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1973 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerJohn W. Mecom, Jr.
Head coach John North
Home field Tulane Stadium
Results
Record5–9
Division place3rd NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

The 1973 New Orleans Saints season was the team's seventh as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They improved on their previous season's output of 2–11–1, winning five games. [1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

New Orleans made a disastrous trade in January, dealing the No. 2 overall selection in the 1973 NFL Draft to the Baltimore Colts for defensive end Billy Newsome. The Colts used the traded pick to select LSU quarterback Bert Jones, who guided the team to three consecutive AFC East division championships from 1975 to 1977.

J.D. Roberts, who became the Saints' second head coach midway through the 1970 season, was fired August 27, two days after a 31–6 loss to the New England Patriots in the fourth exhibition game. Roberts was replaced by offensive backfield coach John North. Roberts ended his Saints tenure with a 7–25–3 mark.

The Saints opened the year with a 62–7 debacle in the loss to the Atlanta Falcons at home. The first quarter of that game was scoreless. Eight days later, they were drubbed on Monday Night Football by the Dallas Cowboys, 40–3.

They did however hold O. J. Simpson to 74 yard on 20 carries in the team's first ever shutout, with a 13–0 win over the Buffalo Bills. Simpson went on to break the single season rushing record in yardage that year with 2,003.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1973 NFL Draft
1973 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 29 Derland Moore  Defensive tackle Oklahoma
2 51 Steve Baumgartner  Defensive end Purdue
3 66 Pete Van Valkenburg  Running back Brigham Young
4 86 Jim Merlo  Linebacker Stanford
6 134 Marty Shuford  Running back Arizona
7 158 Bill Cahill  Defensive back Washington
8 185 Bob Peterson  Guard Utah
8 207 Doug Winslow  Wide receiver Drake
9 210 Mike Fink  Defensive back Missouri
10 237 Jeff Horsley  Running back North Carolina Central
11 262 James Owens  Running back Auburn
12 289 Paul Orndorff  Tight end Tampa
13 314 Richard Watkins  Defensive tackle Weber State
14 341 Paul Fersen  Offensive tackle Georgia
15 366 Mike Evenson  Center North Dakota State
16 393 Howard Stevens  Running back Louisville
17 418 Bobby Garner  Tight end Winston-Salem State
      Made roster  

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1973 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches



[3]

Roster

1973 New Orleans Saints 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

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 16 Atlanta Falcons L 7–62 0–1 Tulane Stadium 66,428
2 September 24 at Dallas Cowboys L 3–40 0–2 Texas Stadium 52,715
3 September 30 at Baltimore Colts L 10–14 0–3 Memorial Stadium 52,293
4 October 7 Chicago Bears W 21–16 1–3 Tulane Stadium 56,561
5 October 14 Detroit Lions W 20–13 2–3 Tulane Stadium 57,810
6 October 21 at San Francisco 49ers L 0–40 2–4 Candlestick Park 52,881
7 October 28 Washington Redskins W 19–3 3–4 Tulane Stadium 66,315
8 November 4 Buffalo Bills W 13–0 4–4 Tulane Stadium 74,770
9 November 11 at Los Angeles Rams L 7–29 4–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 70,358
10 November 18 at San Diego Chargers L 14–17 4–6 San Diego Stadium 34,848
11 November 25 Los Angeles Rams L 13–24 4–7 Tulane Stadium 67,192
12 December 2 at Green Bay Packers L 10–30 4–8 Milwaukee County Stadium 46,092
13 December 9 San Francisco 49ers W 16–10 5–8 Tulane Stadium 62,490
14 December 16 at Atlanta Falcons L 10–14 5–9 Atlanta Stadium 34,147
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams 12 2 0 .857 5–1 9–2 388 178 W6
Atlanta Falcons 9 5 0 .643 4–2 7–4 318 224 W1
San Francisco 49ers 5 9 0 .357 2–4 4–7 262 319 L2
New Orleans Saints 5 9 0 .357 1–5 4–7 163 312 L1

References

  1. ^ 1973 New Orleans Saints
  2. ^ "1974 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2014.


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