1974 Buffalo Bills season

The 1974 Buffalo Bills season was the 15th season for the club in pro football and fifth in the National Football League (NFL). Buffalo made the NFL playoffs for the first time, and reached the postseason for the first time in eight seasons.

Buffalo debuted their new uniforms and helmets in 1974, replacing the red "standing buffalo" with the "streaking bison." The look first shown to a national audience on the first Monday Night Football game of the season, in a dramatic 21–20 victory over Oakland.

Star running back O.J. Simpson, coming off consecutive rushing titles, did not lead the league in 1974, but did cross the 1,000-yard barrier despite a sore knee.

Buffalo's defense was far more stout than it had been in previous years, as it gave up 3,489 yards in 1974, fifth-fewest in the NFL. The Bills' 1,611 passing yards allowed were the third-best in the league.

The 1974 Bills have the odd distinction of being the last team to go a full game without completing a pass, in Week Three of the season against the New York Jets. Despite this, they still managed to defeat the Jets, behind 223 combined Buffalo rushing yards—as well as only 2 completions by Jets quarterback Joe Namath in 18 attempts.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1974 NFL draft

Oklahoma State tight end Reuben Gant played his entire seven-year career with the Bills. Quarterback Gary Marangi was the Bills' backup quarterback for three seasons; in 1976, he started the final seven games of the season when starter Joe Ferguson was injured for the season with a back injury.

1974 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	18	Reuben Gant	Tight end	Oklahoma State
2	27	Doug Allen	Linebacker	Penn State
3	70	Gary Marangi	Quarterback	Boston College
4	95	Carlester Crumpler	Running back	East Carolina
5	106	Gary Hayman	Wide receiver	Penn State
5	122	Tim Guy	Offensive tackle	Oregon
8	203	Greg Hare	Quarterback	Ohio State
9	226	Brian Doherty	Punter	Notre Dame
10	241	Art Cameron	Tight end	Albany State
10	249	Don Calhoun	Running back	Kansas State
11	278	Rod Kirby	Linebacker	Pittsburgh
12	303	Dave Means	Defensive end	Southeast Missouri State
13	331	Ed Gatewood	Linebacker	Tennessee State
14	339	Phil Lamm	Defensive back	North Carolina
14	355	Phil Gurbada	Defensive back	Mayville State
15	382	Ken Williams	Linebacker	Southwestern Louisiana
16	406	Sanford Qvale	Offensive tackle	North Dakota State
17	434	Sal Casola	Placekicker	Cincinnati
Made roster

Personnel

Staff

1974 Buffalo Bills staff
	Front office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President and General Manager – Bob Lustig Vice President – Pat McGroder Head coaches Head Coach – Lou Saban Offensive coaches Receivers – Bob Shaw Offensive Line – Jim Ringo			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – John Ray Defensive Backfield – Bill Atkins Special teams coaches Special Teams – Ed Cavanaugh

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Bills points	Opponents	Bills first downs	Record	'Attendance
1	Sep 16	Oakland Raiders	Win	21	20	22	1–0	80,020
2	Sep 22	Miami Dolphins	Loss	16	24	16	1–1	80,020
3	Sep 29	New York Jets	Win	16	12	17	2–1	76,978
4	Oct 6	at Green Bay Packers	Win	27	7	22	3–1	56,267
5	Oct 13	at Baltimore Colts	Win	27	14	15	4–1	40,626
6	Oct 20	New England Patriots	Win	30	28	19	5–1	78,935
7	Oct 27	Chicago Bears	Win	16	6	16	6–1	78,084
8	Nov 3	at New England Patriots	Win	29	28	22	7–1	61,279
9	Nov 10	Houston Oilers	Loss	9	21	16	7–2	79,144
10	Nov 17	at Miami Dolphins	Loss	28	35	16	7–3	69,313
11	Nov 24	at Cleveland Browns	Win	15	10	10	8–3	66,504
12	Dec 1	Baltimore Colts	Win	6	0	9	9–3	75,325
13	Dec 8	at New York Jets	Loss	10	20	12	9–4	61,091
14	Dec 15	at Los Angeles Rams	Loss	14	19	8	9–5	84,324

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 3 7 10 20 • Bills 0 7 0 14 21 Date: September 16 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 9:00 p.m. Game weather: 59°F, wind 13 mph Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 2 BUF J.D. Hill 24 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 7–0 2 OAK George Blanda 34 yard field goal Bills 7–3 3 OAK Clarence Davis 15 yard run (George Blanda kick) Raiders 10–7 4 OAK George Blanda 41 yard field goal Raiders 13–7 4 BUF Ahmad Rashad 8 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 14–13 4 OAK Art Thoms 29 yard fumble return (George Blanda kick) Raiders 20–14 4 BUF Ahmad Rashad 13 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 21–20

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 6 13 7 3 29 Patriots 7 14 7 0 28 Date: November 3 Location: Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 46°F, wind 7 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 Bills John Leypoldt 45 yard field goal Bills 3–0 1 Patriots Mack Herron 43 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (John Smith kick) Patriots 7–3 1 Bills John Leypoldt 20 yard field goal Patriots 7–6 2 Patriots Mack Herron 20 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (John Smith kick) Patriots 14–6 2 Bills Ahmad Rashad 25 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (kick failed) Patriots 14–12 2 Patriots Sam Cunningham 31 yard run (John Smith kick) Patriots 21–12 2 Bills O.J. Simpson 1 yard run (John Leypoldt kick) Patriots 21–19 3 Bills Dave Washington 72 yard interception return (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 26–21 3 Patriots Mack Herron 2 yard run (John Smith kick) Patriots 28–26 4 Bills John Leypoldt 47 yard field goal Bills 29–28

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

Playoffs

Pittsburgh Steelers 32, Buffalo Bills 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	7	0	7	0	14
Steelers	3	26	0	3	32

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Date: December 22, 1974
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 48,321
• TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and John Brodie

External links

• 1974 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com