# 1974 Detroit Lions season

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

1974 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Ed O'Neil | LB | Penn State | from New Orleans |
| 2 | 39 | Billy Howard | DT | Alcorn A&M | |
| 3 | 65 | Dexter Bussey | RB | Texas-Arlington | |
| 5 | 117 | Carl Capria | DB | Purdue | |
| 6 | 139 | Willie Burden | RB | North Carolina State | from New Orleans |
| 6 | 143 | Jim Davis | G | Alcorn A&M | |
| 7 | 169 | Efrén Herrera * | K | UCLA | |
| 8 | 195 | Mike Denimarck | LB | Emporia State | |
| 10 | 247 | David Wooley | RB | Central State (OK) | |
| 11 | 273 | T. C. Blair | TE | Tulsa | |
| 12 | 299 | Mark Wakefield | WR | Tampa | |
| 13 | 325 | Fred Rothwell | C | Kansas State | |
| 14 | 351 | David Jones | DB | Howard Payne | |
| 15 | 377 | John Wells | G | Kansas State | |
| 16 | 403 | Myron Wilson | DB | Bowling Green | |
| 17 | 429 | Collis Temple | DE | LSU | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||
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.

## 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 | October 14 | 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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| • Lions | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 19 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Saints | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • Lions | 10 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 19 |

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Minnesota Vikings | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 8–3 | 310 | 195 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 3–3 | 6–5 | 256 | 270 | L1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 3–3 | 4–7 | 210 | 206 | L3 |
| Chicago Bears | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–4 | 4–7 | 152 | 279 | L2 |