1974 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1974 7–7 2nd NFC Central Rick Forzano William Clay Ford Sr. Tiger Stadium Did not qualify 2 TE Charlie Sanders FS Dick Jauron None Lions seasons 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 Silverdomehttps://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1988&dat=19761028&id=jk8iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=S6wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1373,4798352&hl=en The Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search 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 1974 NFL draft 1974 Detroit Lions 1 8 Ed O'Neil LB Penn State from New Orleans yes 2 39 Billy Howard DT Alcorn A&M yes 3 65 Dexter Bussey RB Texas-Arlington yes 5 117 Carl Capria DB Purdue yes 6 139 Willie Burden RB North Carolina State from New Orleans no 6 143 Jim Davis G Alcorn A&M no 7 169 Efrén Herrera K UCLA no yes 8 195 Mike Denimarck LB Emporia State no 10 247 David Wooley RB Central State (OK) no 11 273 T. C. Blair TE Tulsa yes 12 299 Mark Wakefield WR Tampa no 13 325 Fred Rothwell C Kansas State yes 14 351 David Jones DB Howard Payne no 15 377 John Wells G Kansas State no 16 403 Myron Wilson DB Bowling Green no 17 429 Collis Temple DE LSU no no 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. Personnel Staff / Coaches 1974 Detroit Lions Owner - William Clay Ford, Sr. Vice President / General manager - Russ Thomas Executive Vice President - Edwin J. Anderson Treasurer - Newton S. Peters Publicity Director / Business Manager - Lyall Smith Assistant Publicity Director - Elliott Trumbull Equipment manager - Roy Marklem Assistant equipment manager - Charles "Rip" Collins Head coach / Offensive Coordinator – Rick Forzano Offensive Backs - Wally English Offensive Line - Leon McLaughlin Wide Receivers - Raymond Berry Defensive Backs / Secondary - Bob Hollway Defensive Line Coach - Ed Khayat Linebackers Coach - John Meyer Special teams - Jerry Glanville Trainer - Kent Falb Assistant Trainer - Dave Smith https://archive.org/details/lions-1974-media-guide-detroit-c/page/n3/mode/2up 1974 Detroit Lions official guide July 11, 2026 https://www.profootballarchives.com/1974nfldet.html#gsc.tab=0 1974 Detroit Lions ProFootballArchives.com July 11, 2026 Final roster 1974 Detroit Lions roster Quarterbacks 11 Greg Landry 14 Joe Reed quarterback 17 Sam Wyche Running backs 24 Dexter Bussey y 35 Leon Crosswhite 30 Jim Hooks 31 Jimmie Jones running back y 36 Steve Owens American football 42 Altie Taylor Wide receivers 45 Ray Jarvis American football 89 Ron Jessie 86 Bob Pickard American football y 49 Larry Walton Tight ends 81 T. C. Blair y 88 Charlie Sanders Offensive linemen 60 Guy Dennis G/C 54 Ed Flanagan American football C 76 Rocky Freitas T 64 Gordon Jolley T 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 61 Fred Rothwell y C 63 Chuck Walton G 67 Daryl White y G 75 Jim Yarbrough T offensive lineman Defensive linemen 74 Larry Hand DE 70 Billy Howard gridiron football y DT 83 Jim Mitchell defensive lineman DT 88 Herb Orvis DT 72 Ernie Price DE 82 Ken Sanders American football DE 84 John Small American football DT Linebackers 58 Mike Hennigan American football OLB 52 Jim Laslavic MLB 50 Paul Naumoff OLB 55 Ed O'Neil y MLB 59 Charlie Weaver OLB Defensive backs 20 Lem Barney CB 46 Carl Capria y FS 29 Ben Davis American football CB 39 Bill Frohbose y FS 26 Dick Jauron FS 23 Levi Johnson CB 21 Jim Thrower SS 47 Charlie West SS American football 40 Doug Wyatt SS Special teams 12 Errol Mann K 18 Herman Weaver P Reserve lists 68 Chuck Bonica y no C IR 87 John Brady American football no TE IR 51 Dick Cunningham American football LB IR 65 Jimmie Davis y no G IR 19 Bill Munson QB IR 44 Mark Wakefield y no WR IR 28 Mike Weger S IR 47 active, 7 reserve, 0 practice / taxi squad 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, 1974 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 Packers 0 7 3 7 Lions 3 6 7 3 October 27 Tiger Stadium • Detroit, Michigan 1:00 p.m. 48 °F °C 1 or • wind 10 mph km/h knots yes 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 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 8 Saints 0 14 0 0 Lions 10 6 0 3 November 3 Tiger Stadium, Detroit, Michigan 1:00 p.m. 56 °F °C 1 or, wind 10 mph km/h knots yes 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 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Standings See also 1974 in Michigan References External links 1974 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1974 Detroit Lions at JT-SW.com 1974 Detroit Lions at The Football Database (FootballDB.com) Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Category:1974 in Detroit