# 1974 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1974 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's fifth season in the National Football League, and the 7th overall. Cincinnati traded Bill Bergey to Philadelphia for two first-round draft choices and a third-round pick in 1977. Jim LeClair replaced Bergey at middle linebacker. Ken Anderson won the NFL passing championship and completed a club-record 64.9 percent of his attempts. Cornerback Lemar Parrish led the NFL in punt returns.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1974 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 23 | Bill Kollar | Defensive tackle | Montana State |
| 2 | 48 | Charlie Davis | Running back | Colorado |
| 3 | 61 | Dave Lapham | Guard | Syracuse |
| 3 | 73 | Evan Jolitz | Linebacker | Cincinnati |
| 4 | 87 | Mike Boryla * | Quarterback | Stanford |
| 4 | 98 | Darryl White | Guard | Nebraska |
| 4 | 103 | Richard Williams | Wide receiver | Abilene Christian |
| 5 | 114 | Haskel Stanback | Running back | Tennessee |
| 5 | 127 | Richard Bishop | Defensive tackle | Louisville |
| 6 | 152 | Robin Sinclair | Defensive back | Washington State |
| 6 | 153 | Bill Bryant | Defensive back | Grambling State |
| 7 | 177 | Ken Sawyer | Defensive back | Syracuse |
| 8 | 202 | John McDaniel | Wide receiver | Lincoln (MO) |
| 9 | 231 | Edward Johnson | Defensive end | SMU |
| 10 | 256 | Chuck Herd | Tight end | Penn State |
| 11 | 281 | Ed Kezirian | Offensive tackle | UCLA |
| 12 | 306 | Rudy McClinon | Defensive back | Xavier |
| 13 | 335 | Ted Jornou | Linebacker | Iowa State |
| 14 | 360 | Mike Phillips | Offensive tackle | Cornell |
| 15 | 385 | Isaac Jackson | Running back | Kansas State |
| 16 | 410 | Darryl Bishop | Defensive back | Kentucky |
| 17 | 439 | Jim Smith | Running back | North Carolina Central |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 15 | Cleveland Browns | W 33–7 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,113 | Recap |
| 2 | September 22 | San Diego Chargers | L 17–20 | 1–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 51,178 | Recap |
| 3 | September 29 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 21–3 | 2–1 | Candlestick Park | 49,895 | Recap |
| 4 | October 6 | Washington Redskins | W 28–17 | 3–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 56,175 | Recap |
| 5 | October 13 | at Cleveland Browns | W 34–24 | 4–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 70,897 | Recap |
| 6 | October 20 | at Oakland Raiders | L 27–30 | 4–2 | Oakland Coliseum | 51,821 | Recap |
| 7 | October 27 | Houston Oilers | L 21–34 | 4–3 | Riverfront Stadium | 55,434 | Recap |
| 8 | November 3 | at Baltimore Colts | W 24–14 | 5–3 | Memorial Stadium | 36,110 | Recap |
| 9 | November 10 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 17–10 | 6–3 | Riverfront Stadium | 57,532 | Recap |
| 10 | November 17 | at Houston Oilers | L 3–20 | 6–4 | Astrodome | 44,054 | Recap |
| 11 | November 24 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 33–6 | 7–4 | Riverfront Stadium | 49,777 | Recap |
| 12 | December 2 | at Miami Dolphins | L 3–24 | 7–5 | Miami Orange Bowl | 71,962 | Recap |
| 13 | December 8 | Detroit Lions | L 19–23 | 7–6 | Riverfront Stadium | 45,159 | Recap |
| 14 | December 14 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 3–27 | 7–7 | Three Rivers Stadium | 42,878 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |

### Team stats

1974 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats :
* TEAM STATS
* TOTAL FIRST DOWNS
* Rushing
* Passing
* Penalty
* TOTAL NET YARDS
* Avg Per Game
* Total Plays
* Avg. Per Play
* NET YARDS RUSHING
* Avg. Per Game
* Total Rushes
* NET YARDS PASSING
* Avg. Per Game
* Sacked Yards Lost
* Gross Yards
* Att. Completions
* Completion Pct.
* Intercepted
* PUNTS-AVERAGE
* PENALTIES-YARDS
* FUMBLES-BALL LOST
* TOUCHDOWNS
* Rushing
* Passing
* Returns
| Score by Periods | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot |
| Bengals | | | | | |
| Opponents | | | | | |

### Team leaders

* Passing: Ken Anderson (328 Att, 213 Comp, 2667 Yds, 64.9 Pct, 18 TD, 10 Int, 95.7 Rating)
* Rushing: Charlie Davis (72 Att, 375 Yds, 5.2 Avg, 29 Long, 0 TD)
* Receiving: Isaac Curtis (30 Rec, 633 Yds, 21.1 Avg, 77 Long, 10 TD)
* Scoring: Horst Muhlmann, 65 points (11 FG; 32 PAT)