The 1973 Minnesota Vikings season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League. The Vikings regained the NFC Central title after a disappointing 7â€"7 record the previous season, as they finished with a record of 12 wins and two losses. They started the season 9â€"0 and looked a threat to the previous year’s Dolphins’ record of a perfect season before losing to the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals in their next three games. Their narrow 10â€"9 win over the Los Angeles Rams constituted the last time until 1997 that the last two unbeaten NFL teams played each other.
The Vikings defeated the Washington Redskins, 27â€"20, in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at home and went on to upset the Dallas Cowboys, 27â€"10, in Irving, Texas to win the NFC Championship, before losing Super Bowl VIII to the Miami Dolphins, 24â€"7 at Rice Stadium in Houston.
Offseason
1973 Draft
- ^[a] St. Louis traded their 2nd round selection (34th overall), a 4th round selection (89th overall), and WR John Gilliam to Minnesota for QB Gary Cuozzo.
- ^[b] Minnesota traded their 2nd round selection (40th overall), 1972 1st round selection (24th overall), QB Norm Snead, WR Bob Grim, and RB Vince Clements to the Giants for QB Fran Tarkenton.
- ^[c] Philadelphia traded their 4th round selection (80th overall) to Minnesota for QB Bill Cappleman.
- ^[d] Minnesota traded their 4th round selection (89th overall), LB Mike McGill, and DB Dale Hackbart to St. Louis for TE Bob Brown and CB Nate Wright.
- ^[e] Minnesota traded their 4th round selection (89th overall) to Kansas City for Punter Mike Eischeid.
- ^[f] New Orleans traded this 6th round selection (139th overall) and their 1974 4th round selection (86th overall) to Minnesota for TE Bob Brown.
- ^[g] Philadelphia traded their 10th round selection (236th overall) to Minnesota for LB Bill Cody.
- ^[h] Following college, Dave Winfield was drafted by four teams in three different sports. The San Diego Padres selected him as an outfielder with the fourth overall pick in the MLB draft. In basketball, both the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) and the Utah Stars (ABA) drafted him. Although he never played college football, the Minnesota Vikings selected Winfield in the 17th round of the NFL draft. He is currently one of three players ever to be drafted by three professional sports (the others being Dave Logan and Mickey McCarty).
Roster
Regular season
Schedule
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. Oakland Raiders
Week 2: at Chicago Bears
Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 4: at Detroit Lions
Week 5: at San Francisco 49ers
Week 6: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Rams
Week 8: vs. Cleveland Browns
Week 9: vs. Detroit Lions
Week 10: at Atlanta Falcons
Week 11: vs. Chicago Bears
The day of this game was declared "Karl Kassulke Day" in honor of former Viking safety Karl Kassulke; left paralyzed in a motorcycle accident just before the beginning of training camp.
Week 12: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 13: at Green Bay Packers
Week 14: at New York Giants
Standings
Playoffs
NFC Divisional Playoff
NFC Championship Game
Super Bowl VIII
Statistics
Team leaders
League rankings
References
External links
- Team roster
