1974 Minnesota Vikings season

1974 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Bud Grant
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	10-4
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (Cardinals) 30-14 Won Conference Championship (Rams) 14-10 Lost Super Bowl IX (Steelers) 16-6
Timeline
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1974 was the 14th year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings won the NFC Central as they finished with a record of 10 wins and four losses. The Vikings defeated the St. Louis Football Cardinals, 30-14 in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game, and the Los Angeles Rams, 14-10 to win their second consecutive NFC Championship, both games were at home. However, the Vikings lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl IX, 16-6 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, becoming the first team to lose consecutive Super Bowls.

Offseason

1974 Draft

Main article: 1974 NFL Draft

Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	17	17	Fred McNeill	Linebacker	UCLA	from Falcons
	25	25	Steve Riley	Defensive Tackle	USC
2	3	29	John Holland	Wide Receiver	Tennessee State	from Chargers
	25	51	Matt Blair	Linebacker	Iowa State
3	12	64	Steve Craig	Tight End	Northwestern	from Packers via Chargers
	25	77	Scott Anderson	Center	Missouri
4	8	86	Mike Townsend	Defensive Back	Notre Dame	from Saints
	25	103	Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals
5	16	120	Jim Ferguson	Defensive Back	Stanford	from Broncos
	24	128	Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles			from Rams
	25	129	Traded to the Baltimore Colts
6	25	155	Mark Kellar	Running Back	Northern Illinois
7	25	181	Fred Tabron	Running Back	Southwest Missouri State
8	25	207	Berl Simmons	Kicker	Texas Christian
9	24	232	Sam McCullum	Wide Receiver	Montana State
10	25	259	Barry Reed	Running Back	Peru State
11	25	285	Dave Boone	Defensive End	Eastern Michigan
12	25	311	Randy Polti	Defensive Back	Stanford
13	25	337	Gary Keller	Defensive Tackle	Utah
14	25	363	Alan Dixon	Running Back	Harding
15	25	389	Kurt Wachtler	Defensive Tackle	St. John's
16	25	415	John Gobel	Running Back	St. Thomas
17	25	441	Earl Garrett	Defensive Back	Boston State

^{^[a]} Atlanta traded their 1st round selection (17th overall) and QB Bob Berry to Minnesota for QB Bob Lee and LB Lonnie Warwick.

^{^[b]} San Diego traded their 2nd round selection (29th overall) and a 3rd round selection (64th overall) to Minnesota for LB Carl Gersbach and RB Clinton Jones.

^{^[c]} New Orleans traded their 4th round selection (86th overall) and 1973 6th round selection to Minnesota for TE Bob Brown.

^{^[d]} Minnesota traded their 4th round selection (103rd overall) to Cincinnati for OG Steve Lawson.

^{^[e]} Denver traded their 5th round selection (120th overall) and WR Rod Sherman to Minnesota for WR Gene Washington.

^{^[f]} Minnesota traded their 5th round selection (129th overall) to Baltimore for DB Charlie Stukes on July 23, 1973.

^{^[g]} Los Angeles traded their 5th round selection (128th overall) to Minnesota for DB Charlie Stukes on August 28, 1973.

^{^[h]} Minnesota traded this 5th round selection (128th overall) to Philadelphia for LB Ron Porter.

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Vikings points	Opponents	Record	Attendance
1	Sept. 15	at Green Bay Packers	Win	32	17	1-0	56,267
2	Sept. 22	at Detroit Lions	Win	7	6	2-0	49,703
3	Sept. 29	Chicago Bears	Win	11	7	3-0	46,217
4	Oct. 6	at Dallas Cowboys	Win	23	21	4-0	57,847
5	Oct. 13	Houston Oilers	Win	51	10	5-0	48,006
6	Oct. 20	Detroit Lions	Loss	16	20	5-1	47,807
7	Oct. 27	New England Patriots	Loss	14	17	5-2	48,177
8	Nov. 3	at Chicago Bears	Win	17	0	6-2	33,343
9	Nov. 11	at St. Louis Cardinals	Win	28	24	7-2	50,183
10	Nov. 17	Green Bay Packers	Loss	7	19	7-3	47,924
11	Nov. 24	at Los Angeles Rams	Loss	17	20	7-4	90,266
12	Dec. 1	New Orleans Saints	Win	29	9	8-4	44,202
13	Dec. 7	Atlanta Falcons	Win	23	10	9-4	47,105
14	Dec. 14	at Kansas City Chiefs	Win	35	15	10-4	35,480

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA
Minnesota Vikings	10	4	0	.714	4–2	8–3	310	195
Detroit Lions	7	7	0	.500	3–3	6–5	256	270
Green Bay Packers	6	8	0	.429	3–3	4–7	210	206
Chicago Bears	4	10	0	.286	2–4	4–7	152	279

Playoffs

NFC: Minnesota Vikings 30, St. Louis Cardinals 14

Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 7 0 7 14 Vikings 0 7 16 7 30 at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota Date: December 21, 1974 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 28 °F (−2 °C), flurries Game attendance: 48,150 Referee: Chuck Heberling TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger, Irv Cross and Johnny Unitas Game information Scoring STL - Thomas 13 pass from Hart (Bakken kick)STL 7-0 MIN - Gilliam 16 pass from Tarkenton (Cox kick)7-7 MIN - field goal Cox 37 MIN 10-7 MIN - Wright 20 fumble return (Cox kick)MIN 17-7 MIN - Gilliam 38 pass from Tarkenton (kick failed) MIN 23-7 MIN - Foreman 4 run (Cox kick) MIN 30-7 STL - Metcalf 11 run (Bakken kick) MIN 30-14

NFC Championship: Minnesota Vikings 14, Los Angeles Rams 10

Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 3 0 7 10 Vikings 0 7 0 7 14 at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota Date: December 29, 1974 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 31 °F (−1 °C), sunny Game attendance: 48,444 Referee: Tommy Bell TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall, Tom Brookshier and Bart Starr Boxscore Game information Scoring MIN - Lash 29 pass from Tarkenton (Cox kick) MIN 7-0 LA - field goal Ray 27 MIN 7-3 MIN - Osborn 4 run (Cox kick)MIN 14-3 LA - Jackson 44 pass from Harris (Ray kick)MIN 14-10

Super Bowl IX

Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Steelers (AFC) 0 2 7 7 16 Vikings (NFC) 0 0 0 6 6 at Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana Date: January 12, 1975 Game time: 6:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 80,997 Referee: Bernie Ulman TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis and Don Meredith