1974 New England Patriots season The New England Patriots finished the National Football League ' s 1974 season with a record of seven wins and seven losses , and finished tied for third in the AFC East division . Regular season . The Patriots posted their first non - losing season since 1966 , finishing 7 – 7 . They erupted to a 5 – 0 start before losing seven of their last nine games due to injuries and rising strength of opponents as the season went on . A league - wide player strike during training camp and preseason allowed a large number of new players to make the squad , as coach Chuck Fairbanks was installing a new offensive system . Notable games . The Patriots ended a four - game losing streak to Miami , erupting to a 31 – 10 third quarter lead and cruising home 34 – 24 . Mack Herron opened the season for the Patriots with a fourteen - yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter , while Jim Plunkett had a touchdown throw to Reggie Rucker and a five - yard rushing score to go with Sam Cunningham ' s 13 - yard rushing score . The Patriots traveled to New Haven , CT to face the Giants . Norm Snead of the Giants opened the scoring with a 21 - yard touchdown to Ron A . Johnson ; the Patriots answered with a 12 - yarder from Jim Plunkett to Mack Herron , both scores coming in the first quarter . In the second Joe Dawkins of the Giants punched the ball in from one yard out , and the Patriots tied the game as Plunkett found Randy Vataha from 38 yards out . New England then took over as Sam Cunningham caught a 14 - yard Plunkett pass and Herron later ran in a four - yard score . Johnson caught another touchdown from Snead in the fourth quarter but the PAT was stopped and the Patriots ended the game 28 – 20 winners . The Bills ended the Patriots ' five - game winning streak 30 – 28 . O . J . Simpson had one rushing touchdown and a catch from Joe Ferguson , who also completed touchdown throws to Paul Seymour . Sam Cunningham had three rushing scores and Jim Plunkett fired a 12 - yard touchdown bullet to Reggie Rucker with nine seconds left . The Bills recovered the ensuing onside kick to preserve the win . With both teams entering the game at 5 – 1 , turnovers plagued the day at Metropolitan Stadium . Jim Plunkett was picked off twice and the Patriots fumbled twice , while Fran Tarkenton had three picks . The Patriots also had nine penalties eating up 122 yards as the Vikings erased an early 10 – 0 New England lead and led 14 – 10 in the final minute ; Tarkenton ran in a late touchdown , then threw the ball into the face of Ron Bolton ; a brief brawl ensued and both Bolton and Tarkenton were ejected . But Jim Plunkett drove the Pats down field and fired a ten - yard game - winning touchdown to Bob Windsor on the final play ; Windsor had to break numerous tackles to reach the endzone and was injured for the season as a result . The Patriots and Bills squared off in another hard - fought affair as Joe Ferguson threw for 247 yards and a touchdown to Ahmad Rashad while O . J . Simpson was held in check until late in the first half with a touchdown . Jim Plunkett threw two touchdowns to Mack Herron and Sam Cunningham rushed in another score for a 21 – 19 Patriots haltime lead , but the Bills struck first in the third quarter when Dave Washington picked off Plunket and ran back 72 yards for the score . Another Mack Herron score and John Leypoldt ' s third field goal of the day left the score 29 – 28 in the final minute when the Patriots drove down field for a field goal , but the kick was blocked by Jeff Yeates of the Bills , preserving the win . Roster . All of the following players appeared in at least one game for the 1974 New England Patriots .