| In 1974, the young Patriots gave notice to the league that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. The defense which could not stop anyone from running the year before, jumped to 4th in the NFL against the run. This defensive turn around helped propel the Patriots to a team record start. The Patriots jumped on the two-time defending champion Miami Dolphins in week 1, as the dual running threat of Mark Herron and Sam Cunningham ran for 88 and 87 yards respectively. The Patriots followed their stunning upset with close victories over the N.Y Giants and Los Angles Rams, before drubbing division foes Baltimore 42-3 and N.Y. Jets 24-0 and bringing their recoprd to 5-0. After losing to the Bills, the Patriots brought their record to 6-1 with a 17-14 victory over Minnesota. This would unfortunately be the high water mark for the 1974 season as injuries to the offense began to cripple the team and they struggled to a 1-6 finish. Only a 27-17 victory over Baltimore kept the Patriots from losing thier last 7 games. While the finish was disappointing, the team play gave hope for a brighter day for the first time since the mid-60s. |
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| Passing Cmp Att Pct. Yards TDs INTs QBRtg Jim Plunkett 173 352 49.1 2457 19 22 64.1 Dick Shiner 3 6 50.0 37 0 1 29.9 Neil Graff 1 1 100.0 20 0 0 118.6 |
| Rushing Att. Yards AVG TDs Mark Herron 231 824 3.6 7 Sam Cunningham 166 811 4.9 9 Jim Plunkett 30 161 5.4 2 John Tarver 41 101 2.5 2 Josh Ashton 26 99 3.8 0 Darryl Stingley 5 63 12.6 1 Joe Wilson 15 57 3.8 0 Randy Vataha 3 21 7.0 0 Eddie Hinton 1 1 1.0 0 Andy Johnson 2 -4 -2.0 0 |
| Receiving Rec Yards AVG TDs Mark Herron 38 474 12.5 5 Reggie Rucker 27 436 16.1 4 Randy Vataha 25 561 22.4 3 Sam Cunningham 22 214 9.7 2 Bob Adams 17 244 14.4 0 Bob Windsor 12 127 10.6 1 Darryll Stingley 10 139 13.9 1 John Tarver 9 37 4.1 0 Andy Johnson 8 147 18.1 0 Joe Wilson 3 38 12.7 0 Eddie Hinton 2 36 18.0 0 John Tanner 2 23 11.5 0 Steve Schubert 1 21 21.0 0 Al Marshall 1 17 17.0 0 |
| Kicking XP XPA FG FGA PTS John Smith 42 43 16 22 90 |
| Interceptions
Ron Bloton 7; Deac Sabders 5; Sam Hunt 3, Prentice McCray 3; Jack Mildren 3; Bob Geddes 2; Steve King 1 |
| AFC East W L T .Pct PF PA Dolphins 11 3 0 .786 327 216 Bills 9 5 0 .643 264 244 Patriots 7 7 0 .500 348 289 Jets 7 7 0 .500 279 300 Colts 2 12 0 .143 190 329 AFC Division Playoffs: Pittsburgh 32 Buffalo 14 Oakland 28 Miami 26 AFC Championship Pittsburgh 24 Oakland 13 Superbowl VII Pittsburgh 16 Minnesota 6 |
| 1974 |
| Miami 34-24 1-0 @N.Y. Giants 28-20 2-0 Los Angeles 20-14 3-0 Baltimore 42-3 4-0 @N.Y. Jets 24-0 5-0 @Buffalo 28-30 5-1 @Minnesota 17-14 6-1 Buffalo 28-29 6-2 Cleveland 14-21 6-3 N.Y. Jets 16-21 6-4 @Baltimore 27-17 7-4 @Oakland 26-41 7-5 Pittsburgh 17-21 7-6 @Miami 27-34 7-7 |
| Roster QB - Neil Graff QB - Jim Plunkett QB - Dick Shiner HB - Josh Ashton HB - Noe Gonzalez HB - Mark Herron HB - Andy Johnson FB - Sam Cunningham FB - John Tarver HB/FB - Joe Wilson WR - Eddie Hinton WR - Al Marshall WR - Reggie Rucker WR - Steve Schubert WR - Darryl Stingley WR - Joe Sweet WR - Randy Vataha TE - Bob Adams TE - Bob Windsor T - Allen Gallaher T - Leon Gray T - Tom Neville G - Sam Adams G - Bill DuLac G - John Hannah G - Doug Dumler C - Jon Morris G/C - Bill Lenkaitis DE - Craig Hanneman DE - Tony McGee NT - Ray Hamilton DE - Donnell Smith DT/DE - Julius Adams DT - Mel Lunsford DT - Art Moore LB - Gail Clark LB - Kent Carter LB - Rodrigo Barnes LB - Maury Damkroger LB - Bob Geddes LB - Sam Hunt LB - Steve King LB - Steve Nelson LB/TE - John Tanner LB - George Webster DB - Ron Bolton DB - Sandy Durko DB - Prentice McCray DB - Dave McCurry DB - Jim Massey DB - Jack Mildern DB - Ken Pope DB - Deac Snaders P - Bruce Barnes K - John Smith |
| Offense Ranking Points: 348 (2 of 26) Run: 520-2134 (6 of 26) Pass: 2514 (9 of 26) Defense Ranking Points: 289 (20 of 26) Run: 467-1587 (4 of 26) Pass: 2774 (24 of 26) |
| Pro Bowlers: None |
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| Coach: Chuck Fairbanks |
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