1974 Baltimore Colts season

The 1974 Baltimore Colts season was the 22nd season for the team in the National Football League. The Colts finished with a record of 2 wins and 12 losses, fifth in the AFC East.

1974 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
General manager	Joe Thomas
Head coach	Howard Schnellenberger Joe Thomas
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	2–12
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	LB Mike Curtis
← 1973 Colts seasons 1975 →

Second-year head coach Howard Schnellenberger was fired after three games,^[1] after an argument with owner Robert Irsay over whether Marty Domres or Bert Jones should start at quarterback for the Colts.^[2]

General manager Joe Thomas took over the head coaching duties for the remainders of the season, but could direct the team to only two wins, both on the road, as the Colts failed to win a home game during the 1974 season. This would be the last time the Colts would fail to win a home game in a non-strike season until their abysmal 1–15 1991 season, when the team was based in Indianapolis.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1974 NFL draft

1974 Baltimore Colts draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	5	John Dutton *	Defensive end	LSU
1	24	Roger Carr *	Wide receiver	Louisiana Tech
2	32	Fred Cook	Defensive end	Southern Miss
3	57	Glenn Robinson	Linebacker	Oklahoma State
3	67	Robert Pratt	Guard	North Carolina
4	84	Tony Bell	Defensive back	Bowling Green
5	129	Doug Nettles	Defensive back	Vanderbilt
6	140	Danny Rhodes	Linebacker	Arkansas
7	161	Noah Jackson	Guard	Tampa
7	170	Dan Dickel	Linebacker	Iowa
7	174	Freddie Scott	Wide receiver	Amherst
8	188	Greg Latta	Tight end	Morgan State
8	198	Paul Miles	Running back	Bowling Green
10	240	Bob Van Duyne	Guard	Idaho
10	257	Glenn Ellis	Defensive tackle	Elon
11	265	Tim Rudnick	Defensive back	Notre Dame
12	292	Dave Simonson	Tackle	Minnesota
12	307	Bob Bobrowski	Quarterback	Purdue
13	317	Randy Hall	Defensive back	Idaho
14	344	Ed Collins	Wide receiver	Rice
15	369	Pat Kelly	Linebacker	Richmond
16	396	Dave Margavage	Tackle	Kentucky
17	421	Tim Berra	Wide receiver	UMass
17	436	Buzzy Lewis	Defensive back	Florida State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1974 Baltimore Colts staff

Front office President and treasurer – Robert Irsay General manager – Joe Thomas Head coaches Head coach – Howard Schnellenberger (fired after 0-3 start) Interim head coach - Joe Thomas (2-9) Offensive coaches Receivers – Pete McCulley Running backs - George Sefcik Offensive coordinator/offensive line – George Young

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/defensive backfield – Don Doll Defensive line – Jerry Smith Linebackers coach – Frank Lauterbur

Final roster

1974 Baltimore Colts roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Marty Domres  7 Bert Jones 12 Bill Troup Running backs (RB) 36 John Andrews 23 Don McCauley 26 Lydell Mitchell 38 Bill Olds 37 Joe Orduna Wide receivers (WR) 84 Tim Berra 81 Roger Carr 35 Glenn Doughty 86 Freddie Scott 80 Ollie Smith 28 Cotton Speyrer Tight ends (TE) 87 Raymond Chester 83 Ron Mayo

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Elmer Collett G 57 Ken Mendenhall C 50 Dan Neal C 68 Dennis Nelson T 61 Robert Pratt G 62 Glenn Ressler G 60 Dave Simonson T 64 David Taylor T 67 Bob Van Duyne G Defensive linemen (DL) 63 Mike Barnes DT/DE 79 Jim Bailey DT 72 Fred Cook DE 78 John Dutton DE 76 Joe Ehrmann DT 74 Steve Williams DT/DE 65 Bill Windauer DT

Linebackers (LB) 51 Tony Bertuca OLB 32 Mike Curtis MLB 55 Dan Dickel OLB 52 Tom MacLeod OLB 56 Danny Rhodes MLB 53 Stan White OLB Defensive backs (DB) 33 Randy Hall CB 40 Bruce Laird SS 31 Nelson Munsey CB 30 Doug Nettles CB 25 Ray Oldham CB 43 Tim Rudnick SS 21 Rick Volk FS Special teams (ST) 49 David Lee P  2 Toni Linhart K

Reserve 71 Gery Palmer T (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Main article: 1974 NFL season

All-Pro linebacker Ted Hendricks signed a future contract with the World Football League, and was then traded by the Colts to the Green Bay Packers by general manager Joe Thomas. (Hendricks never ended up playing for the bankrupt WFL, and made four more Pro Bowls in his career.)

In an autopsy of the Colts 1974 season written for Street & Smith's Pro Football Annual, Buffalo Evening News writer Larry Felser observed that the patience of Baltimore fans was waning, with the perennially sold-out Memorial Stadium had failed to crack the 40,000 mark at the gate on multiple occasions.^[3] "When Joe Thomas arrived on the scene as general manager in 1972, he promised to tear down a decaying team and rebuild it into a champion," Felser wrote. "He produced on the first part of his vow; the Baltimore fans are waiting for the other shoe to drop."^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Game Recap
1	September 15	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 0–30	0–1	Three Rivers Stadium	48,890	Recap
2	September 22	Green Bay Packers	L 13–20	0–2	Memorial Stadium	41,252	Recap
3	September 29	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–30	0–3	Veterans Stadium	64,205	Recap
4	October 6	at New England Patriots	L 3–42	0–4	Schaefer Stadium	59,502	Recap
5	October 13	Buffalo Bills	L 14–27	0–5	Memorial Stadium	40,626	Recap
6	October 20	at New York Jets	W 35–20	1–5	Shea Stadium	51,745	Recap
7	October 27	at Miami Dolphins	L 7–17	1–6	Orange Bowl	65,868	Recap
8	November 3	Cincinnati Bengals	L 14–24	1–7	Memorial Stadium	36,110	Recap
9	November 10	Denver Broncos	L 6–17	1–8	Memorial Stadium	33,244	Recap
10	November 17	at Atlanta Falcons	W 17–7	2–8	Atlanta Stadium	41,278	Recap
11	November 24	New England Patriots	L 17–27	2–9	Memorial Stadium	34,782	Recap
12	December 1	at Buffalo Bills	L 0–6	2–10	Rich Stadium	75,325	Recap
13	December 8	Miami Dolphins	L 16–17	2–11	Memorial Stadium	34,420	Recap
14	December 15	New York Jets	L 38–45	2–12	Memorial Stadium	31,651	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	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 York Jets	7	7	0	.500	4–4	5–6	279	300	W6
New England Patriots	7	7	0	.500	4–4	4–7	348	289	L3
Baltimore Colts	2	12	0	.143	1–7	1–10	190	329	L4

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers	10	3	1	.750	4–2	7–3–1	305	189	W2
Houston Oilers	7	7	0	.500	4–2	7–4	236	282	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	7	0	.500	3–3	5–6	283	259	L3
Cleveland Browns	4	10	0	.286	1–5	3–8	251	344	L2

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders	12	2	0	.857	5–1	9–2	355	228	W3
Denver Broncos	7	6	1	.536	3–3	5–4–1	302	294	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	5	9	0	.357	2–4	4–7	233	293	L2
San Diego Chargers	5	9	0	.357	2–4	4–7	212	285	W2

Source:^[4]

Season summary

Week 2 vs Packers

Week Two: Green Bay Packers (0–1) at Baltimore Colts (0–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	3	10	7	0	20
Colts	3	3	0	7	13

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

• Date: September 22
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C)
• Game attendance: 41,252
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter GB – Chester Marcol 52-yard field goal. Packers 3–0. Drive: BAL – Toni Linhart 37-yard field goal. Tie 3–3. Drive: Second quarter GB – MacArthur Lane 1-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 10–3. Drive: GB – Chester Marcol 39-yard field goal. Packers 13–3. Drive: BAL – Toni Linhart 23-yard field goal. Packers 13–6. Drive: Third quarter GB – MacArthur Lane 13-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 20–6. Drive: Fourth quarter BAL – Bill Olds 7-yard pass from Bert Jones (Toni Linhart kick). Packers 20–13. Drive: Top passers GB – Jerry Tagge – 10/16, 109 yards, INT BAL – Bert Jones – 7/16, 88 yards, TD, INT Top rushers GB – MacArthur Lane – 22 rushes, 36 yards, 2 TD BAL – Lydell Mitchell – 18 rushes, 63 yards Top receivers GB – Jon Staggers – 3 receptions, 52 yards BAL – Lydell Mitchell – 5 receptions, 47 yards