1974 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

1974 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner	Bill Bidwill
Head coach	Don Coryell
Home stadium	Busch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoffs	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Vikings) 14–30
Pro Bowlers	T Dan Dierdorf QB Jim Hart RB Terry Metcalf WR Mel Gray CB Roger Wehrli
←  1973 Cardinals seasons 1975  →

The 1974 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 55th year with the National Football League and the 15th season in St. Louis. The Cardinals scored 285 points while the defense gave up 218 points, en route to the NFC East Championship. ^[1]

The 10–4 Cardinals qualified for the postseason for the first time since 1948 when the franchise was based in Chicago. It was the team's first winning season since 1970 when the Cardinals went 8–5–1. ^[1] Although the Cardinals and the Washington Redskins finished with identical 10–4 records, the Cardinals won the NFC East title, because of their two victories over Washington that season.

The Cardinals won their first seven games, and were at least tied for first place from Week One to the end of the regular season.

The Cardinals would not start a season with a 7–0 record again until 2021. By then, they would be based in Arizona.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1974 NFL Draft

1974 St. Louis Cardinals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	7	J. V. Cain	Tight end	Colorado
2	33	Greg Kindle	Guard	Tennessee State
3	60	Steve George	Defensive tackle	Houston
4	85	Durwood Keeton	Defensive back	Oklahoma	Signed with Southern California Sun (WFL)
4	91	Ike Harris	Wide receiver	Iowa State	Played with Cardinals 75–77
5	111	Steve Neils	Linebacker	Minnesota
8	189	Sergio Albert	Kicker	U.S. International
9	215	Reggie Harrison	Running back	Cincinnati
10	251	Greg Hartle	Linebacker	Newberry
12	293	Roger Wallace	Wide receiver	Bowling Green	Signed with Memphis Grizzlies (WFL)
13	319	Jimmy Poulos	Running back	Georgia	Signed with Jacksonville Express (WFL)
14	345	Charles Smith	Running back	Yankton
15	371	Vincent Ancell	Defensive back	Arkansas State
16	397	Alonzo Emery	Running back	Arizona State
17	423	John Moseley	Defensive back	Missouri
Made roster

^[2]

Roster

St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks 17 Jim Hart 12 Gary Keithley 11 Dennis Shaw Running backs 44 Donny Anderson 33 Willie Belton 30 Gary Hammond 34 Steve Jones 21 Terry Metcalf 27 Eddie Moss 35 Jim Otis FB 20 Ken Willard Wide receivers 85 Mel Gray 82 Earl Thomas Tight ends 88 J. V. Cain 80 Jim McFarland 81 Jackie Smith		Offensive linemen 54 Tom Banks C 51 Tom Brahaney C 72 Dan Dierdorf T 60 Conrad Dobler G 60 Roger Finnie G 69 Greg Kindle T 73 Ernie McMillan T 64 Bob Young G Defensive linemen 79 Bob Bell DE 70 Leo Brooks DT 65 Bob Crum DE 75 Bob Rowe DT 74 Council Rudolph DE 78 Ron Yankowski DE		Linebackers 57 Mark Arneson 59 Pete Barnes 52 Jack LeVeck 53 Steve Neils 67 Larry Stallings Defensive backs 26 Dwayne Crump CB 41 Clarence Duren FS 36 Ken Reaves SS 28 Scott Stringer 43 Norm Thompson CB 45 Jim Tolbert SS 22 Roger Wehrli CB Special teams 18 Sergio Albert K 25 Jim Bakken K 14 Hal Roberts P		Reserve lists Practice squad rookies in italics

Hall of Fame Game

• St. Louis Cardinals 21, Buffalo Bills 13 ^[1]

^[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 15	Philadelphia Eagles	W 7–3	1–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	40,322	Recap
2	September 22	at Washington Redskins	W 17–10	2–0	RFK Stadium	53,888	Recap
3	September 29	Cleveland Browns	W 29–7	3–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	43,472	Recap
4	October 6	at San Francisco 49ers	W 34–9	4–0	Candlestick Park	48,675	Recap
5	October 13	Dallas Cowboys	W 31–28	5–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,885	Recap
6	October 20	at Houston Oilers	W 31–27	6–0	Astrodome	26,371	Recap
7	October 27	Washington Redskins	W 23–20	7–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,410	Recap
8	November 3	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14–17	7–1	Texas Stadium	64,146	Recap
9	November 11	Minnesota Vikings	L 24–28	7–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,183	Recap
10	November 17	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–3	8–2	Veterans Stadium	61,982	Recap
11	November 24	at New York Giants	W 23–21	9–2	Yale Bowl	40,615	Recap
12	December 1	Kansas City Chiefs	L 13–17	9–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	41,863	Recap
13	December 8	at New Orleans Saints	L 0–14	9–4	Tulane Stadium	57,152	Recap
14	December 15	New York Giants	W 26–14	10–4	Busch Memorial Stadium	47,414	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 11 at Giants

See also: 1974 New York Giants season

St. Louis Cardinals (8–2) at New York Giants (2–8)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	6	0	7	10	23
Giants	0	7	7	7	21

at Yale Bowl • New Haven, Connecticut

• Date: November 24
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C) • Wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
• Game attendance: 40,615 ^[4]
• Referee: Bob Frederic
• TV: CBS
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Cardinals Jim Hart 25/42, 259 Yds, 2 TD Terry Metcalf 15 Rush, 48 Yds Mel Gray 5 Rec, 102 Yds, TD Giants Craig Morton 21/35, 257 Yds, 2 TD, INT Joe Dawkins 12 Rush, 65 Yds Bob Tucker 5 Rec, 69 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP STL NYG 1 Cardinals 36-yard field goal by Jim Bakken 3 0 2 Cardinals 32-yard field goal by Jim Bakken 6 0 2 Giants Ron Johnson 2-yard touchdown run, Pete Gogolak kick good 6 7 3 Giants Bob Tucker 29-yard touchdown reception from Craig Morton, Pete Gogolak kick good 6 14 3 Cardinals Earl Thomas 16-yard touchdown reception from Jim Hart, Jim Bakken kick good 13 14 4 Cardinals Mel Gray 45-yard touchdown reception from Jim Hart, Jim Bakken kick good 20 14 4 Giants Walker Gillette 17-yard touchdown reception from Craig Morton, Pete Gogolak kick good 20 21 4 Cardinals 36-yard field goal by Jim Bakken 23 21 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 23 21

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 14 0 0 14 • Cardinals 0 0 20 6 26 Date: December 15 Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 41 °F (5 °C), wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)

Scoring summary 2 NYG Ron Johnson 2 yard run (Pete Gogolak kick) Giants 7–0 2 NYG Joe Dawkins 1 yard run (Pete Gogolak kick) Giants 14–0 3 STL Ken Willard 4 yard pass from Jim Hart (kick failed) Giants 14–6 3 STL Jackie Smith 28 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) Giants 14–13 3 STL Terry Metcalf 1 yard run (Jim Bakken kick) Cardinals 20–14 4 STL Terry Metcalf 16 yard run (kick failed) Cardinals 26–14

^[5]

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
St. Louis Cardinals	10	4	0	.714	7–1	8–3	285	218	W1
Washington Redskins	10	4	0	.714	5–3	8–3	320	196	W2
Dallas Cowboys	8	6	0	.571	4–4	6–5	297	235	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	7	7	0	.500	3–5	5–6	242	217	W3
New York Giants	2	12	0	.143	1–7	1–10	195	299	L6

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff

• Minnesota Vikings 30, St. Louis Cardinals 14 ^[6]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	7	0	7	14
Vikings	0	7	16	7	30

at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota

• TV: CBS
• Attendance: 44,626

Awards and records

• Jim Hart, NFC Leader, Touchdown Passes, 20 Passes ^[7]

Milestones

• Terry Metcalf, 2000 Combined Net Yards (718 Rush Yards, 377 Pass Receiving Yards, 340 Punt Return Yards, 623 Kick Return Yards) ^[8]

References

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 299
2. "1974 St. Louis Cardinals Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
3. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 369
4. "The Yale Bowl and the Giants". Newsday . September 5, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com
6. "1974 NFL Playoffs – www.football.com". Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
7. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 451
8. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 443

• Cardinals on Pro Football Reference
• Cardinals on jt-sw.com