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Private Notes
Buffalo restocked its roster for '73 with draft choices that included quarterback Joe Ferguson and future Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure. They paid immediate dividends on Sept. 16 against a Patriot team loaded with new faces themselves. O.J. Simpson rushed for 250 yards, a portent of things to come.
September 23, 1973 marked the end of an era for Giants football. It was their final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium. With the big ball yard about to be closed for baseball-only renovations, the Giants were about to enter a prolonged period of despair and defeat. And it all started with this useless 23-23 tie against the archrival Eagles.
The Eagles had yet to win going into October 7 and their first visit to Orchard Park, New York. What they faced was the O.J. Simpson express. Simpson's 171 yards paced the Bills' game plan, but it almost wasn't enough. Philadelphia had two running backs equal to the task, but a bad break at the end of the game made Buffalo the victor, 27-26.
Everything was new for Carroll Rosenbloom's Los Angeles Rams of 1973. The team responded for new coach Chuck Knox, and wearing new uniforms, they sprinted to an opening winning streak. This 37-31 victory over the established winners from Dallas, was emblematic of the Rams' new spirit.
In an otherwise dismal year for the Colts, one psychological win occurred October 21 at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. The Colts stood toe-to-toe with their ex-coach Don McCafferty and prevailed 29-27.
Denver in 1973 was a team on the make. A true symbol of their new-found strength was their November 18 game at Three Rivers Stadium. Charley Johnson quarterbacked the Broncos in a ball-control offense. The 23-13 Denver win would vault them toward unprecedented heights.
George Allen's Over-the-Hill Gang always fought an uphill battle to beat the experts' predictions of failure. Fortunately, the Giants were Washington's regular punching bag. But this time, the Giants whipped out a 21-3 lead. Nothing new for the Redskins. A wobbly Sonny Jurgensen replaced an injured Billy Kilmer at QB to conduct a stunning comeback, 27-24.
Few gave the Minnesota Vikings much of a chance to win the NFC title December 30, 1973 in Dallas. It was a sloppy game, to be sure, but Minnesota rose above the Coeboys, 27-10, after the two teams turned the ball over on nine consecutive possessions.
Saturday, December 22, 1973 in Bloomington, Minnesota was a comfortable 24 degrees for the start of the playoffs. Redskins' QB Billy Kilmer, hospitalized for much of the week, played admirably in this showdown with the more-balanced Vikings. But the Vikings were just that much tougher.
The Buffalo Bills accomplished so much on December 16, 1973 that all the football world took notice. The biggest achievement was O.J. Simpson's 2,000th rushing yard. It was the exclamation point to the Bills' 34-13 walloping of the Jets, but not the period. The period came in the last minute, when the head-coaching career of the Jets' Weeb Ewbank came to an unglorious end.
