Regular season | |
---|---|
Duration | September 15 – December 15, 1974 |
Playoffs | |
Start date | December 21, 1974 |
AFC Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
NFC Champions | Minnesota Vikings |
Super Bowl IX | |
Date | January 12, 1975 |
Site | Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana |
Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
Pro Bowl | |
Date | January 20, 1975 |
Site | Miami Orange Bowl |
The 1974 NFL season was the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl IX when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings. Players held a strike from July 1 until August 10, prior to the regular season beginning; only one preseason game (that year's Chicago College All-Star Game) was canceled, and the preseason contests were held with all-rookie rosters.
The following changes were adopted to add tempo and action to the game (and to help counter the proposed changes announced by the World Football League to their games):
Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
x – clinched wild card berth, y – clinched division title