1974 NFL season
The 1974 NFL season was the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl IX when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings. Players held a strike from July 1 until August 10, prior to the regular season beginning; only one preseason game was canceled, and the preseason contests were held with all-rookie rosters.
Draft
The 1974 NFL Draft was held from January 29 to 30, 1974 at New York City's Americana Hotel. With the first pick, the Dallas Cowboys selected defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones from the Tennessee State University.New officials
There were two new referees in 1974, Cal Lepore and Gordon McCarter. Lepore replaced the retired John McDonough, the referee for Super Bowl IV and the NFL's longest game, the 1971 Christmas Day playoff between the Dolphins and Chiefs which lasted 82 minutes, 40 seconds. McCarter succeeded Jack Reader, who left the field to become chief lieutenant to NFL Director of Officiating Art McNally at league headquarters in New York.Major rule changes
The following changes were adopted to add tempo and action to the game and to help counter the proposed changes announced by the World Football League to their games:- One sudden death overtime period was added to all preseason and regular season games; if no team scored in this period, the game would result in a tie. This rule was enacted to decrease the number of tie games. The first regular season overtime, a September 22 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos, ended in a 35–all draw. It was not until November 10, when the New York Jets defeated the New York Giants, 26–20, that an overtime game would produce a winner. Since the season teams each get one possession to score unless the team first possessing the ball scores a touchdown or yields safety.
- Goal posts: moved to the end line from the goal line, where they were since. This was to reduce the number of games being decided on field goals, and to increase their difficulty, as well as to reduce the risk of player injuries.
- Missed field goals: The defensive team takes possession of the ball at the line of scrimmage or the 20-yard line, whichever is farther from the goal line. Notice that the 25-yard line is where the defense takes possession after a touchback.
- Kickoffs: moved to the 35-yard line to reduce touchbacks, promoting more excitement with kickoff returns, through and since. From to, the kickoff was moved farther back, to the 30-yard line.
- Punt returns: members of the kicking team cannot go beyond the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked, except the player at the farthest end of each side of the snapper. The original rule change would have prohibited any player from crossing the line of scrimmage prior to the ball being kicked. The penalty is the same as that for an ineligible player downfield on a pass play.
- An eligible pass receiver could only be contacted once by defenders after the receiver has gone three yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
- When the defensive team commits an illegal use of hands, arms, or body foul from behind the line of scrimmage, the penalty will be assessed from the previous spot instead of the spot of the foul.
- The penalties for offensive holding, illegal use of hands, and tripping were reduced from 15 to 10 yards.
- Wide receivers blocking back towards the ball within three yards from the line of scrimmage may not block below the waist.
Division races
From 1970 to 2001, there were three divisions in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth “wild card” team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, records against common opponents, and records in conference play.National Football Conference
American Football Conference
Final standings
Tiebreakers
- New England finished ahead of N.Y. Jets in the AFC East based on better record against common opponents.
- Houston finished ahead of Cincinnati in the AFC Central based on head-to-head sweep.
- Kansas City finished ahead of San Diego in the AFC West based on better record against common opponents.
- St. Louis finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep.
Playoffs
Awards
Coaching changes
Offseason
- Detroit Lions: Don McCafferty died on July 28, 1974, after suffering a heart attack. Assistant coach Rick Forzano was promoted to head coach.
- Houston Oilers: This was Sid Gillman's first full season as head coach after replacing Bill Peterson, who was fired after the Oilers lost their first five games in 1973.
- New York Giants: Alex Webster was replaced by Bill Arnsparger.
- New York Jets: After 11 seasons as head coach, Weeb Ewbank resigned and was replaced by Charley Winner.
- San Diego Chargers: Tommy Prothro became the team's new head coach. Harland Svare left the team midway through the 1973 season after going 1–6–1, and Ron Waller served for the last six games.
In-season
- Atlanta Falcons: Norm Van Brocklin was fired after starting the season at 2–6. Defensive coordinator Marion Campbell served as head coach for the remainder of the season.
- Baltimore Colts: Howard Schnellenberger was fired after three games into the season. General Manager Joe Thomas served as head coach for the remainder of the season.
Uniform changes
- The Buffalo Bills replaced their standing red bison helmet logo with a charging blue one with a red slanting stripe coming from its horns.
- The Kansas City Chiefs switched from gray to white face masks. The arrowhead logo on the helmets shrunk in size, while the black border on the arrowhead became thicker.
- The Miami Dolphins modified its helmet logo so that the sunburst was centered on the dolphin's body instead of its head. Several players wore this logo during the 1973 playoffs and Super Bowl VIII.
- The Philadelphia Eagles switched from white to green helmets, and added sleeve stripes and trim to the numbers.
- The San Diego Chargers introduced new uniforms, changing their primary color from sky powder blue to royal blue. The helmets were also changed from white to royal blue, and the players' numbers on its sides were removed. In addition, the face masks were switched from gray to yellow.
- * The Chiefs and Chargers were the first NFL teams to wear face masks in a color other than gray.