1974 Miami Dolphins season

The 1974 Miami Dolphins season was the franchise's 5th season in the National Football League, the 9th overall, and the 5th under head coach Don Shula. The team entered the 1974 season as two-time defending Super Bowl champions. They could not improve on their 12–2 record from last season and finished 11–3. Despite this, the Dolphins finished first in the AFC East for the fourth consecutive season, and they finished with the second-best record in the NFL. In the playoffs, the Raiders beat the Dolphins 28–26 in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game in the famous "Sea of Hands" game.

1974 Miami Dolphins season
Owner	Joe Robbie
General manager	Mike Robbie
Head coach	Don Shula
Home stadium	Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoffs	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Raiders) 26–28
Pro Bowlers	12 QB Bob Griese LT Wayne Moore LB Nick Buoniconti RB Mercury Morris C Jim Langer WR Paul Warfield FS Jake Scott DE Bill Stanfill FB Larry Csonka K Garo Yepremian G Larry Little SS Dick Anderson
← 1973 Dolphins seasons 1975 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1974 NFL draft

1974 Miami Dolphins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	26	Don Reese	Defensive tackle	Jackson State
2	38	Andre Tillman	Tight end	Texas Tech
2	47	Benny Malone	Running back	Arizona State
2	52	Jeris White	Defensive back	Hawaii
3	78	Nat Moore *	Wide receiver	Florida
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

1974 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office President – Joe Robbie Vice President – Don Shula Director of Player Personnel – Bobby Beathard Head coaches Head Coach – Don Shula Offensive coaches Offense – Monte Clark Offense – Bill McPeak Offensive Backs – Carl Taseff Receivers – Bob Schnelker

Defensive coaches Defense – Vince Costello Defensive Line – Mike Scarry Defensive Backs – Tom Keane Special teams coaches None - N/A Strength and conditioning None - N/A

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Roster

1974 Miami Dolphins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Bob Griese 15 Earl Morrall 10 Don Strock Running backs (RB) 39 Larry Csonka 32 Hubert Ginn 21 Jim Kiick 32 Benny Malone 22 Mercury Morris 36 Don Nottingham Wide receivers (WR) 82 Melvin Baker 89 Nat Moore 81 Howard Twilley 42 Paul Warfield Tight ends (TE) 80 Marv Fleming 88 Jim Mandich

Offensive linemen (OL) 73 Norm Evans T 70 Tom Funchess T 55 Irv Goode C/G 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 62 Jim Langer C 66 Larry Little G 79 Wayne Moore T 64 Ed Newman G 60 Tom Wickert T Defensive linemen (DL) 74 Randy Crowder DT 83 Vern Den Herder DE 75 Manny Fernandez DT 72 Bob Heinz DT 65 Maulty Moore DT 76 Don Reese DE 84 Bill Stanfill DE

Linebackers (LB) 51 Larry Ball OLB 58 Bruce Bannon MLB 85 Nick Buoniconti MLB 57 Mike Kolen OLB 53 Bob Matheson OLB 59 Doug Swift OLB Defensive backs (DB) 40 Dick Anderson SS 49 Charlie Babb SS 25 Tim Foley CB 45 Curtis Johnson CB 26 Lloyd Mumphord CB 13 Jake Scott FS 48 Henry Stuckey CB 41 Jeris White CB Special teams (ST) 20 Larry Seiple P  1 Garo Yepremian K

Reserve 86 Marlin Briscoe WR (IR) 77 Doug Crusan T (IR) 87 Andre Tillman TE (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 15	at New England Patriots	L 24–34	0–1	Schaefer Stadium	Recap
2	September 22	at Buffalo Bills	W 24–16	1–1	Rich Stadium	Recap
3	September 29	at San Diego Chargers	W 28 –21	2–1	San Diego Stadium	Recap
4	October 7	New York Jets	W 21–17	3–1	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
5	October 13	at Washington Redskins	L 17–20	3–2	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	Recap
6	October 20	Kansas City Chiefs	W 9–3	4–2	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
7	October 27	Baltimore Colts	W 17– 7	5–2	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
8	November 3	Atlanta Falcons	W 42–7	6–2	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
9	November 10	at New Orleans Saints	W 21–0	7–2	Tulane Stadium	Recap
10	November 17	Buffalo Bills	W 35–28	8–2	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
11	November 24	at New York Jets	L 14–17	8–3	Shea Stadium	Recap
12	December 2	Cincinnati Bengals	W 24–3	9–3	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
13	December 8	at Baltimore Colts	W 17–16	10–3	Memorial Stadium	Recap
14	December 15	New England Patriots	W 34–27	11–3	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap

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

AFC Divisional Playoff: Miami Dolphins at Oakland Raiders – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	7	3	6	10	26
Raiders	0	7	7	14	28

at Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

• Date: December 21, 1974
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
• Game attendance: 53,023
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis and Don Meredith

Game information

Scoring MIA – N. Moore 89 kickoff return (Yepremian kick) MIA 7–0 OAK – C. Smith 31 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) 7–7 MIA – field goal Yepremian 33 MIA 10–7 OAK – Biletnikoff 13 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 14–10 MIA – Warfield 16 pass from Griese (kick failed) MIA 16–14 MIA – field goal Yepremian 46 MIA 19–14 OAK – Branch 72 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 21–19 MIA – Malone 23 run (Yepremian kick) MIA 26–21 OAK – Davis 8 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 28–26