1973 Dallas Cowboys season

The 1973 Dallas Cowboys season was their 14th in the league. The team matched their previous output of 10–4. They qualified for the playoffs for the eighth straight season. After a 4–3 start the Cowboys won six of their last seven games to win the NFC East with a solid 10–4 record.

1973 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
General manager	Tex Schramm
Head coach	Tom Landry
Home field	Texas Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Rams) 27–16 Lost NFC Championship (vs. Vikings) 10–27
Pro Bowlers	None

In the Divisional Playoffs the Dallas Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams 27–16 in Texas Stadium to earn their fourth straight Championship Game Appearance. However, not even the home crowd at Texas Stadium could help the Cowboys as they fell to the Minnesota Vikings 27–10. This was Roger Staubach's first full season as the starting quarterback.

NFL Draft

Main article: 1973 NFL draft

1973 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	20	Billy Joe Dupree *	TE	Michigan State
2	46	Golden Richards	WR	Hawaii
3	53	Harvey Martin *	DE	East Texas State
4	98	Drane Scrivener	DB	Tulsa
5	126	Bruce Walton	OT	UCLA
6	151	Bob Leyen	OG	Yale
7	176	Rodrigo Barnes	LB	Rice
8	204	Dan Werner	QB	Michigan State
9	229	Mike White	DB	Minnesota
10	254	Carl Johnson	LB	Tennessee
11	282	Gerald Caswell	OG	Colorado State
12	307	Jim Arneson	OG	Arizona
13	332	John Smith	WR	UCLA
14	360	Bob Thornton	OG	North Carolina
15	385	Drew Pearson †	LB	Grambling
16	410	John Conley	TE	Hawaii
17	438	Les Strayhorn	RB	East Carolina
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
1	September 16	at Chicago Bears	W 20–17	1–0	Soldier Field	49,970	Recap
2	September 24	New Orleans Saints	W 40–3	2–0	Texas Stadium	52,715	Recap
3	September 30	St. Louis Cardinals	W 45–10	3–0	Texas Stadium	64,729	Recap
4	October 8	at Washington Redskins	L 7–14	3–1	RFK Stadium	54,314	Recap
5	October 14	at Los Angeles Rams	L 31–37	3–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	81,428	Recap
6	October 21	New York Giants	W 45–28	4–2	Texas Stadium	58,741	Recap
7	October 28	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 16–30	4–3	Veterans Stadium	63,300	Recap
8	November 4	Cincinnati Bengals	W 38–10	5–3	Texas Stadium	54,944	Recap
9	November 11	at New York Giants	W 23–10	6–3	Yale Bowl	70,128	Recap
10	November 18	Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–10	7–3	Texas Stadium	59,375	Recap
11	November 22	Miami Dolphins	L 7–14	7–4	Texas Stadium	58,089	Recap
12	December 2	at Denver Broncos	W 22–10	8–4	Mile High Stadium	51,508	Recap
13	December 9	Washington Redskins	W 27–7	9–4	Texas Stadium	62,195	Recap
14	December 16	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 30–3	10–4	Busch Memorial Stadium	43,946	Recap

Division opponents are in bold text

Standings

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

Season summary

Week 1 at Bears

Week One: Dallas Cowboys (0–0) at Chicago Bears (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	17	0	3	20
Bears	3	0	7	7	17

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: September 16
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C)
• Game attendance: 49,970
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter CHI – Mac Percival 33-yard field goal. Bears 3–0. Second quarter DAL – Toni Fritsch 25-yard field goal. Tie 3–3. DAL – Otto Stowe 21-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick). Cowboys 10–3. DAL – Bob Hayes 18-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick). Cowboys 17–3. Third quarter' CHI – Ike Hill 59-yard punt return (Mac Percival kick). Cowboys 17–10. Fourth quarter CHI – Carl Garrett 15-yard run (Mac Percival kick). Tie 17–17. DAL – Toni Fritsch 11-yard field goal. Cowboys 20–17. Top passers DAL – Roger Staubach – 9/22, 91 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT CHI – Bobby Douglass – 6/13, 52 yards, INT Top rushers DAL – Calvin Hill – 31 rushes, 130 yards CHI – Jim Harrison – 16 rushes, 70 yards Top receivers DAL – Calvin Hill – 4 receptions, 28 yards CHI – Jim Harrison – 4 receptions, 30 yards

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Saints 0 3 0 0 3 • Cowboys 12 0 21 7 40 Date: September 24 Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas Game start: 8:00 p.m. Game weather: 76 °F (24 °C); wind 17 mph (27 km/h) Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q1 DAL Calvin Hill 7 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick) DAL 7–0 Q1 DAL Safety, O'Neal tackled by B. Barnes in end zone DAL 9–0 Q1 DAL Toni Fritsch 27 yard field goal DAL 12–0 Q2 NO Happy Feller 9 yard field goal DAL 12–3 Q3 DAL Robert Newhouse 3 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick) DAL 19–3 Q3 DAL Robert Newhouse 2 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) DAL 26–3 Q3 DAL Mike Montgomery 7 yard pass from Craig Morton (Toni Fritsch kick) DAL 33–3 Q4 DAL Les Strayhorn 1 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick) DAL 40–3

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 0 3 7 10 • Cowboys 14 10 7 14 45 Date: September 30 Location: Texas Stadium Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C); wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 DAL DuPree 8 yard pass from Staubach (Fritsch kick) DAL 7–0 Q1 DAL Hill 19 yard run (Fritsch kick) DAL 14–0 Q2 DAL Fritsch 24 yard field goal DAL 17–0 Q2 DAL Staubach 1 yard run (Fritsch kick) DAL 24–0 Q3 STL Bakken 16 yard field goal DAL 24–3 Q3 DAL DuPree 2 yard pass from Staubach DAL 31–3 Q4 DAL Richards 53 yard pass from Staubach (Fritsch kick) DAL 38–3 Q4 STL Anderson 1 yard run (Bakken kick) DAL 38–10 Q4 DAL DuPree 1 yard pass from Staubach (Fritsch kick) DAL 45–10

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 3 7 0 0 10 • Cowboys 0 14 7 10 31 Date: November 18 Location: Texas Stadium • Irving, Texas Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C) • Wind 14 mph (23 km/h)

Scoring summary 1 PHI Tom Dempsey 17 yard field goal Eagles 3–0 2 PHI Charle Young 80 yard pass from Roman Gabriel (Tom Dempsey kick) Eagles 10–0 2 DAL Roger Staubach 1 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick) Eagles 10–7 2 DAL Walt Garrison 2 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) Cowboys 14–10 3 DAL Bob Hayes 28 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) Cowboys 21–10 4 DAL Walt Garrison 1 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick) Cowboys 28–10 4 DAL Toni Fritsch 23 yard field goal Cowboys 31–10

Playoffs

Main article: 1973–74 NFL playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
Divisional	December 23, 1973	Los Angeles Rams	W 27–16	Texas Stadium	64,291	Recap
NFC Championship	December 30, 1973	Minnesota Vikings	L 10–27	Texas Stadium	60,272	Recap

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1973 roster
Quarterbacks 14 Craig Morton 12 Roger Staubach Running backs 32 Walt Garrison FB 35 Calvin Hill 44 Robert Newhouse RB/FB 33 Cyril Pinder 45 Larry Robinson 40 Les Strayhorn Wide receivers 22 Bob Hayes 23 Mike Montgomery RB 88 Drew Pearson KR 83 Golden Richards PR 82 Otto Stowe Tight ends 89 Billy Joe DuPree 84 Jean Fugett		Offensive linemen 64 Jim Arneson G 62 John Fitzgerald C 51 Dave Manders C 73 Ralph Neely T 76 John Niland G 61 Blaine Nye G 71 Rodney Wallace T/G 78 Bruce Walton T 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive linemen 63 Larry Cole DE 77 Bill Gregory DT 74 Bob Lilly DT 79 Harvey Martin DE 75 Jethro Pugh DT 67 Pat Toomay DE		Linebackers 53 John Babinecz MLB 56 Rodrigo Barnes OLB 52 Dave Edwards OLB 54 Chuck Howley OLB 55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB 50 D. D. Lewis OLB Defensive backs 31 Benny Barnes CB 34 Cornell Green SS 43 Cliff Harris FS 20 Mel Renfro CB 46 Mark Washington CB 41 Charlie Waters CB/SS Special teams 81 Marv Bateman P 17 Mike Clark K 15 Toni Fritsch K		Reserve lists 57 Mike Keller MLB (IR) 87 Billy Truax TE (IR) Rookies in italics 45 active, 1 inactive

Publications

The Football Encyclopedia ISBN 0-312-11435-4
Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3
Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2

External links

• 1973 Dallas Cowboys
• Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Dallas Cowboys Official Site