NFL game summary for 10/06/1974:

Jim Plunkett threw three touchdown passes and never was sacked as the Patriots won their fourth straight over winless Baltimore, spoiling the head coaching debut of Joe Thomas. Reggie Rucker caught three for 92 yards and two touchdowns but also suffered a broken wrist. Mack Herron was the top rusher with 13 carries for 59 yards and added 29 on a kickoff return and 79 on punt returns while taking over the AFC lead in the latter category. Bert Jones, advanced to a starting role, passed for 215 yards for the Colts but was sacked five times. The 42 points were the most for New England since 1965.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

	Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
OFFENSE	99.0 (22)	152.7 (12)	251.7 (18)	11
DEFENSE	108.0 (4)	201.3 (23)	309.3 (22)	5
OFFENSE	155.7 (8)	157.7 (10)	313.3 (6)	3
DEFENSE	84.0 (1)	223.7 (25)	307.7 (20)	8

Line: Patriots by 14

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Baltimore Colts (0-4-0)	0	3	0	0	3
New England Patriots (4-0-0)	14	7	14	7	42

( 0- 7) NE Reggie Rucker 69 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (John Smith kick) ( 0-14) NE Darryl Stingley 23 yard rush (John Smith kick) ( 0-21) NE Mack Herron 5 yard rush (John Smith kick) ( 3-21) BAL Toni Linhart 27 yard field goal ( 3-28) NE Sam Cunningham 4 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (John Smith kick) ( 3-35) NE Reggie Rucker 16 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (John Smith kick) ( 3-42) NE John Tarver 7 yard rush (John Smith kick)

                     BAL             NE
First Downs:         15              23
Rushes-yards:        24-85           38-186
Yards/rush:          3.5             4.9
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     22-41-215-1     12-23-198-2
Sacked-yards:        5-35            0-0
Net pass yards:      180             198
Net yards/pass:      3.9             8.6
Total net yards:     265             384
Total plays:         70 (34% run)    61 (62% run)  
Yards/play:          3.8             6.3
Fumbles-lost:        5-2             2-1
Turnovers:           3               3
Penalties-yards:     5-70            5-55

Attendance: 55,820

Passing:
BAL: Bert Jones, 22 of 41 for 215 yards (1 int) NE: Jim Plunkett, 8 of 16 for 141 yards and 3 TDs (1 int); Dick Shiner, 3 of 6 for 37 yards (1 int); Neil Graff, 1 of 1 for 20 yards
Rushing:
BAL: Bill Olds, 13 for 50 yards; Bert Jones, 6 for 21 yards; Lydell Mitchell, 3 for 7 yards; John Andrews, 1 for 4 yards; Don McCauley, 1 for 3 yards NE: Mack Herron, 13 for 59 yards and 1 TD; Sam Cunningham, 9 for 41 yards; Josh Ashton, 6 for 40 yards; John Tarver, 5 for 15 yards and 1 TD; Darryl Stingley, 2 for 22 yards and 1 TD; Jim Plunkett, 2 for 11 yards; Andy Johnson, 1 for -2 yards
Receiving:
BAL: Lydell Mitchell, 6 for 32 yards; Don McCauley, 5 for 22 yards; Freddie Scott, 3 for 68 yards; Cotton Speyrer, 3 for 42 yards; Raymond Chester, 3 for 26 yards; Glenn Doughty, 1 for 16 yards; Roger Carr, 1 for 9 yards NE: Reggie Rucker, 3 for 92 yards and 2 TDs; Randy Vataha, 3 for 57 yards; Sam Cunningham, 3 for 11 yards and 1 TD; Darryl Stingley, 1 for 19 yards; Bob Windsor, 1 for 13 yards; John Tarver, 1 for 6 yards
Kick returns:
BAL: Bruce Laird, 4 for 120 yards; Tim Berra, 1 for 26 yards; Don McCauley, 1 for 17 yards; Cotton Speyrer, 1 for 16 yards NE: Mack Herron, 1 for 29 yards; Steve Schubert, 1 for 21 yards
Punt returns:
BAL: Bruce Laird, 2 for 2 yards NE: Mack Herron, 2 for 79 yards; Steve Schubert, 1 for 0 yards
Interceptions:
BAL: Dan Dickel, 1 for 5 yards; Rick Volk, 1 for 0 yards NE: John Sanders, 1 for 0 yards
Punting:
BAL: David Lee, 5 for 186 yards NE: Bruce Barnes, 3 for 111 yards
Field Goals:
BAL: Toni Linhart, 1/2