1973 Chicago Bears season

The 1973 Chicago Bears season was their 54th regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 3–11 record, the second worst showing in franchise history until 43 years later in 2016, when the team finished 3–13.

1973 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
General manager	George Halas, Jr.
Head coach	Abe Gibron
Home field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	3–11
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1973 NFL draft

1973 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	8	Wally Chambers *	Defensive end	Eastern Kentucky
2	33	Gary Huff	Quarterback	Florida State
2	48	Gary Hrivnak	Defensive tackle	Purdue
5	107	Allan Ellis *	Cornerback	UCLA
6	138	Mike Creaney	Center	Notre Dame
8	187	Conrad Graham	Defensive back	Tennessee
9	216	Mike Deutsch	Running back	North Dakota
10	241	William Barry	Wide receiver	Ole Miss
11	266	Ed Siegler	Kicker	Clemson
12	291	Mike Griffin	Guard	Arkansas
13	320	John Cieszkowski	Running back	Notre Dame
14	345	Dave Juenger	Wide receiver	Ohio
15	370	Don Rives	Linebacker	Texas Tech
17	424	Larry Roach	Defensive back	Oklahoma
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1973 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Bobby Douglass 19 Gary Huff Running backs (RB) 26 Carl Garrett 35 Jim Harrison FB 33 Gary Kosins 36 Roger Lawson 39 Reggie Sanderson Wide receivers (WR) 43 George Farmer 17 Ike Hill 38 Dave Juenger 81 Mike Reppond 87 Tom Reynolds 82 Earl Thomas 21 Cecil Turner Tight ends (TE) 80 Craig Cotton 86 Bob Parsons

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Lionel Antoine T 74 Bob Asher T 52 Rich Coady C 61 Glen Holloway G 65 Randy Jackson T 64 Ernie Janet G 63 Steve Kinney G 45 Joe Moore G 78 Bob Newton G Defensive linemen (DL) 60 Wally Chambers DT 75 Dave Hale DL 85 Willie Holman DL 72 Gary Hrivnak DE 71 Tony McGee DE 68 Jim Osborne DT 70 Andy Rice DT 89 Mel Tom DE

Linebackers (LB) 55 Doug Buffone 51 Dick Butkus 53 Gail Clark 30 Jimmy Gunn 58 Bob Pifferini 57 Don Rives LB 54 Adrian Young Defensive backs (DB) 25 Craig Clemons SS 48 Allan Ellis CB 32 Charlie Ford CB 29 Bob Jeter DB 44 Garry Lyle FS 24 Willie Roberts 20 Joe Taylor CB Special teams 88 Bobby Joe Green P 83 Mac Percival K 15 Mirro Roder K

Reserve 30 Jimmy Gunn LB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 16	Dallas Cowboys	L 17–20	0–1	Soldier Field	49,970
2	September 23	Minnesota Vikings	L 13–22	0–2	Soldier Field	52,035
3	September 30	at Denver Broncos	W 33–14	1–2	Mile High Stadium	51,159
4	October 7	at New Orleans Saints	L 16–21	1–3	Tulane Stadium	56,561
5	October 14	at Atlanta Falcons	L 6–46	1–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	58,850
6	October 21	New England Patriots	L 10–13	1–5	Soldier Field	47,643
7	October 28	Houston Oilers	W 35–14	2–5	Soldier Field	43,755
8	November 4	at Green Bay Packers	W 31–17	3–5	Lambeau Field	56,267
9	November 12	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–19	3–6	Arrowhead Stadium	70,664
10	November 18	Detroit Lions	L 7–30	3–7	Soldier Field	48,625
11	November 25	at Minnesota Vikings	L 13–31	3–8	Metropolitan Stadium	46,430
12	December 2	Los Angeles Rams	L 0–26	3–9	Soldier Field	47,620
13	December 9	at Detroit Lions	L 7–40	3–10	Tiger Stadium	41,729
14	December 16	Green Bay Packers	L 0–21	3–11	Soldier Field	29,157
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 vs. Cowboys

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 8

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 7 3 14 7 31 Packers 7 10 0 0 17 Date: November 4 Location: Lambeau Field Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 56,267 Game weather: 31 °F (−1 °C) • Wind 9 mph (14 km/h)

Scoring summary 1 CHI Bobby Douglass 1 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Bears 7–0 1 GB MacArthur Lane 5 yard pass from Scott Hunter (Chester Marcol kick) Tie 7–7 2 GB Scott Hunter 1 yard run (Chester Marcol kick) Packers 14–7 2 GB Chester Marcol 25 yard field goal Packers 17–7 2 CHI Mac Percival 10 yard field goal Packers 17–10 3 CHI Bobby Douglass 1 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Tie 17–17 3 CHI Bobby Douglass 2 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Bears 24–17 4 CHI Bobby Douglass 1 yard run (Mac Percival kick) Bears 31–17

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	12	2	0	.857	6–0	10–1	296	168	W2
Detroit Lions	6	7	1	.464	3–2–1	6–4–1	271	247	L1
Green Bay Packers	5	7	2	.429	1–4–1	4–6–1	202	259	W1
Chicago Bears	3	11	0	.214	1–5	1–9	195	334	L6