All NFL game summaries for 12/22/1973:

Fran Tarkenton threw two touchdown passes to John Gilliam in a 17-point fourth quarter that boosted the Vikings into the NFC title game with a 27-20 victory over the Washington Redskins, the wild card team with the best second place record in the conference. Tarkenton completed 16 of 28 for 222 yards and Oscar Reed carried 17 times for 95 yards, including a brilliant 45-yard run to set up the first Vikings' touchdown. Larry Brown rushed for 115 yards against the tough Vikings' defense. Nate Wright's 26-yard run after intercepting a Billy Kilmer pass led to Tarkenton's second scoring pass.

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

Line: n/a

( 0- 3) MIN Fred Cox 19 yard field goal
( 7- 3) WAS Larry Brown 3 yard rush (Curt Knight kick)
( 7-10) MIN Bill Brown 2 yard rush (Fred Cox kick)
(10-10) WAS Curt Knight 52 yard field goal
(13-10) WAS Curt Knight 42 yard field goal
(13-17) MIN John Gilliam 28 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick)
(13-24) MIN John Gilliam 8 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick)
(20-24) WAS Roy Jefferson 28 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Curt Knight kick)
(20-27) MIN Fred Cox 30 yard field goal

                     WAS             MIN
First Downs:         18              17
Rushes-yards:        42-155          34-141
Yards/rush:          3.7             4.1
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     13-24-159-1     16-28-222-1
Sacked-yards:        0-0             1-4
Net pass yards:      159             218
Net yards/pass:      6.6             7.5
Total net yards:     314             359
Total plays:         66 (63% run)    63 (53% run)  
Yards/play:          4.8             5.7
Fumbles-lost:        2-1             2-2
Turnovers:           2               3
Penalties-yards:     0-0             2-9

Attendance: 46,065

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A 361-yard offense, led by quarterback Ken Stabler, running back Marv Hubbard and two pivotal interceptions carried the Raiders into the AFC championship game for the second time in four years. Stabler set a divisional playoff record for percentage of completions with 14 of 17 (82.4 percent) and Hubbard ran 20 times for 91 yards to lead the 232-yard attack. Willie Brown's 54-yard scoring return on an interception and George Atkinson's steal that set up one of George Blanda's four field goals turned a 16-7 game into a 26-7 Raiders' romp midway through the second half.

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

Line: n/a

( 0- 7) OAK Marv Hubbard 1 yard rush (George Blanda kick)
( 0-10) OAK George Blanda 25 yard field goal
( 7-10) PIT Barry Pearson 4 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick)
( 7-13) OAK George Blanda 31 yard field goal
( 7-16) OAK George Blanda 22 yard field goal
( 7-23) OAK Willie Brown 54 yard interception return (George Blanda kick)
( 7-26) OAK George Blanda 10 yard field goal
(14-26) PIT Frank Lewis 26 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick)
(14-33) OAK Marv Hubbard 1 yard rush (George Blanda kick)

                     PIT             OAK
First Downs:         15              24
Rushes-yards:        20-65           55-232
Yards/rush:          3.2             4.2
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     12-25-167-3     14-17-142-0
Sacked-yards:        1-9             2-13
Net pass yards:      158             129
Net yards/pass:      6.1             6.8
Total net yards:     223             361
Total plays:         46 (43% run)    74 (74% run)  
Yards/play:          4.8             4.9
Fumbles-lost:        1-0             0-0
Turnovers:           3               0
Penalties-yards:     4-60            9-75

Attendance: 50,094

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