1974 New England Patriots season

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1974 New England Patriots season
OwnerBilly Sullivan
Head coachChuck Fairbanks
General managerChuck Fairbanks
Home fieldSchaefer Stadium
Results
Record7–7
Division placeT-3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone
AP All-ProsNone

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 Super Bowl Champion 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[]

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 –
  • Executive vice president –
  • Assistant general manager – Peter Hadhazy
  • Director of player personnel – Bucko Kilroy
  • Assistant personnel director – J. I. Albrecht
  • Administrative assistant to the head coach – Phil Bengston

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches


Roster[]

1974 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Practice squad



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 England Patriots 7 7 0 .500 4–4 4–7 348 289 L3
New York Jets 7 7 0 .500 4–4 5–6 279 300 W6
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 ; 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.[1] 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 Rashād 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.

References[]

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