1973 Buffalo Bills season
The 1973 Buffalo Bills season was the 14th season for the team and their 4th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Bills finished in 2nd place in the AFC East division and finished the 1973 NFL season with a record of 9 wins and 5 losses, the team's first winning record since 1966. Head coach Lou Saban began the second season of his second tenure with the Bills. Saban had previously led the team to the 1964 and 1965 AFL championships. It was the first season that the team played in Rich Stadium (now "Highmark Stadium") after thirteen years playing at War Memorial Stadium ("The Rockpile"). The Bills were returning from 1–13 and 4–9–1 records in 1971 and 1972, respectively. Incumbent starting quarterback Dennis Shaw found himself in a battle with rookie Joe Ferguson for the starting job. The season was defined by O. J. Simpson. The fifth-year running back became the first player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. Behind Simpson's record-setting season, the Bills set an NFL record for most team rushing yards in a 14-game season, with 3,088 and averaged 5.1 yards per carry, higher than every Super Bowl championship