1974 Buffalo Bills season

The 1974 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 5th season in the National Football League, and the 15th overall. Buffalo made the NFL playoffs for the first time and reached the postseason for the first time in eight seasons. In the divisional playoffs the Bills lost to the eventual champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers 32–14 in Pittsburgh.

1974 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Lou Saban
Home stadium	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoffs	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 14–32
Pro Bowlers	RB O.J. Simpson CB Robert James
← 1973 Bills seasons 1975 →

This was O. J. Simpson's only playoff game of his career, as the Bills did not have another playoff team with him on the team. Simpson would be traded to the 49ers in 1978, but the 49ers did not make the playoffs that season nor the 1979 season, Simpson's final season in the NFL. In the game, Simpson would only rush for 49 yards on 11 carries and did not score a touchdown. He did, however, catch a touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Ferguson late in the 3rd quarter.

Buffalo debuted their new uniforms and helmets in 1974, replacing the red "standing buffalo" with the "streaking bison."^[1] This updated look was first displayed before a national audience on the first Monday Night Football game of the season, in a dramatic 21–20 victory over Oakland.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

The 1974 Bills have the odd distinction of being the last team to go a full game without completing a pass,^[5] 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.^[6][7]

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

^[8]

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

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

Roster

1974 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Joe Ferguson 16 Scott Hunter 17 Gary Marangi Running backs (RB) 34 Jim Braxton 29 Don Calhoun 32 O. J. Simpson 36 Larry Watkins Wide receivers (WR) 81 Bob Chandler 89 Wallace Francis 47 Clint Haslerig 40 J. D. Hill 27 Ahmad Rashad Tight ends (TE) 88 Reuben Gant 37 Ted Koy 87 Paul Seymour

Offensive linemen (OL) 60 Bill Adams G 68 Joe DeLamielleure G 70 Dave Foley T 74 Donnie Green T 76 Halvor Hagen T 51 Bruce Jarvis C 67 Reggie McKenzie G 53 Mike Montler C 65 Nick Nighswander C 61 Willie Parker G Defensive linemen (DL) 64 Dave Costa DE 72 Don Croft DT 74 Earl Edwards DE 71 Mike Kadish DT 77 Dave Means DE 85 Walt Patulski DE 62 Jeff Yeates DT

Linebackers (LB) 59 Doug Allen OLB 50 Jim Cheyunski MLB 30 Bo Cornell OLB 52 Merv Krakau MLB 86 Dave Washington OLB Defensive backs (DB) 22 Bill Cahill FS 42 Neal Craig SS 43 Tony Greene FS 28 Dwight Harrison CB 20 Robert James CB 45 Rex Kern CB 24 Al Randolph SS 26 Donnie Walker FS Special teams (ST)  7 Marv Bateman P  3 John Leypoldt K

Reserve 21 Gary Hayman RB (IR) 55 John Skorupan LB (IR) 75 Jeff Winans DT (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 16	Oakland Raiders	W 21–20	1–0	Rich Stadium	Recap
2	September 22	Miami Dolphins	L 16–24	1–1	Rich Stadium	Recap
3	September 29	New York Jets	W 16–12	2–1	Rich Stadium	Recap
4	October 6	at Green Bay Packers	W 27–7	3–1	Lambeau Field	Recap
5	October 13	at Baltimore Colts	W 27–14	4–1	Memorial Stadium	Recap
6	October 20	New England Patriots	W 30–28	5–1	Rich Stadium	Recap
7	October 27	Chicago Bears	W 16–6	6–1	Rich Stadium	Recap
8	November 3	at New England Patriots	W 29–28	7–1	Schaefer Stadium	Recap
9	November 10	Houston Oilers	L 9–21	7–2	Rich Stadium	Recap
10	November 17	at Miami Dolphins	L 28–35	7–3	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
11	November 24	at Cleveland Browns	W 15–10	8–3	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
12	December 1	Baltimore Colts	W 6–0	9–3	Rich Stadium	Recap
13	December 8	at New York Jets	L 10–20	9–4	Shea Stadium	Recap
14	December 15	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–19	9–5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap

Game summaries

Week 1

• • Buffalo Snaps the Raiders MNF winning streak**

Team	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 (15 °C), wind 13 mph (21 km/h)
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (ABC Monday Night Football): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Alex Karras

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

^[9]

Week 8

Team	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 (8 °C), wind 7 mph (11 km/h)
• Referee: Ben Dreith

• 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
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

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoff: Buffalo Bills (9–5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (10–3–1)

Quarter	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
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Light snow, 33 °F (1 °C)
• Game attendance: 48,321
• Referee: Norm Schachter
• TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and John Brodie
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter PIT – Roy Gerela 21-yard field goal. Steelers 3–0. BUF – Paul Seymour 22-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick). Bills 7–3. Second quarter PIT – Rocky Bleier 27-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw. Steelers 9–7. PIT – Franco Harris 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 16–7. PIT – Franco Harris 4-yard run. Steelers 22–7. PIT – Franco Harris 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 29–7. Third quarter BUF – O. J. Simpson 3-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick). Steelers 29–14. Fourth quarter PIT – Roy Gerela 22-yard field goal. Steelers 32–14. Top passers BUF – Joe Ferguson – 11/26, 164 yards, 2 TD PIT – Terry Bradshaw – 12/19, 203 yards, TD Top rushers BUF – O. J. Simpson – 15 rushes, 49 yards PIT – Franco Harris – 24 rushes, 74 yards, 3 TD Top receivers BUF – J.D. Hill – 4 receptions, 59 yards PIT – Lynn Swann – 3 receptions, 60 yards