Cincinnati Bengals 1974 Record:  7 wins and 7 losses

The Bengals started the season off by trading Linebacker Bill Bergey to Philadelphia Eagles for two first-round draft choices and a third-round pick in 1977. This left Jim LeClair to fill Bergey’s role as the middle linebacker.

The Bengals got off to a quick start winning 4 of their first 5 games including a home win over the Washington redskins 28-17. In that game, Lamar Parrish became the only Bengals player to ever score two touchdowns in a game on returns and/or recoveries.  Lemar Parrish the Bengals Cornerback and kick returner returned a punt 90 yards for his first score and picked up a fumble and returned it 47 yards to the house for a second score.

The Bengals lack of a running game got the worst of them, and they split their next 6 games.  The Bengals lost all three of their final games and this ended up costing them a trip to the playoffs.  The team ended the season with a disappointing record of 7-4. 

Ken Anderson won the NFL passing championship and completed a club-record 64.9 percent of his attempts. Lemar Parrish led the NFL in punt returns.  The Bengals did find success in the draft that year.  In the third round of the draft with the 61st pick, the Bengals selected a Tackle out of Syracuse, Dave Lapham.  Dave Lapham has since gone onto be a fixture and a fan favorite within the Bengals organization both as a player and now as the play by play radio announcers for all Bengals games.

Scored 283 points (20.2/g), 10th of 26 in the NFL.
Allowed 259 points (18.5/g), 13th.
Differential of 24 points (1.7/g), 11th.