1973 Cleveland Browns season
# 1973 Cleveland Browns season

The 1973 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 24th season with the National Football League. After a solid 1972 season, which included a playoff appearance, the Browns got off to a solid start, winning three of their first four games on the way to a 7-3-1 start. However, the Browns did not win another game the rest of the season and settled for third place with a 7-5-2 record.

## Offseason

### Draft

1973 Cleveland Browns draft :

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 16 | Steve Holden | WR | Arizona St |
| 1 | 22 | Pete Adams | OG | USC |
| 2 | 30 | Greg Pruitt * | RB | Oklahoma |
| 2 | 47 | Jim Stienke | DB | Texas St |
| 3 | 67 | Bob Crum | DE | Arizona |
| 4 | 93 | Andy Dorris | DE | New Mexico St |
| 4 | 100 | Randy Mattingly | QB | Evansville |
| 6 | 150 | Van Green | DB | Shaw |
| 9 | 228 | Curtis Webster | OG | Texas A&M-Commerce |
| 10 | 256 | Tommy Humphrey | C | Abilene Christian |
| 11 | 281 | Carl Barisich | DT | Princeton |
| 12 | 306 | Stan Simmons | TE | Lewis & Clark |
| 13 | 334 | Jim Romaniszyn | LB | Edinboro |
| 14 | 359 | Robert Popelka | DB | SMU |
| 15 | 384 | Dave Sullivan | WR | Virginia |
| 16 | 412 | George Greenfield | RB | Murray St |
| 17 | 437 | Robert McClowry | C | Michigan St |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | August 6 | San Francisco 49ers | L 16–27 | 0–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 65,707 |
| 2 | August 11 | at Los Angeles Rams | T 21–21 | 0–1–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 54,385 |
| 3 | August 19 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 24–6 | 1–1–1 | Ohio Stadium | 73,421 |
| 4 | August 25 | vs. Atlanta Falcons | W 20–17 | 2–1–1 | Neyland Stadium | 40,831 |
| 5 | September 1 | Detroit Lions | L 13–16 | 2–2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 64,088 |
| 6 | September 8 | vs. New York Giants | L 10–21 | 2–3–1 | Rubber Bowl | 30,751 |

## Regular season schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | September 16 | Baltimore Colts | W 24–14 | 1–0 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 74,303 | Recap |
| 2 | September 23 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 6–33 | 1–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 49,396 | Recap |
| 3 | September 30 | New York Giants | W 12–10 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 76,065 | Recap |
| 4 | October 7 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 17–10 | 3–1 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | 70,805 | Recap |
| 5 | October 15 | Miami Dolphins | L 9–17 | 3–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 72,070 | Recap |
| 6 | October 21 | Houston Oilers | W 42–13 | 4–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 61,146 | Recap |
| 7 | October 28 | San Diego Chargers | T 16–16 | 4–2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 68,244 | Recap |
| 8 | November 4 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 3–26 | 4–3–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 45,590 | Recap |
| 9 | November 11 | at Houston Oilers | W 23–13 | 5–3–1 | Houston Astrodome | 37,230 | Recap |
| 10 | November 18 | at Oakland Raiders | W 7–3 | 6–3–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 47,398 | Recap |
| 11 | November 25 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 21–16 | 7–3–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 67,773 | Recap |
| 12 | December 2 | at Kansas City Chiefs | T 20–20 | 7–3–2 | Arrowhead Stadium | 70,296 | Recap |
| 13 | December 9 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 17–34 | 7–4–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 58,266 | Recap |
| 14 | December 16 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 17–30 | 7–5–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 73,948 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Season summary

**Week 1**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Colts | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • Browns | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |

**Week 3**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Giants | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Browns | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 12 |

**Week 4**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bengals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Browns | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |

**Week 6**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Oilers | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| • Browns | 14 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 42 |

**Week 8**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Browns | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Vikings | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 26 |

**Week 9**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| • Browns | 17 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
| Oilers | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |

**Week 10**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| • Browns | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Raiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |

**Week 11**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Steelers | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| • Browns | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### Standings

AFC Central :

| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 8–3 | 286 | 231 | W6 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 7–4 | 347 | 210 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 7 | 5 | 2 | .571 | 4–2 | 6–3–2 | 234 | 255 | L2 |
| Houston Oilers | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 0–6 | 1–10 | 199 | 447 | L6 |
