# 1974 Denver Broncos season

The 1974 Denver Broncos season was the team's 15th year in professional football and its fifth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos had a winning record for the second straight season with seven wins, six losses, and one tie, which was fifth-best in the conference.
Denver finished second in the AFC West, but 4½ games behind the Oakland Raiders, who clinched in mid-November, and 1½ games behind the wild card Buffalo Bills. In their fifteen years of existence, the Broncos had yet to reach the postseason.
The team played at Detroit on Thanksgiving and won in the final NFL game at Tiger Stadium; the Lions moved north to the Pontiac Silverdome in 1975.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1974 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 14 | Randy Gradishar * $^†$ | LB | Ohio State |
| 2 | 42 | Carl Wafer | DT | Tennessee State |
| 3 | 68 | Claudie Minor | T | San Diego State |
| 4 | 92 | Ozell Collie | DB | Colorado |
| 6 | 145 | John Winesberry | WR | Stanford |
| 10 | 248 | Charlie Johnson | DB | Southern |
| 11 | 276 | Steve Buchanan | RB | Holy Cross |
| 12 | 301 | Larry Cameron | LB | Alcorn A&M |
| 13 | 326 | John Clerkley | DT | Fort Valley State |
| 14 | 354 | Rich Marks | DB | Northern Illinois |
| 15 | 379 | Peil Pennington | QB | Massachusetts |
| 16 | 404 | Darrell Austin | T | South Carolina |
| 17 | 432 | Boyd Brown | TE | Alcorn A&M |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### Staff / Coaches

    Source:

### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 15 | Los Angeles Rams | L 10–17 | 0–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,121 | Recap |
| 2 | September 22 | Pittsburgh Steelers | T 35–35 (OT) | 0–1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 51,068 | Recap |
| 3 | September 30 | at Washington Redskins | L 3–30 | 0–2–1 | RFK Stadium | 54,395 | Recap |
| 4 | October 6 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 17–14 | 1–2–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 67,298 | Recap |
| 5 | October 13 | New Orleans Saints | W 33–17 | 2–2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 50,881 | Recap |
| 6 | October 20 | San Diego Chargers | W 27–7 | 3–2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 50,928 | Recap |
| 7 | October 27 | at Cleveland Browns | L 21–23 | 3–3–1 | Cleveland Stadium | 60,478 | Recap |
| 8 | November 3 | Oakland Raiders | L 17–28 | 3–4–1 | Mile High Stadium | 45,946 | Recap |
| 9 | November 10 | at Baltimore Colts | W 17–6 | 4–4–1 | Memorial Stadium | 33,244 | Recap |
| 10 | November 18 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 34–42 | 4–5–1 | Mile High Stadium | 50,236 | Recap |
| 11 | November 24 | at Oakland Raiders | W 20–17 | 5–5–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 51,224 | Recap |
| 12 | November 28 | at Detroit Lions | W 31–27 | 6–5–1 | Tiger Stadium | 51,157 | Recap |
| 13 | December 8 | Houston Oilers | W 37–14 | 7–5–1 | Mile High Stadium | 46,942 | Recap |
| 14 | December 15 | at San Diego Chargers | L 0–17 | 7–6–1 | San Diego Stadium | 36,571 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||
Thursday (November 28: Thanksgiving)

### Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |