#1973 dallas cowboys roster pro#

The defense ranked sixth in the league for points allowed.ĭallas opened the season at lowly Philadelphia.

#1973 dallas cowboys roster pro#

In the trenches, there was big Bob Lilly, now 33-years-old, but still a Pro Bowl player. Corner Mel Renfro and strong safety Cornell Green were both Pro Bowlers, while young cornerback Charlie Waters intercepted six passes. The Cowboy defense was led by a good secondary. Overall, while the offense took a step back from ’71, when it was the best in the NFL, they still ranked a respectable 10 th in a 26-team league. Both Hill and Garrison made the Pro Bowl.Ī big reason the running game was so effective was the presence of a pair of All-Pros on the offensive line, left guard John Niland and right tackle Rayfield Wright. The tandem of halfback Calvin Hill and fullback Walt Garrison not only combined to rush for over 1,800 yards, but they were the team’s two leading pass-catchers. But the offense as a whole became very focused on the running backs. Dallas still had a deep threat in Ron Sellers, who caught 31 passes for 653 yards. The passing game was further hindered when speedy Bob Hayes was hampered all year with a hamstring injury.

Morton was intercepted on 6.2 percent of his passes, a figure that placed him 19 th among the 24 qualifying QBs.

What held Morton back, at least compared to Staubach, was mistakes. Morton was an effective quarterback-his 55 percent completion rate and 7.1 yards-per-attempt were both in the upper one-fourth of the league’s starting QBs. But the 1972 Dallas Cowboys still made the playoffs and-aided by Staubach’s recovery-won a memorable postseason game.Īfter Staubach separated his shoulder in the preseason, Landry went back to reliable veteran Craig Morton, who had steered the team to the Super Bowl in 1970. The bid for a repeat title took a big hit when Staubach was injured in the preseason. That championship season was keyed by Landry’s settling on Roger Staubach as his quarterback midway through. Tom Landry’s Cowboys ended several years of postseason frustration in 1971, when they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl.