NFL game summary 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):

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
Washington Redskins	OFFENSE	102.8  (25)	168.4  (6)	271.2  (18)	32
	DEFENSE	114.5  (4)	162.6  (21)	277.1  (12)	44
Minnesota Vikings	OFFENSE	162.5  (6)	139.7  (14)	302.2  (7)	26
	DEFENSE	141.0  (11)	135.3  (12)	276.3  (11)	36

Line: n/a

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Washington Redskins (10-5-0)	0	7	3	10	20
Minnesota Vikings (13-2-0)	0	3	7	17	27

( 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

Passing:
WAS: Billy Kilmer, 13 of 24 for 159 yards and 1 TD (1 int)
MIN: Fran Tarkenton, 16 of 28 for 222 yards and 2 TDs (1 int)

Rushing:
WAS: Larry Brown, 29 for 115 yards and 1 TD; Charlie Harraway, 13 for 40 yards
MIN: Oscar Reed, 17 for 95 yards; Chuck Foreman, 11 for 40 yards; Fran Tarkenton, 4 for 1 yard; Ed Marinaro, 1 for 3 yards; Bill Brown, 1 for 2 yards and 1 TD

Receiving:
WAS: Roy Jefferson, 6 for 84 yards and 1 TD; Charley Taylor, 4 for 56 yards; Larry Brown, 2 for 13 yards; Charlie Harraway, 1 for 6 yards
MIN: Oscar Reed, 5 for 76 yards; Stu Voigt, 3 for 39 yards; Chuck Foreman, 3 for 23 yards; John Gilliam, 2 for 36 yards and 2 TDs; Carroll Dale, 2 for 31 yards; Jim Lash, 1 for 17 yards

Kick returns:
WAS: Herb Mul-Key, 3 for 69 yards; Bob Brunet, 2 for 35 yards
MIN: John Gilliam, 3 for 78 yards; Charlie West, 2 for 49 yards

Punt returns:
WAS: Speedy Duncan, 3 for 8 yards; Herb Mul-Key, 1 for 10 yards
MIN: Bobby Bryant, 2 for 3 yards

Interceptions:
WAS: Mike Bass, 1 for 28 yards
MIN: Nate Wright, 1 for 26 yards

Punting:
WAS: Mike Bragg, 4 for 149 yards
MIN: Mike Eischeid, 5 for 191 yards

Field Goals:
WAS: Curt Knight, 2/4
MIN: Fred Cox, 2/2

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