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1975 Buffalo Bills season

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1975 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachLou Saban
Home fieldRich Stadium
Results
Record8–6
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1975 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's sixth season in the NFL, and its 16th overall. The Bills failed to improve on their 9–5 record from last year and finished 8–6. They enjoyed their third consecutive winning season, but they still failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1973.

Season summary

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The Bills led the league in points scored, with 420 (30.0 per game). This amount is the most points scored by any team in a 14-game season after the merger,[1] and the most points scored by any team in the 1970s.[2] The Bills were the only team in NFL history to average at least 30 points per game and miss the playoffs, until being joined by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2004.

Buffalo won their first four games by an average of 17 points. They were 5–2 at the halfway point of the season, and one game behind the 6–1 Miami Dolphins in the AFC East. Buffalo then lost four of their final seven games, ultimately falling two games short of the division title.

Bills' running back O. J. Simpson rushed for 1817 yards on the season, and set a then-record with 23 touchdowns scored for the season. Fullback Jim Braxton had 823 yards rushing. Buffalo's ground game dominated the league, with a total of 2974 rushing yards, over 300 yards more than the second best rushing total.[3]

The 1975 Bills have the distinction of giving up the most total passing yards (3,080) in a 14-game schedule during the merger era.[4][5][6] However, the Bills' 45 takeaways on defense led the league in 1975. Defensive back Robert James and safety Doug Jones were lost to the season with knee injuries.

Offseason

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NFL draft

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Main article: 1975 NFL draft

Buffalo's defense gave up the fourth-most yards in the NFL in 1974, and so the Bills' first two picks in the 1975 draft were a pair of Nebraska linebackers – Tom Ruud and Bob Nelson—both of whom played for Buffalo for three seasons. N.C. State running back Roland Hooks played in every Bills game from 1976–1981. He is best known for his "Hail Mary" reception against New England in Week Twelve of the 1981 season, a catch which was instrumental in putting Buffalo into the postseason that year.

1975 Buffalo Bills draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 19 Tom Ruud  Linebacker Nebraska
2 42 Bob Nelson  Linebacker Nebraska
2 50 Glenn Loft  Defensive back Drake
4 102 Tom Donchez  Running back Penn State
5 115 John McCrumbly  Linebacker Texas A&M
7 166 Gil Chapman  Running back Michigan
7 174 Reggie Cherry  Running back Houston
7 175 Harry Banks  Defensive back Michigan
8 201 John Hill  Defensive tackle Duke
10 253 Roland Hooks  Running back NC State
11 279 Tom Drake  Defensive back Michigan
12 305 Mark Johnson  Defensive end Missouri
13 331 Mark Dienhart  Offensive tackle St. Thomas (MN)
14 357 Robert Evans  Wide receiver Morris Brown
15 383 Chris Kupec  Quarterback North Carolina
16 408 Tom Fine  Tight end Notre Dame
17 435 Jeff Turcotte  Defensive end Colorado
      Made roster  

Personnel

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Staff/coaches

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1975 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive/Special teams coaches

Final roster

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1975 Buffalo Bills 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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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 21 New York Jets W 42–14 1–0 Rich Stadium 77,837
2 September 28 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 30–21 2–0 Three Rivers Stadium 49,348
3 October 5 Denver Broncos W 38–14 3–0 Rich Stadium 79,864
4 October 12 at Baltimore Colts W 38–31 4–0 Memorial Stadium 43,907
5 October 20 New York Giants L 14–17 4–1 Rich Stadium 79,428
6 October 26 Miami Dolphins L 30–35 4–2 Rich Stadium 79,141
7 November 2 at New York Jets W 24–23 5–2 Shea Stadium 58,343
8 November 9 Baltimore Colts L 35–42 5–3 Rich Stadium 77,320
9 November 17 at Cincinnati Bengals L 24–33 5–4 Riverfront Stadium 56,666
10 November 23 New England Patriots W 45–31 6–4 Rich Stadium 65,655
11 November 27 at St. Louis Cardinals W 32–14 7–4 Busch Memorial Stadium 41,899
12 December 7 at Miami Dolphins L 21–31 7–5 Miami Orange Bowl 78,701
13 December 14 at New England Patriots W 34–14 8–5 Schaefer Stadium 58,393
14 December 20 Minnesota Vikings L 13–35 8–6 Rich Stadium 54,993

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

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Week 1 vs Jets

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Jets 7 7 0014
Bills 14 7 14742

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 2 at Steelers

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bills (1-0) 0 10 13 7 30
Steelers (1-0) 0 0 7 14 21

Week 3 vs Broncos

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1 234Total
Broncos 0 770 14
• Bills 10 14140 38
  • Date: October 5
  • Location: Rich Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
Scoring summary
1BUFJohn Leypoldt 39 yard field goalBills 3–0
1BUFJim Braxton 3 yard run (John Leypoldt kick)Bills 10–0
2BUFJim Braxton 19 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick)Bills 17–0
2DENFloyd Little 35 yard pass from Charley Johnson (Jim Turner kick)Bills 17–7
2BUFJ. D. Hill 16 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick)Bills 24–7
3BUFO. J. Simpson 16 yard run (John Leypoldt kick)Bills 31–7
3BUFJim Braxton 4 yard run (John Leypoldt kick)Bills 38–7
3DENRick Upchurch 80 yard pass from John Hufnagel (Jim Turner kick)Bills 38–14

[7]

Week 4 at Colts

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bills (3-0) 10 14 7 7 38
Colts (1-2) 14 7 7 3 31

Week 5 vs Giants

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1 234Total
• Giants 0 7010 17
Bills 7 700 14

Week 6 vs Dolphins

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1 2 3 4 Total
Dolphins (4-1) 0 14 7 14 35
Bills (4-1) 13 10 0 7 30

Week 7 at Jets

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bills (4-2) 7 0 10 7 24
Jets (2-4) 3 13 7 0 23

Week 8 vs Colts

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1 2 3 4 Total
Colts (3-4) 0 21 0 21 42
Bills (5–2) 7 21 0 7 35

Week 9 at Bengals

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bills (5-3) 3 7 7 7 24
Bengals (7-1) 6 14 3 10 33

MNF

Week 10 vs Patriots

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1 2 3 4 Total
Patriots (3-6) 7 14 7 3 31
Bills (5-4) 14 10 7 14 45

Week 11 at Cardinals

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bills (6-4) 6 7 6 13 32
Cardinals (8-2) 7 0 0 7 14

Thursday game

Week 12 at Dolphins

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bills (7-4) 0 0 14 7 21
Dolphins (8-3) 7 14 3 7 31

Week 13 at Patriots

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bills (7-5) 6 7 14 7 34
Patriots (3-9) 0 7 0 7 14

Week 14 vs Vikings

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1 2 3 4 Total
Vikings (11-2) 14 7 14 0 35
Bills (8-5) 0 7 6 0 13

Saturday game

  • Snow

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

Awards and honors

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All-Pros

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Main article: 1975 All-Pro Team

First Team

Second Team

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1970 to 1977, in the regular season, sorted by descending Points For.
  2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1970 to 1979, in the regular season, sorted by descending Points For.
  3. ^ Pittsburgh, 2633
  4. ^ Post-Merger 14-game schedule era: 1970–1977
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1970 to 1977, in the regular season, sorted by descending opp Passing Yds
  6. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, in 1975, in the regular season, sorted by descending opp Passing Yds
  7. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
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