text: One of the year's few bright spots in the 5–9 season was cornerback Emmitt Thomas, who led the league with a franchise-record 12 interceptions. The final game of the 1974 campaign marked the final time all five of Kansas City's future Hall of Fame players from the club's AFL championship era took the field together with coach Hank Stram. Including Lamar Hunt and five future Minnesota Vikings Hall of Famers, an amazing total of 12 Hall of Fame inductees were involved in that 1974 season finale game. That 35–15 loss against Super Bowl-bound Minnesota provided an anticlimactic conclusion to Hank Stram's illustrious coaching career in Kansas City. Stram, the only head coach in franchise history was relieved of his duties on December 27 after compiling a 124–76–10 regular season record with the club.
  San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Paul Wiggin was named the second head coach in franchise history on January 23, 1975. Wiggin inherited the unenviable task of rebuilding a squad whose pool of talent had been largely depleted due to age and a number of ill-considered trades that had left the club devoid of first-round draft choices in 1973 and 1975. After an 0–3 start to the season, Wiggin directed the Chiefs to three straight wins, beginning with a convincing 42–10 victory against the Raiders. The highlight of the season was a 34–31 upset win at Dallas on Monday Night Football. The club could not maintain the early success; owning a 5–5 record heading into the home stretch of the season, injuries to a number of key players crippled the team. The team dropped its final four contests of the year to finish at 5–9 for the second consecutive season. The regular season finale at Oakland marked the final games in the Hall of Fame careers of Len Dawson and Buck Buchanan.