1975 Baltimore Colts season

Last updated

1975 Baltimore Colts season
Owner Robert Irsay
General manager Joe Thomas
Head coach Ted Marchibroda
Home stadium Memorial Stadium
Results
Record10–4
Division placeT-1st AFC East
PlayoffsLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Steelers) 10–28
Pro Bowlers T 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]

Contents

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

Draft

1975 Baltimore Colts Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
1 3 Ken Huff G North Carolina
353 Mike Washington CB Alabama
56 Dave Pear DT Washington
480 Marshall Johnson WR Houston
93Paul Linford DT BYU
5105 Roosevelt Leaks RB Texas
6131 Don Westbrook WR Nebraska
7157Kim Jones RB Colorado State
160 Steve Joachim QB Temple
168 Derrel Luce LB Baylor
8184John Bushong DE Western Kentucky
187Greg Denboer TE Michigan
192Mario Cage RB Northwestern Louisiana
9209Royce McKinney DB Kentucky State
10236Phil Waganheim P Maryland
11261David Hazel WR Ohio State
12288Brad Storm LB Iowa State
13313 John Roman G Idaho State
14340Mike Smith C SMU
15365John Goodie RB Langston
16392Bill Malouf QB Ole Miss
399Mike Evavold DT MacAlester
416Robert Smith DB Maryland
17417David McKnight LB Georgia
426Mike Bengard DE Northwestern (Iowa)
440Frank Russel WR Maryland

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1975 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – George Boutselis

Final roster

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 (ST)

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 21at Chicago Bears W 35–71–0 Soldier Field 54,152 Recap
2September 28 Oakland Raiders L 20–311–1 Memorial Stadium 40,657 Recap
3October 5at Los Angeles Rams L 13–241–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 62,491 Recap
4October 12 Buffalo Bills L 31–381–3Memorial Stadium43,907 Recap
5October 19at New England Patriots L 10–211–4 Schaefer Stadium 51,417 Recap
6October 26at New York Jets W 45–282–4 Shea Stadium 55,137 Recap
7November 2 Cleveland Browns W 21–73–4Memorial Stadium35,235 Recap
8November 9at Buffalo Bills W 42–354–4 Rich Stadium 77,320 Recap
9November 16 New York Jets W 52–195–4Memorial Stadium52,097 Recap
10November 23at Miami Dolphins W 33–176–4 Orange Bowl 61,986 Recap
11November 30 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–147–4Memorial Stadium42,122 Recap
12December 7at New York Giants W 21–08–4 Shea Stadium 49,863 Recap
13December 14 Miami Dolphins W 10–7OT9–4Memorial Stadium59,398 Recap
14December 21 New England Patriots W 34–2110–4Memorial Stadium48,678 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Baltimore Colts (3)1040.7146–28–3395269W9
Miami Dolphins 1040.7146–27–4357222W1
Buffalo Bills 860.5715–37–4420355L1
New York Jets 3110.2142–63–8258433L2
New England Patriots 3110.2141–72–9258358L6
AFC Central
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Pittsburgh Steelers (1)1220.8576–010–1373162L1
Cincinnati Bengals (4)1130.7863–38–3340246W1
Houston Oilers 1040.7142–47–4293226W3
Cleveland Browns 3110.2141–52–8218372L1
AFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Oakland Raiders (2)1130.7865–18–3375255W1
Denver Broncos 680.4293–34–7254307L1
Kansas City Chiefs 590.3573–33–8282341L4
San Diego Chargers 2120.1431–52–9189345L1

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]

RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueRecap
DivisionalDecember 27at Pittsburgh Steelers (1)L 10–28 Three Rivers Stadium 49,053 Recap

Awards and honors

See also

References

  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. 1 2 "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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