The 1973 New York Jets season was the fourteenth season for the team and the fourth in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 7–7 record from 1972 under head coach Weeb Ewbank. The Jets finished with a record of 4–10 in the final season under head coach Weeb Ewbank, with their only wins coming against division rivals New England and Baltimore.
The Jets' offense was weakened when quarterback Joe Namath suffered a shoulder injury in the second game. The injury was the third time in four seasons that Namath had been sidelined. Namath did not play again until the second half of the tenth game of the season.
The memorandum of understanding signed by team original owner (as the New York Titans) Harry Wismer gave Shea Stadium's co-tenants, the New York Mets’, exclusive use of the stadium until they had completed their season. The Jets were required to open 1973 with several road games. As the Mets had a long playoff run to the World Series, the Jets' first six games were on the road.Ryczek, pp. 158-159Chastain, pp. 87–88
The 1973 season would be the last for legendary coach Weeb Ewbank.
Offseason Draft
Roster
Regular season
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 17 at Green Bay Packers L 7–23 0–1 Milwaukee County Stadium 47,124 2 September 23 at Baltimore Colts W 34–10 1–1 Memorial Stadium 55,942 3 September 30 at Buffalo Bills L 7–9 1–2 Rich Stadium 77,425 4 October 7 at Miami Dolphins L 3–31 1–3 Miami Orange Bowl 63,850 5 October 14 at New England Patriots W 9–7 2–3 Schaefer Stadium 58,659 6 October 21 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–26 2–4 Three Rivers Stadium 48,682 7 October 28 Denver Broncos L 28–40 2–5 Shea Stadium 55,108 8 November 4 Miami Dolphins L 14–24 2–6 Shea Stadium 57,791 9 November 11 New England Patriots W 33–13 3–6 Shea Stadium 51,034 10 November 18 at Cincinnati Bengals L 14–20 3–7 Riverfront Stadium 55,745 11 November 25 Atlanta Falcons L 20–28 3–8 Shea Stadium 47,283 12 December 2 Baltimore Colts W 20–17 4–8 Shea Stadium 51,167 13 December 9 at Philadelphia Eagles L 23–24 4–9 Veterans Stadium 34,621 14 December 16 Buffalo Bills L 14–34 4–10 Shea Stadium 47,740 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Schedule notes: The October 14 game vs. the Patriots was originally scheduled to be played in New York, but due to the New York Mets’ involvement in the World Series, the sites for that game and the November 11 rematch were switched. The October 21 game vs. the Steelers was originally scheduled to be played in New York, but was moved to Pittsburgh due to the Mets' ongoing participation in the World Series.
Season summary
Week 2
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 5
Week 6 at Steelers
Standings
NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 296
References
Bibliography
Ryczek, William J. (2009). Crash of the Titans: The Early Years of the New York Jets and the AFL (revised ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. . Chastain, Bill (2010). 100 Things Jets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Chicago: Triumph Books. .
External links 1973 statistics