1975 Baltimore Colts season

1975 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
General manager	Joe Thomas
Head coach	Ted Marchibroda
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	T-1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 10–28
Pro Bowlers	T George Kunz RB Lydell Mitchell DE John Dutton
←  1974 Colts seasons 1976  →

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, 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

NFL draft

Main article: 1975 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	3	Ken Huff	Guard	North Carolina

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1975 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office President and treasurer – Robert Irsay General manager – Joe Thomas Assistant general manager – Ernie Accorsi Coaching staff Head coach – Ted Marchibroda Staff Assistant - Bill Belichick Offensive coaches Receivers – Pete McCulley Offensive line – Whitey Dovell		Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Maxie Baughan Defensive line – Jerry Smith Defensive backfield – Frank Lauterbur Special teams coaches Special teams – George Boutselis

Final roster

1975 Baltimore Colts roster

	Quarterbacks 14 Marty Domres  7 Bert Jones Running backs 23 Don McCauley 26 Lydell Mitchell 38 Bill Olds 27 Howard Stevens Wide receivers 81 Roger Carr 35 Glenn Doughty 86 Freddie Scott Tight ends 87 Raymond Chester 85 Jimmy Kennedy		Offensive linemen 50 Forrest Blue C 66 Elmer Collett G 62 Ken Huff G 75 George Kunz T 57 Ken Mendenhall C 61 Robert Pratt G 64 David Taylor T 67 Bob Van Duyne G Defensive linemen 63 Mike Barnes DT 72 Fred Cook DE 78 John Dutton DE 76 Joe Ehrmann DT 65 Dave Pear DT		Linebackers 59 Jim Cheyunski 55 Dan Dickel MLB 58 Derrel Luce OLB 52 Tom MacLeod OLB 51 Mike Varty 53 Stan White OLB Defensive backs 29 Marshall Johnson 40 Bruce Laird SS/KR 42 Lloyd Mumphord CB 31 Nelson Munsey CB 30 Doug Nettles CB 25 Ray Oldham SS 20 Jackie Wallace SS Special teams  2 Toni Linhart K 49 David Lee P		Reserve lists 32 Mike Curtis LB (IR) —- Kim Jones RB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Main article: 1975 NFL season

Schedule

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

AFC East
view talk edit	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

Source: ^[4]

Playoffs

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. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

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

• Sporting News Executive of the Year: Joe Thomas
• AP Coach of the Year, PFW Coach of the Year, Sporting News Coach of the Year, UPI AFC Coach of the Year: Ted Marchibroda

See also

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry

References

1. Wallace, William N. (December 15, 1975). "Colts in playoffs? Sure looks like it". Milwaukee Journal. (New York Times). p. 9, part 2.
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. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 296
5. "Steeler defense stops Baltimore". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 28, 1975. p. D1.
6. "Steeler defense too much". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. December 28, 1975. p. 1, sports.
7. Mulvoy, Mark (January 5, 1976). "A Steelclad case for the defense". Sports Illustrated. p. 13.