1975 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1975 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 56th year with the National Football League and the 16th season in St. Louis. The club scored 356 points while the defense gave up 276 points.[1] The club appeared in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, by winning the NFC East with a record of eleven wins and three losses. They never returned the playoffs during a full NFL season until 1998, by which time they moved from St. Louis to Arizona.

1975 St. Louis Cardinals season
Head coach	Don Coryell
Owner	Bill Bidwill
Home field	Busch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	1st NFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional playoffs (at Rams) 35–23
Pro Bowlers	C Tom Banks G Conrad Dobler T Dan Dierdorf QB Jim Hart RB Terry Metcalf RB Jim Otis RB Mel Gray CB Roger Wehrli K Jim Bakken

The team was nicknamed the “Cardiac Cards”, because eight of their games were decided in the final minute of play; the Cardinals went 7–1 in these games.[2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1975 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Roster

St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks 17 Jim Hart 12 Gary Keithley 11 Dennis Shaw Running Backs 30 Gary Hammond 34 Steve Jones 32 Jerry Latin 21 Terry Metcalf 35 Jim Otis FB Wide Receivers 85 Mel Gray 84 Ike Harris 82 Earl Thomas Tight Ends 88 J. V. Cain 81 Jackie Smith		Offensive Linemen 61 Hank Allison G 54 Tom Banks C 51 Tom Brahaney C 72 Dan Dierdorf T 66 Conrad Dobler G 60 Roger Finnie T 64 Bob Young G Defensive Linemen 79 Bob Bell DE 70 Leo Brooks DT 76 Charlie Davis DT 75 Bob Rowe DT 74 Council Rudolph DE 78 Ron Yankowski DE		Linebackers 57 Mark Arneson 59 Pete Barnes 50 Greg Hartle 53 Steve Neils 55 Ray White Defensive Backs 26 Dwayne Crump CB 41 Clarence Duren FS 33 Tim Gray SS 36 Ken Reaves SS 43 Norm Thompson CB 45 Jim Tolbert SS 22 Roger Wehrli CB Special Teams 25 Jim Bakken K 80 Jeff West P		Reserve Lists Practice Squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 21, 1975	Atlanta Falcons	W 23–20	42,172
2	September 28, 1975	at Dallas Cowboys	L 37–31 (OT)	52,417
3	October 5, 1975	New York Giants	W 26–14	44,919
4	October 13, 1975	at Washington Redskins	L 27–17	54,693
5	October 19, 1975	Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–20	45,242
6	October 25, 1975	at New York Giants	W 20–13	49,598
7	November 2, 1975	New England Patriots	W 24–17	45,907
8	November 9, 1975	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–23	60,277
9	November 16, 1975	Washington Redskins	W 20–17 (OT)	49,919
10	November 23, 1975	at New York Jets	W 37–6	53,169
11	November 27, 1975	Buffalo Bills	L 32–14	41,899
12	December 7, 1975	Dallas Cowboys	W 31–17	49,701
13	December 14, 1975	at Chicago Bears	W 34–20	35,052
14	December 21, 1975	at Detroit Lions	W 24–13	64,656

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
St. Louis Cardinals^(3)	11	3	0	.786	6–2	9–2	356	276	W3
Dallas Cowboys^(4)	10	4	0	.714	6–2	8–3	350	268	W2
Washington Redskins	8	6	0	.571	4–4	7–4	325	276	L2
New York Giants	5	9	0	.357	1–7	3–8	216	306	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	4	10	0	.286	3–5	4–7	225	302	W1

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Atlanta Falcons

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	7	6	7	0	20
Cardinals	7	6	0	10	23

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

• Date: Sunday, September 21
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 54 °F (12.2 °C), wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter STL – Terry Metcalf 39-yard run (Jim Bakken kick) – Cardinals 7–0 ATL – Steve Bartkowski 1-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) – Tied 7–7 Second quarter STL – Jim Bakken 22-yard field goal – Cardinals 10–7 ATL – Dave Hampton 6-yard run (kick failed) – Falcons 13–10 STL – Jim Bakken 39-yard field goal – Tied 13–13 Third quarter ATL – Dave Hampton 1-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) – Falcons 20–13 Fourth quarter STL – Earl Thomas 8-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) – Tied 20–20 STL – Jim Bakken 25-yard field goal – Cardinals 23–20 Falcons Steve Bartkowski 8/16, 81 Yds, INT Dave Hampton 23 Rush, 135 Yds, 2 TD Woody Thompson 3 Rec, 29 Yds Cardinals Jim Hart 12/23, 150 Yds, TD, 2 INT Terry Metcalf 20 Rush, 99 Yds, TD Mel Gray 3 Rec, 65 Yds

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	9	7	7	23
Rams	14	14	0	7	35

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

• Game attendance: 72,650
• TV: CBS

Awards and records

• Terry Metcalf, NFL Leader, 2,462 Combined Net Yards [3]

Milestones

• Terry Metcalf, Second Consecutive 2000 Combined Net Yards Season (816 Rush Yards, 378 Pass Receiving Yards, 285 Punt Return Yards, 960 Kick Return Yards, 23 fumble return yards) [3]

References

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 298
2. "Hulu.com: 1975 St. Louis Cardinals NFL team highlights". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
3. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 443

Sources

• Cardinals on Pro Football Reference
• Cardinals on jt-sw.com