1974 Detroit Lions season

1974 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
Head coach	Rick Forzano
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	2 TE Charlie Sanders FS Dick Jauron
All-Pros	None
←  1973 Lions seasons 1975  →

The 1974 Detroit Lions season was the 45th season in franchise history. It was the Lions' final season playing at Detroit's Tiger Stadium; the team moved to the Pontiac Silverdome ^[1] the following season and played home games there until the end of the 2001 season.

Prior to the start of training camp, tragedy would strike the Lions, as head coach Don McCafferty died of a heart attack at age 53. He was replaced by Lions assistant Rick Forzano, who guided the Lions to a 7–7 record in their final season at Tiger Stadium.

This would also be the last season until 2011 when Monday Night Football aired in the City of Detroit, as a result of the Lions playing in Pontiac from 1975 to 2001 followed by poor seasons while playing at Ford Field during that stadium's first eight seasons.

NFL draft

Main article: 1974 NFL draft

1974 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	8	Ed O'Neil	LB	Penn State	from New Orleans
2	39	Billy Howard	DT	Alcorn A&M
3	65	Dexter Bussey	RB	Texas-Arlington
5	117	Carl Capria	DB	Purdue
6	139	Willie Burden	RB	North Carolina State	from New Orleans
6	143	Jim Davis	G	Alcorn A&M
7	169	Efrén Herrera  *	K	UCLA
8	195	Mike Denimarck	LB	Emporia State
10	247	David Wooley	RB	Central State (OK)
11	273	T. C. Blair	TE	Tulsa
12	299	Mark Wakefield	WR	Tampa
13	325	Fred Rothwell	C	Kansas State
14	351	David Jones	DB	Howard Payne
15	377	John Wells	G	Kansas State
16	403	Myron Wilson	DB	Bowling Green
17	429	Collis Temple	DE	LSU
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

• Detroit traded TE Dave Thompson and its first-round pick (13th) to New Orleans in exchange for the Saints' first-round pick (8th) and sixth-round pick in 1975.
• Detroit traded DT Joe Schmiesing to Baltimore in exchange for the Colts' fourth-round pick (84th), and then traded this pick back to the Colts a few weeks later in exchange for K (and occasional WR) Jim O'Brien.
• Detroit traded its fourth-round pick (91st) to St. Louis in exchange for CB Miller Farr.
• Detroit traded LB Ed Mooney to Baltimore in exchange for the Colts' fifth-round pick (109th), and then traded this pick to Atlanta in exchange for DB Willie Germany.
• Detroit traded LB Adrian Young to New Orleans in exchange for the Saints' sixth-round pick (139th).
• Detroit traded its ninth-round selection (221st) to Los Angeles in exchange for G Brian Goodman.

Roster

Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 11 Greg Landry 19 Bill Munson 17 Sam Wyche Running backs 35 Leon Crosswhite 30 Jim Hooks FB 31 Jimmie Jones 42 Altie Taylor Wide receivers 89 Ron Jessie 86 Bob Pickard 49 Larry Walton Tight ends 81 T. C. Blair 88 Charlie Sanders		Offensive linemen 54 Ed Flanagan C 76 Rocky Freitas T 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 61 Fred Rothwell C 63 Chuck Walton G 67 Daryl White G 75 Jim Yarbrough T Defensive linemen 74 Larry Hand DT 70 Billy Howard DE 83 Jim Mitchell DE 88 Herb Orvis DT 72 Ernie Price DE 82 Ken Sanders DE 84 John Small DT		Linebackers 58 Mike Hennigan 52 Jim Laslavic 50 Paul Naumoff 55 Ed O'Neil 59 Charlie Weaver Defensive backs 20 Lem Barney CB 46 Carl Capria 39 Bill Frohbose 26 Dick Jauron FS 23 Levi Johnson CB 21 Jim Thrower 40 Doug Wyatt SS Special teams 12 Errol Mann K 18 Herman Weaver P		Reserve lists 68 Chuck Bonica C (IR) 87 John Brady TE (IR) rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 15	at Chicago Bears	L 9–17	0–1	Soldier Field	48,134	Recap
2	September 22	Minnesota Vikings	L 6–7	0–2	Tiger Stadium	49,703	Recap
3	September 29	at Green Bay Packers	L 19–21	0–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	47,292	Recap
4	October 6	at Los Angeles Rams	L 13–16	0–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	64,987	Recap
5	October 14	San Francisco 49ers	W 17–13	1–4	Tiger Stadium	45,199	Recap
6	October 20	at Minnesota Vikings	W 20–16	2–4	Metropolitan Stadium	47,807	Recap
7	October 27	Green Bay Packers	W 19–17	3–4	Tiger Stadium	51,775	Recap
8	November 3	New Orleans Saints	W 19–14	4–4	Tiger Stadium	43,256	Recap
9	November 10	at Oakland Raiders	L 13–35	4–5	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	51,973	Recap
10	November 17	New York Giants	W 20–19	5–5	Tiger Stadium	40,431	Recap
11	November 24	Chicago Bears	W 34–17	6–5	Tiger Stadium	40,930	Recap
12	November 28	Denver Broncos	L 27–31	6–6	Tiger Stadium	51,157	Recap
13	December 8	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 23–19	7–6	Riverfront Stadium	45,159	Recap
14	December 15	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–28	7–7	Veterans Stadium	57,157	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Packers 0 7 3 7 17 •Lions 3 6 7 3 19 Date: October 27 Location: Tiger Stadium • Detroit, Michigan Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 48 °F or 8.9 °C • wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)

Scoring summary 1 DET Errol Mann 34 yard field goal Lions 3–0 2 DET Charlie Sanders 11 yard pass from Bill Munson (kick failed) Lions 9–0 2 GB John Brockington 1 yard run (Chester Marcol kick) Lions 9–7 3 GB Chester Marcol 49 yard field goal Packers 10–9 3 DET Larry Walton 39 yard pass from Bill Munson (Errol Mann kick) Lions 16–10 4 GB Jack Concannon 1 yard run (Chester Marcol kick) Packers 17–16 4 DET Errol Mann 41 yard field goal Lions 19–16

^[2]

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Saints 0 14 0 0 14 • Lions 10 6 0 3 19 Date: November 3 Location: Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 56 °F or 13.3 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)

Scoring summary 1 DET Errol Mann 37 yard field goal Lions 3–0 1 DET Ron Jessie 5 yard pass from Bill Munson (Errol Mann kick) Lions 10–0 2 DET Levi Johnson 78 yard blocked field goal return (kick failed) Lions 16–0 2 NO Joel Parker 30 yard pass from Archie Manning (Bill McClard kick) Lions 16–7 2 NO Howard Stevens 5 yard run (Bill McClard kick) Lions 16–14 4 DET Errol Mann 35 yard field goal Lions 19–14

^[3]

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings	10	4	0	.714	4–2	8–3	310	195	W3
Detroit Lions	7	7	0	.500	3–3	6–5	256	270	L1
Green Bay Packers	6	8	0	.429	3–3	4–7	210	206	L3
Chicago Bears	4	10	0	.286	2–4	4–7	152	279	L2

See also

• 1974 in Michigan

References

1. "The Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search".
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com
• Detroit Lions on The Football Database