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 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
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
Final roster 1974 Detroit Lions roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams Reserve lists
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 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
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 8
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)