NFL game summary for 12/16/1973:

Quarterback Ken Anderson took Cincinnati to the AFC Central championship with three touchdown passes, including bombs of 77 and 67 yards to rookie Isaac Curtis. Houston led 10-3 in the second quarter and rallied in the closing moments to narrow the Bengals' lead to three points with 3:34 to play. Cincinnati, tied with Pittsburgh at 10-4, won the division on a superior record in conference competition. Essex Johnson wound up with 997 yards rushing and Boobie Clark 988. Ex-Bengal Fred Willis scored twice for Houston and won the AFC pass receiving title with 57 for the year.

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

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
Cincinnati Bengals	OFFENSE	164.2  (6)	153.5  (10)	317.7  (6)	25
	DEFENSE	124.4  (6)	131.3  (11)	255.7  (5)	33
Houston Oilers	OFFENSE	92.2  (26)	132.9  (17)	225.1  (25)	51
	DEFENSE	177.6  (25)	150.5  (17)	328.1  (21)	26

Line: Bengals by 19

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Cincinnati Bengals (10-4-0)	3	10	14	0	27
Houston Oilers (1-13-0)	0	10	0	14	24

( 3- 0) CIN Horst Muhlmann 11 yard field goal
( 3- 7) HOU Fred Willis 5 yard rush (Skip Butler kick)
( 3-10) HOU Skip Butler 18 yard field goal
(10-10) CIN Isaac Curtis 77 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Horst Muhlmann kick)
(13-10) CIN Horst Muhlmann 40 yard field goal
(20-10) CIN Bob Trumpy 10 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Horst Muhlmann kick)
(27-10) CIN Isaac Curtis 67 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Horst Muhlmann kick)
(27-17) HOU Fred Willis 1 yard rush (Skip Butler kick)
(27-24) HOU Paul Robinson 1 yard rush (Skip Butler kick)

                     CIN             HOU
First Downs:         14              25
Rushes-yards:        26-101          39-190
Yards/rush:          3.9             4.9
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     15-23-293-0     17-26-201-0
Sacked-yards:        1-12            2-10
Net pass yards:      281             191
Net yards/pass:      11.7            6.8
Total net yards:     382             381
Total plays:         50 (52% run)    67 (58% run)  
Yards/play:          7.6             5.7
Fumbles-lost:        1-1             1-1
Turnovers:           1               1
Penalties-yards:     10-89           6-40

Attendance: 21,955

Passing:
CIN: Ken Anderson, 15 of 23 for 293 yards and 3 TDs
HOU: Dan Pastorini, 17 of 26 for 201 yards

Rushing:
CIN: Boobie Clark, 12 for 57 yards; Essex Johnson, 11 for 32 yards; Ken Anderson, 3 for 12 yards
HOU: Paul Robinson, 20 for 100 yards and 1 TD; Fred Willis, 14 for 85 yards and 2 TDs; Dan Pastorini, 5 for 5 yards

Receiving:
CIN: Bob Trumpy, 4 for 63 yards and 1 TD; Boobie Clark, 4 for 25 yards; Charlie Joiner, 3 for 47 yards; Isaac Curtis, 2 for 144 yards and 2 TDs; Essex Johnson, 2 for 14 yards
HOU: Ken Burrough, 6 for 86 yards; Billy Parks, 5 for 70 yards; Fred Willis, 3 for 31 yards; Paul Robinson, 2 for 1 yard; Mack Alston, 1 for 13 yards

Kick returns:
CIN: Bernard Jackson, 4 for 103 yards; Lemar Parrish, 1 for 14 yards
HOU: Larry Eaglin, 1 for 16 yards; Eddie Hinton, 1 for 10 yards

Punt returns:
CIN: Tommy Casanova, 1 for 23 yards
HOU: Jeff Severson, 3 for 17 yards

Interceptions:

Punting:
CIN: Dave Lewis, 4 for 189 yards
HOU: Dan Pastorini, 3 for 101 yards

Field Goals:
CIN: Horst Muhlmann, 2/2
HOU: Skip Butler, 1/2

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