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1975 Baltimore Colts season

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1975 Baltimore Colts season
OwnerRobert Irsay
General managerJoe Thomas
Head coachTed Marchibroda
Home fieldMemorial Stadium
Results
Record10–4
Division placeT-1st AFC East
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Steelers) 10–28
Pro BowlersT George Kunz
RB Lydell Mitchell
DE John Dutton

The 1975 Baltimore Colts season was the 23rd season for the team in the National Football League. Under first-year head coach Ted Marchibroda, the Colts finished the 1975 season with 10 wins and 4 losses, and tied for first in the AFC East division with the Miami Dolphins; Baltimore won the division tiebreaker based on a head-to-head sweep of Miami — the first sweep of the Dolphins in their six years under head coach Don Shula.[1][2]

The Colts won their opener, lost four straight, then swept their final nine games and narrowly edged the Dolphins for the division title.[2] The turnaround season became forever known by Colts fans afterward as The Miracle on 33rd Street.

This was the first of three consecutive AFC East titles for the Colts. Hired in January, Marchibroda was previously the offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins under head coach George Allen.[3] The 1975 Colts coaching staff included 23-year-old assistant Bill Belichick, his first association with an NFL team and first coaching position.

Offseason

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Draft

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Main article: 1975 NFL draft
1975 Baltimore Colts Draft
Round Selection Player Position College Notes
1 3 Ken Huff G North Carolina
3 53 Mike Washington CB Alabama
56 Dave Pear DT Washington
4 80 Marshall Johnson WR Houston
93 Paul Linford DT BYU
5 105 Roosevelt Leaks RB Texas
6 131 Don Westbrook WR Nebraska
7 157 Kim Jones RB Colorado State
160 Steve Joachim QB Temple
168 Derrel Luce LB Baylor
8 184 John Bushong DE Western Kentucky
187 Greg Denboer TE Michigan
192 Mario Cage RB Northwestern Louisiana
9 209 Royce McKinney DB Kentucky State
10 236 Phil Waganheim P Maryland
11 261 David Hazel WR Ohio State
12 288 Brad Storm LB Iowa State
13 313 John Roman G Idaho State
14 340 Mike Smith C SMU
15 365 John Goodie RB Langston
16 392 Bill Malouf QB Ole Miss
399 Mike Evavold DT MacAlester
416 Robert Smith DB Maryland
17 417 David McKnight LB Georgia
426 Mike Bengard DE Northwestern (Iowa)
440 Frank Russel WR Maryland

Personnel

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Staff/Coaches

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1975 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – George Boutselis

Final roster

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1975 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

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Main article: 1975 NFL season

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 21 at Chicago Bears W 35–7 1–0 Soldier Field 54,152 Recap
2 September 28 Oakland Raiders L 20–31 1–1 Memorial Stadium 40,657 Recap
3 October 5 at Los Angeles Rams L 13–24 1–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 62,491 Recap
4 October 12 Buffalo Bills L 31–38 1–3 Memorial Stadium 43,907 Recap
5 October 19 at New England Patriots L 10–21 1–4 Schaefer Stadium 51,417 Recap
6 October 26 at New York Jets W 45–28 2–4 Shea Stadium 55,137 Recap
7 November 2 Cleveland Browns W 21–7 3–4 Memorial Stadium 35,235 Recap
8 November 9 at Buffalo Bills W 42–35 4–4 Rich Stadium 77,320 Recap
9 November 16 New York Jets W 52–19 5–4 Memorial Stadium 52,097 Recap
10 November 23 at Miami Dolphins W 33–17 6–4 Orange Bowl 61,986 Recap
11 November 30 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–14 7–4 Memorial Stadium 42,122 Recap
12 December 7 at New York Giants W 21–0 8–4 Shea Stadium 49,863 Recap
13 December 14 Miami Dolphins W 10–7OT 9–4 Memorial Stadium 59,398 Recap
14 December 21 New England Patriots W 34–21 10–4 Memorial Stadium 48,678 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts(3) 10 4 0 .714 6–2 8–3 395 269 W9
Miami Dolphins 10 4 0 .714 6–2 7–4 357 222 W1
Buffalo Bills 8 6 0 .571 5–3 7–4 420 355 L1
New York Jets 3 11 0 .214 2–6 3–8 258 433 L2
New England Patriots 3 11 0 .214 1–7 2–9 258 358 L6
AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(1) 12 2 0 .857 6–0 10–1 373 162 L1
Cincinnati Bengals(4) 11 3 0 .786 3–3 8–3 340 246 W1
Houston Oilers 10 4 0 .714 2–4 7–4 293 226 W3
Cleveland Browns 3 11 0 .214 1–5 2–8 218 372 L1
AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Oakland Raiders(2) 11 3 0 .786 5–1 8–3 375 255 W1
Denver Broncos 6 8 0 .429 3–3 4–7 254 307 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 5 9 0 .357 3–3 3–8 282 341 L4
San Diego Chargers 2 12 0 .143 1–5 2–9 189 345 L1

Playoffs

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Main article: 1975–76 NFL playoffs

The team made it to the playoffs as a No. 3 seed and traveled to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers in the divisional round. Tied at seven at the half, Pittsburgh outscored the Colts 21–3 in the second half. The Steelers defense forced four turnovers and held the Colts to 154 total yards of offense in their 28–10 win.[4][5][6]

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap
Divisional December 27 at Pittsburgh Steelers (1) L 10–28 Three Rivers Stadium 49,053 Recap

Awards and honors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wallace, William N. (December 15, 1975). "Colts in playoffs? Sure looks like it". Milwaukee Journal. (New York Times). p. 9, part 2.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b "Colts earn Super shot". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. December 22, 1975. p. 14.
  3. ^ "Marchibroda steps up as coach of Colts". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 16, 1975. p. 10.
  4. ^ "Steeler defense stops Baltimore". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 28, 1975. p. D1.
  5. ^ "Steeler defense too much". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. December 28, 1975. p. 1, sports.
  6. ^ Mulvoy, Mark (January 5, 1976). "A Steelclad case for the defense". Sports Illustrated. p. 13.
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