1974 San Diego Chargers season

1974 San Diego Chargers season
Owner	Gene Klein
General manager	Harland Svare
Head coach	Tommy Prothro
Home field	San Diego Stadium
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	3rd AFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1974 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 2–11–1 record in 1973. It was Tommy Prothro's first season as the team's head coach.

Before the season, the team changed from white helmets and powder blue jerseys—which it had had since its inception in 1960—to royal blue helmets and jerseys. Players' uniform numbers were also removed from the helmets. The royal blue would remain through 1984, when the helmets and jerseys became a darker shade of blue; that blue became even darker in 1988. The Chargers switched back permanently to modified white helmets in 2007.

NFL Draft

Main article: 1974 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Roster

1974 San Diego Chargers final roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Dan Fouts Running backs 21 Glen Bonner 35 Cid Edwards FB 41 Bo Matthews 33 Don Woods Wide receivers 85 Jim Beirne 87 Harrison Davis 27 Gary Garrison 88 Dick Gordon 25 Jerry LeVias Tight ends 89 Wayne Stewart		Offensive linemen 65 Mark Markovich C 75 Terry Owens T 70 Russ Washington T 63 Doug Wilkerson G Defensive linemen 79 Coy Bacon DE 71 Pete Lazetich DE 74 Dave Rowe DT 75 Dave Tipton DE		Linebackers 56 Fred Forsberg 54 Carl Gersbach 50 Don Goode Defensive backs 40 Joe Beauchamp CB 44 Chris Fletcher FS 23 George Hoey 24 Bob Howard CB Special teams 29 Dennis Partee P 15 Ray Wersching K		Reserve lists 81 Jeff Staggs LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Rookies in italics , 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 15, 1974	at Houston Oilers	L 21–14	25,317
2	September 22, 1974	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–17	51,178
3	September 29, 1974	Miami Dolphins	L 28–21	44,706
4	October 6, 1974	Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–7	36,124
5	October 13, 1974	Oakland Raiders	L 14–10	40,539
6	October 20, 1974	at Denver Broncos	L 27–7	50,928
7	October 27, 1974	Kansas City Chiefs	L 24–14	34,371
8	November 3, 1974	Cleveland Browns	W 36–35	35,683
9	November 10, 1974	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 14–7	48,551
10	November 17, 1974	at Oakland Raiders	L 17–10	50,178
11	November 24, 1974	at Green Bay Packers	L 34–0	56,267
12	December 1, 1974	at New York Jets	L 27–14	44,888
13	December 8, 1974	Chicago Bears	W 28–21	33,662
14	December 15, 1974	Denver Broncos	W 17–0	36,571

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