The 1975 NFL season was the 56th regular season of the National Football League. The league made two significant changes to increase the appeal of the game:
- The surviving clubs with the best regular season records were made the home teams for each playoff round. Previously, game sites rotated by division.
- The league pioneered the use of equipping American football referees with wireless microphones to announce penalties and clarify complex and/or unusual rulings to both fans and the media.
Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving Day game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys, the league scheduled a Buffalo Bills at St. Louis Cardinals contest. This would be the first season since 1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday.
The season ended with Super Bowl X when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys.
[edit] Major rule changes
- After a fourth down incomplete pass goes in or through the end zone, the other team will take possession at the previous line of scrimmage. Previously, it resulted in a touchback.
- The penalty for pass interference on the offensive team is reduced from 15 yards to 10.
- If there are fouls by both teams on the same play but one results in a player ejection, the penalties will still offset but the player will still be ejected.
[edit] Division races
Starting in 1970, and until 2002, 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 tiebraker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
| Week |
Eastern |
|
Central |
|
Western |
|
Wild Card |
|
| 1 |
4 teams |
1-0-0 |
(Det, Min) |
1-0-0 |
4 teams |
0-1-0 |
4 teams |
1-0-0 |
| 2 |
(Dal, Was) |
2-0-0 |
(Det, Min) |
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 |
(Was, Det) |
2-1-0 |
| 5 |
DALLAS |
4-1-0 |
MINNESOTA |
5-0-0 |
LOS ANGELES |
4-1-0 |
(StL, Det) |
2-1-0 |
| 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 |
Dal, Det, Was |
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 |
American Football Conference
| Week |
Eastern |
|
Central |
|
Western |
|
Wild Card |
|
| 1 |
(Bal, Buf) |
1-0-0 |
3 teams |
1-0-0 |
(Den, Oak) |
1-0-0 |
4 teams |
1-0-0 |
| 2 |
BUFFALO |
2-0-0 |
(Cin, Hou) |
2-0-0 |
(Den, Oak) |
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 |
[edit] Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
x - clinched wild card berth, y - clinched division title
[edit] Tiebreakers
- Baltimore finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- N.Y. Jets finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- Minnesota was the top NFC playoff seed.
- Chicago finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on better division record (2–4 to Packers' 1–5).
[edit] Playoffs
-
*Pittsburgh (the AFC 1 seed) did not play Cincinnati (the 4 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.
[edit] References