1975 Buffalo Bills season

The 1975 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 6th season in the National Football League, and the 16th overall.

1975 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Lou Saban
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Season summary

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]

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

NFL Draft

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.

Round	Pick #	Player	Position	College
1	19	Tom Ruud	Linebacker	Nebraska
2	42	Bob Nelson	Linebacker	Nebraska
2	50	Glenn Loft	Defensive back	Drake University
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	North Carolina State
11	279	Tom Drake	Defensive back	Michigan
12	305	Mark Johnson	Defensive end	Missouri
13	331	Mark Dienhart	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

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1975 Buffalo Bills staff
Front Office Majority Owner/Team President – Ralph Wilson Vice President & General Manager – Bob Lustig Vice President/Minority Owner – Pat McGroder Coaching Staff Head Coach – Lou Saban Offensive Coaches Receivers – Bob Shaw Offensive Line – Jim Ringo Defensive/Special Teams Coaches Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – John Ray Defensive Backfield – Bill Atkins Special Teams – Ed Cavanaugh

Final roster

1975 Buffalo Bills roster

	Quarterbacks 12 Joe Ferguson 17 Gary Marangi Running backs 34 Jim Braxton FB 21 Gary Hayman 23 Steven Schnarr 32 O. J. Simpson Wide receivers 81 Bob Chandler 47 Clint Haslerig 40 J. D. Hill 80 John Holland Tight ends 88 Reuben Gant 87 Paul Seymour		Offensive linemen 60 Bill Adams G 68 Joe DeLamielleure G 76 Halvor Hagen T 70 Dave Foley T 74 Donnie Green T 67 Reggie McKenzie G 53 Mike Montler C 61 Willie Parker C 75 Jeff Winans G Defensive linemen 72 Don Croft DT 74 Earl Edwards DE 50 Mark Johnson DE 71 Mike Kadish DT 85 Walt Patulski DE 65 Pat Toomay DE 62 Jeff Yeates DT		Linebackers 59 Doug Allen 30 Bo Cornell 52 Merv Krakau 57 John McCrumbly 54 Tom Ruud 55 John Skorupan Defensive backs 45 Charlie Ford CB 22 Steve Freeman FS 43 Tony Greene FS 28 Dwight Harrison CB 26 Ed Jones SS 41 Royce McKinney SS 42 Frank Oliver CB 37 Ike Thomas CB Special teams  7 Marv Bateman P  3 John Leypoldt K		Reserve lists 27 Ahmad Rashad WR (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 21, 1975	New York Jets	W 42–14	77,837
2	September 28, 1975	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–21	49,348
3	October 5, 1975	Denver Broncos	W 38–14	79,864
4	October 12, 1975	at Baltimore Colts	W 38–31	43,907
5	October 20, 1975	New York Giants	L 17–14	79,428
6	October 26, 1975	Miami Dolphins	L 35–30	79,141
7	November 2, 1975	at New York Jets	W 24–23	58,343
8	November 9, 1975	Baltimore Colts	L 42–35	77,320
9	November 17, 1975	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 33–24	56,666
10	November 23, 1975	New England Patriots	W 45–31	65,655
11	November 27, 1975	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 32–14	41,899
12	December 7, 1975	at Miami Dolphins	L 31–21	78,701
13	December 14, 1975	at New England Patriots	W 34–14	58,393
14	December 20, 1975	Minnesota Vikings	L 35–13	54,993

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jets	7	7	0	0	14
Bills	14	7	14	7	42

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

• Date: September 21
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 56°F, wind 13 mph
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter Bills – O.J. Simpson 2 yard run (John Leypoldt kick) – Bills 7–0 Bills – Jim Braxton 3 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) – Bills 14–0 Jets – Rich Caster 28 yard pass from Joe Namath (Pat Leahy kick) – Bills 14–7 Second quarter Bills – O.J. Simpson 5 yard run (John Leypoldt kick) – Bills 21–7 Jets – Eddie Bell 12 yard pass from Joe Namath (Pat Leahy kick) – Bills 21–14 Third quarter Bills – Paul Seymour 2 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) – Bills 28–14 Bills – Joe Ferguson 1 yard run (John Leypoldt kick) – Bills 35–14 Fourth quarter Bills – Pat Toomay 44 yard interception return (John Leypoldt kick) – Bills 42–14 Jets Joe Namath 14/36, 173 Yds, 2 TD, 4 INT John Riggins 10 Rush, 61 Yds Rich Caster 6 Rec, 103 Yds, TD Bills Joe Ferguson 7/13, 67 Yds, 2 TD O.J. Simpson 32 Rush, 173 Yds, 3 TD Bob Chandler 3 Rec, 34 Yds

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 0 7 7 0 14 • Bills 10 14 14 0 38 Date: October 5 Location: Rich Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 58°F, wind 11 mph

Scoring summary 1 BUF John Leypoldt 39 yard field goal Bills 3–0 1 BUF Jim Braxton 3 yard run (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 10–0 2 BUF Jim Braxton 19 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 17–0 2 DEN Floyd Little 35 yard pass from Charley Johnson (Jim Turner kick) Bills 17–7 2 BUF J.D. Hill 16 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 24–7 3 BUF O.J. Simpson 16 yard run (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 31–7 3 BUF Jim Braxton 4 yard run (John Leypoldt kick) Bills 38–7 3 DEN Rick Upchurch 80 yard pass from John Hufnagel (Jim Turner kick) Bills 38–14

[7]

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total • Giants 0 7 0 10 17 Bills 7 7 0 0 14 Date: Oct 20, 1975 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C) • 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn) TV announcers (ABC Monday Night Football): Frank Gifford , Howard Cosell , and Alex Karras

Standings

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

All-Pros

Main article: 1975 All-Pro Team

First Team

• Joe DeLamielleure, Guard
• O.J. Simpson, Running back

Second Team

• Reggie McKenzie, Guard

See also

• Electric Company

References

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

• Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Bills on jt-sw.com
• Bills Stats on jt-sw.com