1974 Kansas City Chiefs season

1974 Kansas City Chiefs season
Head coach Hank Stram
Home field Arrowhead Stadium
Results
Record 5–9
Division place 3rd AFC West
Playoff finish did not qualify
Pro Bowlers C Jack Rudnay
LB Willie Lanier
CB Emmitt Thomas

The 1974 Kansas City Chiefs season ended with a 5–9 record and third-place finish in the AFC West, effectively costing head coach Hank Stram his job.

While the club's sparkling new facility at Arrowhead Stadium was drawing rave reviews, the Chiefs roster was beginning to show its age.[1] The result was the team's first losing season in 11 years as the club was unable to string together consecutive victories during the year, a first in franchise history.[1] Many of the club's key players were entering the twilight of their careers: Len Dawson was 39, Jim Tyrer was 35, Bobby Bell, Buck Buchanan, and Ed Budde were 34, Dave Hill was 33 and Otis Taylor was 32.[1]

One of the year's few bright spots in the 5–9 season was cornerback Emmitt Thomas, who led the league with a franchise-record 12 interceptions. The final game of the 1974 campaign marked the final time all five of Kansas City's Pro Football Hall of Fame players from the club's AFL champion era took the field together with coach Hank Stram.[1] Including owner Lamar Hunt and five future Minnesota Vikings Hall of Famers, an amazing total of 12 Hall of Fame inductees were involved in that 1974 season finale game. That 35–15 loss against Minnesota provided an anticlimactic conclusion to Hank Stram's illustrious coaching career in Kansas City. Three days later, Stram, the only head coach in franchise history was relieved of his duties on December 27 after compiling a 124–76–10 regular season record with the club.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1974 NFL Draft
Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 15, 1974 New York Jets W 24–16
74,854
2 September 22, 1974 at Oakland Raiders L 27–7
48,108
3 September 29, 1974 at Houston Oilers W 17–7
28,538
4 October 6, 1974 Denver Broncos L 17–14
67,298
5 October 13, 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers L 34–24
65,517
6 October 20, 1974 at Miami Dolphins L 9–3
67,779
7 October 27, 1974 at San Diego Chargers W 24–14
34,371
8 November 3, 1974 New York Giants L 33–27
61,437
9 November 10, 1974 San Diego Chargers L 14–7
48,551
10 November 18, 1974 at Denver Broncos W 42–34
50,236
11 November 24, 1974 at Cincinnati Bengals L 33–6
49,777
12 December 1, 1974 at St. Louis Cardinals W 17–13
41,863
13 December 8, 1974 Oakland Raiders L 7–6
60,577
14 December 14, 1974 Minnesota Vikings L 35–15
35,480

Standings

AFC West
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 4–7 212 285 L2
San Diego Chargers 5 9 0 .357 2–4 4–7 233 293 W2

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kansas City Chiefs History 1970's
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.