1974 New England Patriots season

1974 New England Patriots season
Owner	Billy Sullivan
General manager	Chuck Fairbanks
Head coach	Chuck Fairbanks
Home field	Schaefer Stadium
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	T-3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
AP All-Pros	None

The 1974 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 5th season in the National Football League and 15th overall. The Patriots ended the season with a record of seven wins and seven losses and finished tied for third in the AFC East Division. The Pats stunned the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, the Miami Dolphins in week 1 at Schaffer Stadium. The Pats went on to win their first five games on their way to a 6–1 start. However, they struggled in the second half, winning only one game before finishing with a 7–7 record.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1974 NFL Draft

1974 New England Patriots draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	30	Steve Corbett	Guard	Boston College
2	34	Steve Nelson	Linebacker	North Dakota State
5	112	Andy Johnson	Running back	Georgia
5	124	Charles Battle	Defensive end	Grambling
6	141	Chuck Ramsey	Kicker	Wake Forest
7	178	Maury Damkroger	Linebacker	Nebraska
9	209	Ed McCartney	Linebacker	Northeastern State (OK)
11	268	Archie Gibson	Running back	Utah State
12	296	Eddie Foster	Tackle	Oklahoma
13	321	Phil Bennett	Running back	Boston College
14	346	Cecil Bowens	Running back	Kentucky
15	374	Sam Hunt	Linebacker	Stephen F. Austin
16	399	Lucious Selmon	Defensive tackle	Oklahoma
17	424	Gary Hudson	Defensive back	Boston College
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1974 New England Patriots staff

Front office President – Robert L. Marr Executive vice president – George Sargent Assistant general manager – Peter Hadhazy Director of player personnel – Bucko Kilroy Assistant personnel director – J. I. Albrecht Administrative assistant to the head coach – Phil Bengtson Head coaches Head coach/general manager – Chuck Fairbanks Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Bill Nelsen Offensive backfield – Ron Erhardt Receivers – Ray Perkins Offensive Line – Red Miller

Defensive coaches Defensive line – Hank Bullough Linebackers/secondary – Charlie Sumner Defensive backfield – Larry Weaver Special teams coaches Special teams – Jim Valek

Roster

1974 New England Patriots roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Neil Graff 16 Jim Plunkett 11 Dick Shiner Running backs (RB) 39 Sam Cunningham 38 Noe Gonzalez 42 Mack Herron 32 Andy Johnson 36 John Tarver FB 23 Joe Wilson Wide receivers (WR) 82 Eddie Hinton 88 Al Marshall 33 Reggie Rucker 87 Steve Schubert 84 Darryl Stingley 81 Joe Sweet 18 Randy Vataha Tight ends (TE) 80 Bob Adams 86 Bob Windsor

Offensive linemen (OL) 61 Sam Adams Sr. G 68 Bill DuLac G 70 Leon Gray T 73 John Hannah G 67 Bill Lenkaitis C 77 Tom Neville T Defensive linemen (DL) 85 Julius Adams DE 71 Ray Hamilton DT 74 Craig Hanneman DT 72 Mel Lunsford DE 78 Tony McGee DE 75 Arthur Moore DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Will Foster 50 Sam Hunt 52 Steve King 53 John Tanner 57 Steve Nelson 90 George Webster Defensive backs (DB) 27 Ron Bolton CB 22 Sandy Durko 47 Jim Massey 34 Prentice McCray SS 40 Dave McCurry 45 Jack Mildren SS 37 Willie Osley 25 John Sanders FS Special teams 3 Bruce Barnes P 1 John Smith K

Reserve 63 Shelby Jordan T (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

The Patriots posted their first non-losing season since 1966, finishing 7–7. They erupted to a 5–0 start before losing seven of their last nine games due to injuries and rising strength of opponents as the season went on. A league-wide player strike during training camp and preseason allowed a large number of new players to make the squad, as coach Chuck Fairbanks was installing a new offensive system.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Game Recap
1	September 15	Miami Dolphins	W 34–24	1–0	Schaefer Stadium	55,006	Recap
2	September 22	at New York Giants	W 28–20	2–0	Yale Bowl	44,082	Recap
3	September 29	Los Angeles Rams	W 20–14	3–0	Schaefer Stadium	61,279	Recap
4	October 6	Baltimore Colts	W 42–3	4–0	Schaefer Stadium	59,502	Recap
5	October 13	at New York Jets	W 24–0	5–0	Shea Stadium	57,825	Recap
6	October 20	at Buffalo Bills	L 28–30	5–1	Rich Stadium	78,935	Recap
7	October 27	at Minnesota Vikings	W 17–14	6–1	Metropolitan Stadium	48,177	Recap
8	November 3	Buffalo Bills	L 28–29	6–2	Schaefer Stadium	61,279	Recap
9	November 10	Cleveland Browns	L 14–21	6–3	Schaefer Stadium	61,279	Recap
10	November 17	New York Jets	L 16–21	6–4	Schaefer Stadium	57,115	Recap
11	November 24	at Baltimore Colts	W 27–17	7–4	Memorial Stadium	34,782	Recap
12	December 1	at Oakland Raiders	L 26–41	7–5	Oakland Coliseum	50,120	Recap
13	December 8	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–21	7–6	Schaefer Stadium	52,107	Recap
14	December 15	at Miami Dolphins	L 27–34	7–7	Miami Orange Bowl	56,920	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins	11	3	0	.786	6–2	9–2	327	216	W3
Buffalo Bills	9	5	0	.643	5–3	7–4	264	244	L2
New York Jets	7	7	0	.500	4–4	5–6	279	300	W6
New England Patriots	7	7	0	.500	4–4	4–7	348	289	L3
Baltimore Colts	2	12	0	.143	1–7	1–10	190	329	L4

Notable games

• September 15 vs. Miami Dolphins:

The Patriots ended a four-game losing streak to Miami, erupting to a 31–10 third quarter lead and cruising home 34–24. Mack Herron opened the season for the Patriots with a fourteen-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, while Jim Plunkett had a touchdown throw to Reggie Rucker and a five-yard rushing score to go with Sam Cunningham's 13-yard rushing score.

• September 22 vs. New York Giants at Yale:

The Patriots traveled to New Haven, Connecticut to face the Giants. Norm Snead of the Giants opened the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown to Ron A. Johnson; the Patriots answered with a 12-yarder from Jim Plunkett to Mack Herron, both scores coming in the first quarter. In the second Joe Dawkins of the Giants punched the ball in from one yard out, and the Patriots tied the game as Plunkett found Randy Vataha from 38 yards out. New England then took over as Sam Cunningham caught a 14-yard Plunkett pass and Herron later ran in a four-yard score. Johnson caught another touchdown from Snead in the fourth quarter but the PAT was stopped and the Patriots ended the game 28–20 winners.

• October 20 at Buffalo Bills:

The Bills ended the Patriots' five-game winning streak 30–28. O. J. Simpson had one rushing touchdown and a catch from Joe Ferguson, who also completed touchdown throws to Paul Seymour. Sam Cunningham had three rushing scores and Jim Plunkett fired a 12-yard touchdown bullet to Reggie Rucker with nine seconds left. The Bills recovered the ensuing onside kick to preserve the win.

• October 27 at Minnesota Vikings:

With both teams entering the game at 5–1, turnovers plagued the day at Metropolitan Stadium. Jim Plunkett was picked off twice and the Patriots fumbled twice, while Fran Tarkenton had three picks. The Patriots also had nine penalties eating up 122 yards as the Vikings erased an early 10–0 New England lead and led 14–10 in the final minute; Tarkenton ran in a late touchdown, then threw the ball into the face of Ron Bolton after he tripped on a camera cable and mistakenly believed Bolton tripped him; a brief brawl ensued and both Bolton and Tarkenton were ejected. But Jim Plunkett drove the Pats down field and fired a ten-yard game-winning touchdown to Bob Windsor on the final play; Windsor had to break numerous tackles to reach the endzone and was injured for the season as a result.

• November 3 vs. Buffalo Bills:

The Patriots and Bills squared off in another hard-fought affair as Joe Ferguson threw for 247 yards and a touchdown to Ahmad Rashad while O. J. Simpson was held in check until late in the first half with a touchdown. Jim Plunkett threw two touchdowns to Mack Herron and Sam Cunningham rushed in another score for a 21–19 Patriots half time lead, but the Bills struck first in the third quarter when Dave Washington picked off Plunket and ran back 72 yards for the score. Another Mack Herron score and John Leypoldt's third field goal of the day left the score 29–28 in the final minute when the Patriots drove down field for a field goal, but the kick was blocked by Jeff Yeates of the Bills, preserving the win.