The team was coming off a season that ended with a 4–9–1 record. Despite the fact that he was offered a five-year contract toward the end of the previous season, 1973 would prove to be Harland Svare's final season as the team's head coach.
The team obtained legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas in a trade with the Baltimore Colts, but Unitas was a shell of his former greatness. In the middle of the season he would be replaced by at quarterback by rookie Dan Fouts, the team's third round pick in that year's draft.[1]
