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1973 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head Coach Paul Brown
Home Field Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record 10–4
Place 1st AFC Central
Playoff Finish Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
Timeline
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1972 1974

The 1973 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 6th year in professional football and its 4th with the National Football League.

The Bengals split their first eight games, then swept their last six to win their second AFC Central Division title. Cincinnati for the second time made the playoffs, losing to the eventual Super Bowl winner (Miami 34–16) for the second time as well.

RB Essex Johnson became the first Bengal to achieve 100+ yards rushing and receiving in the same game. He rushed for 121 yards on 21 carries and got 116 yards on two receptions on Sept. 30, 1973 at San Diego.

Offseason[]

Notable players taken in the draft this year, Isaac Curtis and Boobie Clark

NFL Draft[]

1973 Cincinnati Bengals Draft
Round Pick # Overall Name Position College
1 15 15 Isaac Curtis Wide Receiver San Diego State
2 17 43 Albert Chandler Tight End Oklahoma
3 16 68 Tim George Wide Receiver Carson-Newman
5 17 121 Bob McCall Running Back Arizona
6 16 146 Bob Jones Defensive Back Virginia Union
7 15 171 Robert Maddox Defensive End Frostburg State
8 17 199 Joe Wilson Running Back Holy Cross
9 16 224 John Dampeer Guard Notre Dame
10 15 249 Lenvil Elliott Running Back Northeast Missouri State
11 17 277 William Montgomery Defensive Back Morehouse
12 16 302 Charles Clark Running Back Bethune-Cookman
13 15 327 Brooks West Defensive Tackle UTEP
14 17 355 Hurles Scales Defensive Back North Texas State
15 16 380 Ted McNulty Quarterback Indiana
16 15 405 Harry Unger Running Back Auburn
17 17 433 Wayne Estabrook Quarterback Whittier

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

1973 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule
Date Opponent Result Score Attn. Stadium
September 16 at Denver Broncos L 10–28 49,059 Mile High
September 23 Houston Oilers W 24–10 51,823 Riverfront
September 30 at San Diego Chargers W 20–13 46,733 San Diego
October 7 at Cleveland Browns L 10–17 70,805 Cleveland
October 14 Pittsburgh Steelers W 19–7 55,819 Riverfront
October 21 Kansas City Chiefs W 14–6 56,397 Riverfront
October 28 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–20 45,761 Three Rivers
November 4 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–38 54,944 Texas
November 11 at Buffalo Bills W 16–13 76,927 Rich
November 18 New York Jets W 20–14 55,745 Riverfront
November 25 St. Louis Cardinals W 42–24 50,918 Riverfront
December 2 Minnesota Vikings W 27–0 57,859 Riverfront
December 9 Cleveland Browns W 34–17 58,266 Riverfront
December 16 at Houston Oilers W 27–24 21,955 Astrodome

Standings[]

AFC Central
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Cincinnati Bengals 10 4 0 .714 286 231 W-6
Pittsburgh Steelers 10 4 0 .714 347 210 W-2
Cleveland Browns 7 5 2 .571 234 255 L-2
Houston Oilers 1 13 0 .071 199 447 L-6

Team stats[]

1973 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS Bengals Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS 252 219
Rushing 124 109
Passing 108 97
Penalty 20 13
TOTAL NET YARDS 4512 3705
Avg Per Game 322.3 264.6
Total Plays 871 840
Avg. Per Play 5.2 4.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 2236 1807
Avg. Per Game 159.7 129.1
Total Rushes 515 459
NET YARDS PASSING 2276 1898
Avg. Per Game 162.6 135.6
Sacked Yards Lost 24–163 43–342
Gross Yards 2439 2240
Att. Completions 332–180 338–182
Completion Pct. 54.2 53.8
Intercepted 12 18
PUNTS-AVERAGE 68–41 77–41.7
PENALTIES-YARDS 83–799 78–710
FUMBLES-BALL LOST 25–14 31–16
TOUCHDOWNS 32 27
Rushing 13 15
Passing 18 9
Returns 1 3
Score by Periods 1 2 3 4 Tot
Bengals 39 100 79 68 286
Opponents 50 61 58 62 231

Team leaders[]

  • Passing: Ken Anderson (329 Att, 179 Comp, 2428 Yds, 54.4 Pct, 18 TD, 12 Int, 81.2 Rating)
  • Rushing: Essex Johnson (195 Att, 997 Yds, 5.1 Avg, 46 Long, 4 TD)
  • Receiving: Isaac Curtis (45 Rec, 843 Yds, 18.7 Avg, 77 Long, 9 TD)
  • Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 94 points (21 FG; 31 PAT)

Roster[]

Cincinnati Bengals rosterview · talk · edit
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Postseason[]

Playoffs
Date Opponent W-L Score ATT. Stadium
December 23 Miami L 16–34 74,651 Orange Bowl

Awards and records[]

Pro Bowl Selections[]

References[]

  1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 452
AFC East Central West East Central West NFC
Baltimore Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta
Buffalo Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Los Angeles
Miami Houston Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans
New England Pittsburgh San Diego St. Louis Minnesota San Francisco
NY Jets Washington
1973 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl VIII
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