4–1–1 | 7–3–1 | 292 | 175 | W4 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7 | 5 | 2 | .571 | 4–2 | 6–4–1 | 231 | 192 | W1 |
| Denver Broncos | 7 | 5 | 2 | .571 | 3–2–1 | 7–2–1 | 354 | 296 | L1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 2 | 11 | 1 | .179 | 0–6 | 1–9–1 | 188 | 386 | L4 |

## Awards and honors

* UPI AFC Coach of the Year: John Ralston