| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 21 – December 21, 1975 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | December 27, 1975 |
| AFC Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| NFC Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| Super Bowl X | |
| Date | January 18, 1976 |
| Site | Orange Bowl,Miami,Florida |
| Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | January 26, 1976 |
| Site | Louisiana Superdome,New Orleans |
The1975 NFL season was the 56thregular season of theNational Football League.
Instead of a traditionalThanksgiving Day game hosted by theDallas Cowboys, the league scheduled aBuffalo Bills atSt. Louis Cardinals contest. This was the first season since1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday.
The playoff format was changed so that the division champions with the best regular season records were made the home teams for the divisional round, with the division champion advancing to the conference championship game with the best record hosting the title game. Previously, game sites rotated by division. The caveat stipulating that a wild card team cannot face its own division champion in the divisional round was kept in force.[1][2][3][4]
The season ended withSuper Bowl X whenthe Pittsburgh Steelers repeated as champions by defeatingthe Dallas Cowboys21–17 at theOrange Bowl inMiami.
The1975 NFL draft was held from January 28 to 29, 1975, atNew York City'sHilton at Rockefeller Center. With the first pick, theAtlanta Falcons selected quarterbackSteve Bartkowski from theUniversity of California.
Jerry Seeman, who would go on to serve as referee forSuper Bowl XXIII andSuper Bowl XXV before a 10-year tenure as the NFL's Director of Officiating from 1991 to 2001, was hired as a line judge.Fred Swearingen, the referee in the 1972 Raiders-Steelers playoff game which produced theImmaculate Reception, was demoted to his former position, field judge (now back judge).Gene Barth, the line judge onJim Tunney's crew the previous four seasons, was promoted.
Starting in1970, through2001, 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, records against common records, and records in conference play.
| Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 teams | 1–0–0 | Detroit, Minnesota | 1–0–0 | 4 teams | 0–1–0 | 4 teams | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | Dallas, Washington | 2–0–0 | Detroit, Minnesota | 2–0–0 | Los Angeles | 1–1–0 | 2 teams | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | Dallas | 3–0–0 | Minnesota | 3–0–0 | Los Angeles | 2–1–0 | 3 teams | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | Dallas | 4–0–0 | Minnesota | 4–0–0 | Los Angeles | 3–1–0 | Washington, Detroit | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | Dallas | 4–1–0 | Minnesota | 5–0–0 | Los Angeles | 4–1–0 | St. Louis, Detroit | 3–2–0 |
| 6 | Dallas | 5–1–0 | Minnesota | 6–0–0 | Los Angeles | 5–1–0 | Washington* | 4–2–0 |
| 7 | Dallas* | 5–2–0 | Minnesota | 7–0–0 | Los Angeles | 6–1–0 | Washington* | 5–2–0 |
| 8 | Washington* | 6–2–0 | Minnesota | 8–0–0 | Los Angeles | 6–2–0 | St. Louis | 6–2–0 |
| 9 | St. Louis | 7–2–0 | Minnesota | 9–0–0 | Los Angeles | 7–2–0 | Dallas, Detroit, Washington | 6–3–0 |
| 10 | St. Louis | 8–2–0 | Minnesota | 10–0–0 | Los Angeles | 8–2–0 | Dallas | 7–3–0 |
| 11 | Dallas* | 8–3–0 | Minnesota | 10–1–0 | Los Angeles | 9–2–0 | St. Louis | 8–3–0 |
| 12 | St. Louis | 9–3–0 | Minnesota | 11–1–0 | Los Angeles | 10–2–0 | Dallas | 8–4–0 |
| 13 | St. Louis | 10–3–0 | Minnesota | 11–2–0 | Los Angeles | 11–2–0 | Dallas | 9–4–0 |
| 14 | St. Louis | 11–3–0 | Minnesota | 12–2–0 | Los Angeles | 12–2–0 | Dallas | 10–4–0 |
| Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore, Buffalo | 1–0–0 | 3 teams | 1–0–0 | Denver, Oakland | 1–0–0 | 4 teams | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | Buffalo | 2–0–0 | Cincinnati, Houston | 2–0–0 | Denver, Oakland | 2–0–0 | 2 teams | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | Buffalo | 3–0–0 | Cincinnati | 3–0–0 | Oakland | 3–0–0 | 5 teams | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | Buffalo | 4–0–0 | Cincinnati | 4–0–0 | Oakland | 3–1–0 | Pittsburgh* | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | Buffalo* | 4–1–0 | Cincinnati | 5–0–0 | Denver* | 3–2–0 | Pittsburgh* | 4–1–0 |
| 6 | Miami | 5–1–0 | Cincinnati | 6–0–0 | Oakland | 4–2–0 | Houston | 5–1–0 |
| 7 | Miami | 6–1–0 | Pittsburgh* | 6–1–0 | Oakland | 5–2–0 | Cincinnati* | 6–1–0 |
| 8 | Miami | 7–1–0 | Pittsburgh* | 7–1–0 | Oakland | 5–2–0 | Cincinnati* | 7–1–0 |
| 9 | Miami | 7–2–0 | Pittsburgh* | 8–1–0 | Oakland | 7–2–0 | Cincinnati* | 8–1–0 |
| 10 | Miami | 7–3–0 | Pittsburgh | 9–1–0 | Oakland | 8–2–0 | Cincinnati | 8–2–0 |
| 11 | Miami | 8–3–0 | Pittsburgh | 10–1–0 | Oakland | 9–2–0 | Cincinnati | 9–2–0 |
| 12 | Miami | 9–3–0 | Pittsburgh | 11–1–0 | Oakland | 10–2–0 | Cincinnati | 10–2–0 |
| 13 | Baltimore* | 9–4–0 | Pittsburgh | 12–1–0 | Oakland | 10–3–0 | Cincinnati | 10–3–0 |
| 14 | Baltimore | 10–4–0 | Pittsburgh | 12–2–0 | Oakland | 11–3–0 | Cincinnati | 11–3–0 |
| Dec 28 –Metropolitan Stadium | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Dallas | 17 | |||||||||||
| Jan 4 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota | 14 | |||||||||||
| NFC | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Dallas | 37 | |||||||||||
| Dec 27 –Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Los Angeles | 7 | |||||||||||
| NFC Championship | |||||||||||||
| 3 | St. Louis | 23 | |||||||||||
| Jan 18 –Miami Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Los Angeles | 35 | |||||||||||
| Divisional playoffs | |||||||||||||
| N4 | Dallas | 17 | |||||||||||
| Dec 28 –Oakland Coliseum | |||||||||||||
| A1 | Pittsburgh | 21 | |||||||||||
| Super Bowl X | |||||||||||||
| 4 | Cincinnati | 28 | |||||||||||
| Jan 4 – Three Rivers Stadium | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Oakland | 31 | |||||||||||
| AFC | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Oakland | 10 | |||||||||||
| Dec 27 –Three Rivers Stadium | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Pittsburgh | 16 | |||||||||||
| AFC Championship | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Baltimore | 10 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Pittsburgh | 28 | |||||||||||
| Most Valuable Player | Fran Tarkenton,quarterback,Minnesota Vikings |
| Coach of the Year | Ted Marchibroda,Baltimore Colts |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Fran Tarkenton,quarterback,Minnesota Vikings |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Mel Blount,cornerback,Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Mike Thomas,running back,Washington Redskins |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Robert Brazile,linebacker,Houston Oilers |
| Man of the Year | Ken Anderson,quarterback,Cincinnati Bengals |
| Comeback Player of the Year | Dave Hampton,running back,Atlanta Falcons |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Lynn Swann,wide receiver,Pittsburgh Steelers |
This was the second year under the league's four-year broadcast contracts withABC,CBS, andNBC to televiseMonday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. CBS restoredThe NFL Today title for its pregame show.Brent Musburger was named as its new host, former playerIrv Cross as an analyst, and former Miss AmericaPhyllis George as one of its reporters.
NBC's pregame showGrandStand made its debut, hosted byJack Buck (who had left CBS afterthe previous season) andBryant Gumbel.[5]
