In his third year as an NFL quarterback Ole Miss graduate Archie Manning continued as the starter for the New Orleans Saints offense and had a decent year. The running game was upgraded with the addition of running back Jess Phillips as he led the Saints in rushing with 663 yards. Tight end John Beasley was the team’s top receiver with 32 catches.
1973 New Orleans Saints Quarterback Statistics
| Attempts | Completions | % | Yards | Yds./Att | Longest | Tds | Int | Rating | Sacked/Yards Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Manning | 267 | 140 | 52.4% | 1642 | 6.2 | 65 | 10 | 12 | 65.2 | 28/-177 |
| Bobby Scott | 54 | 18 | 33.3% | 245 | 4.5 | 42 | 1 | 3 | 31.8 | 4/-29 |
| Bob Davis | 17 | 5 | 29.4% | 14 | 0.8 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 5/-36 |
| Totals | 338 | 163 | 48.2% | 1901 | 5.6 | 65 | 11 | 17 | 55.6 | 37/-242 |
Saints QB Archie Manning in 1973 
Saints Kicker Bill McClard, Tommy Myers Holding 
New Orleans Saints Receiver Jubilee Dunbar makes a grab against the Chicago Bears in 1973 NFL action
1973 New Orleans Saints Statistics
1973 New Orleans Saints Rushing Statistics
| Attempts | Yards | Average | Longest | TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jess Phillips | 198 | 663 | 3.3 | 20 | 0 |
| Jim Butler | 87 | 348 | 4.0 | 19 | 1 |
| Joe Profit | 90 | 329 | 3.7 | 22 | 2 |
| Archie Manning | 63 | 293 | 4.7 | 23 | 2 |
| Howard Stevens | 45 | 183 | 4.1 | 15 | 2 |
| Odell Lawson | 6 | 23 | 3.8 | 11 | 0 |
| Bobby Scott | 9 | 18 | 2.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Bob Davis | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 7 | 0 |
| Lincoln Minor | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 8 | 0 |
| Tom Myers | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Bob Newland | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Henry Matthews | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jubilee Dunbar | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Steve O’Neal | 2 | -1 | -0.5 | 6 | 0 |
| Totals | 497 | 1842 | 3.7 | 23 | 5 |
1973 New Orleans Saints Receiver Statistics
| Catches | Yards | Average | Longest | TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Beasley | 32 | 283 | 8.8 | 15 | 2 |
| Bob Newland | 29 | 489 | 16.8 | 42 | 4 |
| Jubilee Dunbar | 23 | 447 | 19.4 | 65 | 4 |
| Jess Phillips | 22 | 169 | 7.6 | 34 | 0 |
| Jim Butler | 19 | 125 | 6.5 | 16 | 2 |
| Bob Brown | 11 | 132 | 12.0 | 26 | 0 |
| Joe Profit | 11 | 108 | 9.8 | 26 | 0 |
| Doug Winslow | 4 | 45 | 11.2 | 14 | 0 |
| Howard Stevens | 4 | 39 | 9.7 | 14 | 0 |
| Len Garrett | 2 | 38 | 18.5 | 22 | 0 |
| Henry Matthews | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 12 | 0 |
| Danny Abramowicz | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 11 | 0 |
| Odell Lawson | 2 | -5 | -2.5 | 4 | 0 |
| Lincoln Minor | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
1973 New Orleans Saints Punting Statistics
| Number | Average | Longest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steve O’Neal | 81 | 41.7 | 71 |
1973 New Orleans Saints Kicking Statistics
| XP | XPA | % | FG | Attempts | % | Longest | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill McClard | 9 | 9 | 100% | 13 | 24 | 54% | 43 | 48 |
| Happy Feller | 7 | 7 | 100% | 4 | 12 | 33% | 18 | 19 |
| Totals | 16 | 16 | 100% | 17 | 36 | 43.5% | 43 | 67 |
1973 New Orleans Saints Total Offense Statistics
| Points | Yards | Plays | Avg | 1st Downs | Turnovers | NFL Rank | NFC Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 163 | 3501 | 872 | 4.0 | 207 | 37 | 26† | 11 |
| †Offensive Rankings based on Total Yards gained. | ||||||||
1973 New Orleans Saints Defensive Statistics
Billy Newsome
1973 New Orleans Saints Interception Leaders
| NO | Yards | Average | Longest | TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ernie Jackson | 3 | 40 | 13.3 | 23 | 0 |
| Tom Myers | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Jim Merlo | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 16 | 0 |
| Bivian Lee | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 12 | 0 |
| Joe Owens | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| JoeFederspiel | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Billy Newsome | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Derland Moore | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 116 | 126 | 7.9 | 23 | 0 |
1973 New Orleans Saints Total Defense
| Points | Avg PPG | Yards | Avg YPG | Plays | Avg | 1st Downs | Turnovers | NFL Rank | NFC Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 312 | 22.2 | 4580 | 327.1 | 917 | 5.0 | 271 | 30 | 23† | 11† |
The Saints Defense of 1973 was credited with 24 Sacks. (Sacks were not kept as an individual statistic until 1982)
Billy Newsome of the 1973 New Orleans Saints sacks Bobby Douglas of Chicago
