NFL game summary for 09/23/1973:

After Bob Gresham returned the opening kickoff 103 yards for a TD, longest in the NFL in 1973, Houston was able to produce only a FG while the Bengals' Essex Johnson set a new personal high with 131 yards and one TD on 15 carries. Johnson also caught five passes for 49 yards. The Bengals broke a 10-10 tie with two TDs in the fourth quarter, a 35-yard pass from Ken Anderson to Bob Trumpy and a three-yard run by Boobie Clark.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
Houston Oilers	OFFENSE	96.0  (23)	59.0  (22)	155.0  (24)	4
	DEFENSE	218.0  (22)	154.0  (15)	372.0  (22)	3
Cincinnati Bengals	OFFENSE	133.0  (15)	211.0  (3)	344.0  (8)	1
	DEFENSE	153.0  (15)	190.0  (19)	343.0  (18)	1

Line: Bengals by 11

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Houston Oilers (0-2-0)	7	0	3	0	10
Cincinnati Bengals (1-1-0)	0	10	0	14	24

( 7- 0) HOU Bob Gresham 103 yard kickoff return (Skip Butler kick)
( 7- 7) CIN Essex Johnson 11 yard rush (Horst Muhlmann kick)
( 7-10) CIN Horst Muhlmann 27 yard field goal
(10-10) HOU Skip Butler 38 yard field goal
(10-17) CIN Boobie Clark 3 yard rush (Horst Muhlmann kick)
(10-24) CIN Bob Trumpy 35 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Horst Muhlmann kick)

                     HOU             CIN
First Downs:         10              23
Rushes-yards:        29-157          40-218
Yards/rush:          5.4             5.5
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     11-23-105-2     15-26-155-0
Sacked-yards:        3-48            1-1
Net pass yards:      57              154
Net yards/pass:      2.2             5.7
Total net yards:     214             372
Total plays:         55 (52% run)    67 (59% run)  
Yards/play:          3.9             5.6
Fumbles-lost:        1-0             1-0
Turnovers:           2               0
Penalties-yards:     11-97           11-103

Attendance: 51,823

Passing:
HOU: Dan Pastorini, 11 of 23 for 105 yards (2 int)
CIN: Ken Anderson, 15 of 26 for 155 yards and 1 TD

Rushing:
HOU: Fred Willis, 16 for 55 yards; Bob Gresham, 11 for 79 yards; Dan Pastorini, 2 for 23 yards
CIN: Boobie Clark, 20 for 80 yards and 1 TD; Essex Johnson, 15 for 131 yards and 1 TD; Joe Wilson, 2 for 7 yards; Dave Lewis, 2 for 4 yards; Ken Anderson, 1 for -4 yards

Receiving:
HOU: Eddie Hinton, 4 for 52 yards; Fred Willis, 3 for 19 yards; Ken Burrough, 1 for 21 yards; Billy Parks, 1 for 6 yards; Mack Alston, 1 for 4 yards; Bob Gresham, 1 for 3 yards
CIN: Essex Johnson, 5 for 49 yards; Boobie Clark, 5 for 26 yards; Bob Trumpy, 2 for 43 yards and 1 TD; Chip Myers, 1 for 18 yards; Bruce Coslet, 1 for 11 yards; Isaac Curtis, 1 for 8 yards

Kick returns:
HOU: Bob Gresham, 3 for 150 yards and 1 TD; Lewis Jolley, 1 for 20 yards
CIN: Bernard Jackson, 2 for 59 yards

Punt returns:
HOU: Jeff Severson, 4 for 2 yards
CIN: Tommy Casanova, 3 for 2 yards; Lemar Parrish, 2 for 11 yards

Interceptions:
CIN: Lemar Parrish, 1 for 10 yards; Al Beauchamp, 1 for 0 yards

Punting:
HOU: Dan Pastorini, 5 for 205 yards; Skip Butler, 2 for 81 yards
CIN: Dave Lewis, 8 for 335 yards

Field Goals:
HOU: Skip Butler, 1/3
CIN: Horst Muhlmann, 1/3

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