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1973 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

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1973 St. Louis Cardinals season
OwnerBill Bidwill
Head coachDon Coryell
Home fieldBusch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record4–9–1
Division place4th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

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.[1] 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,[2] was the nearest they would come to beating that franchise until 2010, and the only time the Broncos would play at Busch Memorial Stadium[2] (they would play at Edward Jones Dome in 2000[3]).

Hired in January, Coryell was previously the head coach at San Diego State for twelve seasons.[4]

Offseason

[edit]
1973 St. Louis Cardinals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
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

[5]

Roster

[edit]
St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks


Running backs


Wide receivers


Tight ends


Offensive linemen


Defensive linemen


Linebackers


Defensive backs


Special teams


Reserve lists


Practice squad

rookies in italics

Schedule

[edit]
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

[edit]
NFC East
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

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 1973 St. Louis Cardinals
  2. ^ a b Arizona Cardinals versus Denver Broncos
  3. ^ St. Louis Rams at home to Denver Broncos
  4. ^ "Coryell named Cardinal coach". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 19, 1973. p. 28.
  5. ^ "1973 St. Louis Cardinals Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved July 29, 2024.