1974 Miami Dolphins

The 1974 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 9th, and fifth in the National Football League. The team entered the 1974 season as defending Super Bowl champions. They did not improve on their 12–2 record from last season and finished 11–3. Despite this, the Dolphins finished first in the AFC East for the fourth consecutive season, and they finished with the second best record in the NFL. In the playoffs, the Oakland Raiders defeated the Dolphins in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game in the famous "Sea of Hands" game.

1974 Miami Dolphins season
Head Coach	Don Shula
Home Field	Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record	11–3
Place	1st AFC East
Playoff Finish	Lost Divisional Round
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1973	1975

Offseason

NFL Draft

• Main article: 1974 NFL Draft

1974 Miami Dolphins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	26	Don Reese	Defensive tackle	Jackson State
2	38	Andre Tillman	Tight end	Texas Tech
2	47	Benny Malone	Running back	Arizona State
2	52	Jeris White	Defensive back	Hawai'i
3	78	Nat Moore *	Wide receiver	Florida
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1974 Miami Dolphins final staff
	Front Office President – Joe Robbie Vice President – Don Shula Director of Player Personnel – Bobby Beathard Head Coaches Head Coach – Don Shula Offensive Coaches Offense – Monte Clark Offense – Bill McPeak Offensive Backs – Carl Taseff Receivers – Bob Schnelker			Defensive Coaches Defense – Vince Costello Defensive Line – Mike Scarry Defensive Backs – Tom Keane Special Teams Coaches None - N/A Strength and Conditioning None - N/A

Roster

1974 Miami Dolphins roster
	Quarterbacks 12 Bob Griese 15 Earl Morrall 10 Don Strock Running backs 21 Jim Kiick 39 Larry Csonka FB 32 Hubert Ginn 23 Charlie Leigh FB 32 Benny Malone 22 Mercury Morris 36 Don Nottingham FB Wide receivers 81 Howard Twilley 42 Paul Warfield 82 Melvin Baker 86 Marlin Briscoe 89 Nat Moore Tight ends 88 Jim Mandich 80 Marv Fleming		Offensive linemen 79 Wayne Moore T 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 62 Jim Langer C 66 Larry Little G 73 Norm Evans T 77 Doug Crusan T 70 Tom Funchess T 55 Irv Goode G 64 Ed Newman G 60 Tom Wickert T Defensive linemen 83 Vern Den Herder DE 75 Manny Fernandez DT 72 Bob Heinz DT 84 Bill Stanfill DE 74 Randy Crowder DT 65 Maulty Moore DT 76 Don Reese DE		Linebackers 59 Doug Swift 85 Nick Buoniconti 57 Mike Kolen 51 Larry Ball 58 Bruce Bannon 53 Bob Matheson Defensive backs 25 Tim Foley CB 45 Curtis Johnson CB 40 Dick Anderson SS 13 Jake Scott FS 49 Charlie Babb SS 26 Lloyd Mumphord CB 48 Henry Stuckey 41 Jeris White CB Special teams 1 Garo Yepremian K 20 Larry Seiple P		Reserve lists 87 Andre Tillman TE (IR) Practice/Taxi Squad None - N/A Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Record	Attendance
1	Sept. 15	at New England Patriots	Loss	34-24	0–1	55,006
2	Sept. 22	at Buffalo Bills	Win	24-16	1–1	80,020
3	Sept. 29	at San Diego Chargers	Win	28-21	2–1	44,706
4	Oct. 7	New York Jets	Win	21-17	3–1	60,727
5	Oct. 13	at Washington Redskins	Loss	20-17	3–2	54,395
6	Oct. 20	Kansas City Chiefs	Win	9-3	4–2	67,779
7	Oct. 27	Baltimore Colts	Win	17-7	5–2	65,868
8	Nov. 3	Atlanta Falcons	Win	42-7	6–2	64,399
9	Nov. 10	at New Orleans Saints	Win	21-0	7–2	74,289
10	Nov. 17	Buffalo Bills	Win	35-28	8–2	69,313
11	Nov. 24	at New York Jets	Loss	17-14	8–3	57,162
12	Dec. 2	Cincinnati Bengals	Win	24-3	9–3	71,962
13	Dec. 8	at Baltimore Colts	Win	17-16	10–3	34,420
14	Dec. 15	New England Patriots	Win	34-27	11–3	56,920

Standings

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Miami Dolphins	11	3	0	.786	327	216
Buffalo Bills	9	5	0	.643	264	244
New England Patriots	7	7	0	.500	348	289
New York Jets	7	7	0	.500	279	300
Baltimore Colts	2	12	0	.143	190	329

Playoffs

AFC: Oakland Raiders 28, Miami Dolphins 26

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	7	3	6	10	26
Raiders	0	7	7	14	28

• date= December 21, 1974
• stadium= Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California
• time= 1:00 p.m. PST
• TV= NBC
• TVAnnouncers= Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis and Don Meredith
• attendance= 53,023
• referee= Ben Dreith
• Scoring
  • MIA - N. Moore 89 kickoff return (Yepremian kick) MIA 7-0
  • OAK - C. Smith 31 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) 7-7
  • MIA - field goal Yepremian 33 MIA 10-7
  • OAK - Biletnikoff 13 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 14-10
  • MIA - Warfield 16 pass from Griese (kick failed) MIA 16-14
  • MIA - field goal Yepremian 46 MIA 19-14
  • OAK - Branch 72 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 21-19
  • MIA - Malone 23 run (Yepremian kick) MIA 26-21
  • OAK - Davis 8 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 28-26

External links

• 1974 Miami Dolphins season article at Wikipedia
• 1974 Miami Dolphins at Pro Football Reference
• 1974 Miami Dolphins at jt-sw.com