1973 Atlanta Falcons Season
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1973 Atlanta Falcons Season
The 1973 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's eighth year in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on their previous season's output of 7–7 and achieved their best record until 1980, but failed to reach a maiden playoff berth. Despite entering the last month of the regular season at 8–3, they were upset by the Buffalo Bills, forcing them into a race with the Washington Redskins for the wild card playoff spot. The NFL's tiebreaker format at the time, which favored teams with the best combined scoring offense and defense, necessitated a blowout win over a Cardinals team that had won only one of its last ten and was playing an unknown quarterback, Gary Keithley. However, while Keithley completed only ten of 32 passes (he and Falcons quarterback Bob Lee recorded a 0.0 passer rating in the game), the Falcons were instead blown out 32–10 at home courtesy of an unexpected Cardinals rushing game and six field goals from Jim Bakken. Although the Falcons wo ...
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NFC West
The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Seattle Seahawks. The division was formed in 1967 as the National Football League Coastal Division, keeping with the theme of having all of the league's divisions starting with the letter "C." The division was so named because its teams were fairly close to the coasts of the United States, although they were on opposite coasts, making for long travel between division rivals. The NFL Coastal Division had four members: Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Colts, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers. Los Angeles and San Francisco occupied the West Coast, while Baltimore maintained its dominance over the lesser teams that remained in the division. Atlanta was placed in the division instead o ...
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Jim Bakken
James LeRoy Bakken (born November 2, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a punter and placekicker for the National Football League’s St. Louis Cardinals. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for both the 1960s and 1970s; Bakken is one of 29 individuals to be named to two All-Decade teams. Early career Before his NFL career, Bakken played football at Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin. He went on to play three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, where he played on the 1960 Rose Bowl team as a sophomore and led the Big Ten in punting average in 1960 and 1961. He was named to the Madison (Wisconsin) Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and was later inducted into the UW Athletic Department-National W Club Hall of Fame. NFL career Bakken was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 7th round in 1962. He did not make the team and was instead picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would ...
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Bob Griffin (American Football Player)
Robert Lloyd Griffin (February 12, 1929 – February 25, 2012) was a professional American football player who played linebacker for six seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and St. Louis Cardinals. Griffin played college football at the University of Arkansas and was selected in the second round of the 1952 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play .... References External links * 1929 births 2012 deaths American football linebackers Arkansas Razorbacks football players Los Angeles Rams players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War United States Marines Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas Atlanta Falcons coaches {{linebacker-1920s-stub ...
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Marion Campbell
Francis Marion Campbell (May 25, 1929 – July 13, 2016) was an American football defensive lineman and coach. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs from 1949 until 1951, where he was appropriately nicknamed " Swamp Fox" because of his first and middle names. During his National Football League (NFL) playing career, he played for the San Francisco 49ers (1954–1955) and the Philadelphia Eagles (1956–1961), winning Pro Bowl honors in 1959 and 1960 and also being named 1st team All-Pro in 1960 as part of the Eagles' championship team that year. He was one of the last of the NFL's "two-way" players who played all offensive and defensive snaps in a game. Coaching career NFL Campbell was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons (twice) and Philadelphia Eagles as well as the defensive coordinator for each team separate from his times as head coach. He also served as defensive line coach for the Boston Patriots (1962–1963), Minnesota Vikings (1964–1966), and the Los Angel ...
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Duane Putnam
Charles Duane Putnam (born September 5, 1928) is a former American football offensive guard who spent ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) playing for the Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, and the Cleveland Browns. After retiring, he was the offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Cardinals. Early years Putnam was born in Pollock, South Dakota and attended Antioch High School in Antioch, California, where he practiced football, basketball and track and field. As a senior, he was a part of an undefeated team and received All-Contra Costa County honors in football, while also winning a shot put championship. After graduation, he served in the First Cavalry of the United States Army from 1946 to 1948. He played college football at the University of the Pacific. He was named a charter member of the Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982, and was inducted into the Antioch Sports Legends Hall of Fame in 2007. Professional ...
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Harry Gilmer
Harry Vincent Gilmer Jr. (April 14, 1926 – August 20, 2016) was an American football halfback and quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993. Early life Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Gilmer attended and played high school football at its Woodlawn High School. He often utilized the technique of leaping high into the air to pass the ball because, as a child, he often played pickup games with teammates who were much older and thus taller than he was; Gilmer was then one of the first players to popularize the "jump pass" when he continued using the technique at the collegiate level. College career After high school, Gilmer played college football at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he was the left halfback from 1944 to 1947. As a freshman, he was 8 for 8 in passing attempts during a loss against Duke University in the Sugar Bowl. Gilmer's best ...
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Billy Ray Barnes
Billy Ray Barnes (born May 14, 1935) is an American former professional football player who was a halfback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection in the NFL. After his playing career, he became a coach. Early life Barnes' sports career began at Landis High School where he was a three sport star (baseball, football and basketball) and led his 1953 football team to an undefeated season. College career In the fall of 1953, Barnes enrolled at Wake Forest University. Barnes made the freshman team in 1953 and the varsity team the following year. As a junior in 1955, he led the team in rushing, punt returns, kickoff returns, pass interceptions and pass receptions, setting the ACC record in pass receptions (31) and yards out of the backfield (349). After the 1955 football season ended, he joined the baseball team at third base where he hit .319, led the league in stolen bases (17) ...
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2012 Atlanta Falcons Season
The 2012 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 47th season in the National Football League and the fifth under head coach Mike Smith. Atlanta started the season 8–0, a franchise best for a start to a season. By beating the Detroit Lions during Week 16, the Falcons clinched homefield advantage throughout the playoffs in the NFC for the second time in three years, and made it to the NFC Championship for the first time since 2004, where they lost 28–24 against the San Francisco 49ers. It was the third straight year in which they didn't lose two consecutive regular season games. 2012 draft class The Falcons did not have a first- or fourth-round selection. Notes : The team traded its first and fourth-round selections, as well as its first-, second-, and fourth-round selections in 2011 to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Cleveland's first round selection in 2011, used to select wide receiver Julio Jones. : The team traded its original seventh-round selectio ...
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2008 Atlanta Falcons Season
The 2008 Atlanta Falcons season was the 43rd season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). Overcoming a disappointing 4–12 record, quarterback Michael Vick's dog fighting scandal and head coach Bobby Petrino's abrupt resignation in 2007, the Falcons, who were expected to be in a rebuilding phase, completed the regular season with a surprising 11–5 record and earned the #5 seed in the NFC playoffs under first-year head coach Mike Smith; however, the team fell to the eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Mike Smith was named 2008 NFL Coach of the Year, and quarterback Matt Ryan earned the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. As of 2022, the only member of the 2008 squad still active is quarterback Matt Ryan, although he joined the Indianapolis Colts the same year. Offseason NFL Draft On February 22, prior the start of the NFL Combine, the Falcons won a coin toss that gave them the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 NFL ...
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Perfect Season
A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate and scholastic levels in the United States. A perfect regular season (known by other names outside the United States) is a season ''excluding'' any playoffs, where a team remains undefeated and untied; it is less rare than a complete perfect season but still exceptional. A perfect season may be part of a multi-season winning streak, or even a streak of perfect seasons. Exhibition games are generally not counted toward standings, for or against. For example, the 1972 Miami Dolphins (below) lost three of their preseason ("exhibition" games in 1972 NFL vernacular) games but are considered to have had a perfect season. Perfect season in fantasy sports is defined as follows: The league will declare a franchise to achieve the elite ...
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1972 Miami Dolphins Season
The 1972 Miami Dolphins season was the franchise's seventh season and third in the National Football League (NFL). The team was led by third-year head coach Don Shula and achieved the only perfect season in NFL history. They also led the league in both points scored and fewest points allowed. Starting quarterback Bob Griese broke his ankle in Week 5, leaving backup Earl Morrall to start the remainder of the regular season, though Griese relieved Morrall in the second half of the AFC Championship Game and started Super Bowl VII. Morrall, a thirty-eight-year-old who spent much of his career backing up stars including Griese, Johnny Unitas, and Bobby Layne, was named MVP in 1968 under Shula when the pair led the Baltimore Colts to the NFL championship. The Dolphins clinched the AFC East title in Week 10 with Morrall at quarterback. Running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to each rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Paul Warfield led the team in re ...
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1973 Minnesota Vikings Season
The 1973 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 13th in the National Football League (NFL). With a 12–2 record, the Vikings regained the NFC Central title after having gone 7–7 the previous year. They started the season 9–0 and looked a threat to the previous year's Miami Dolphins' record of a perfect season before losing to the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals in their next three games. Their narrow 10–9 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 27–20 in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at home and went on to upset the Dallas Cowboys 27–10 in Irving, Texas to win the NFC Championship, before losing 24–7 to the Dolphins in Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in Houston. Offseason 1973 Draft : The Vikings traded QB Gary Cuozzo to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for St. Louis' second- and fourth-round selections (34th and 89th overa ...
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