1975 Buffalo Bills season

The 1975 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's sixth season in the NFL, and its 16th overall. The Bills failed to improve on their 9–5 record from last year and finished 8–6. They enjoyed their third consecutive winning season, but they still failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1973.

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] The Bills were the only team in NFL history to average at least 30 points per game and miss the playoffs, until being joined by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2004.

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

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.

1975 Buffalo Bills Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	19	Tom Ruud	LB	Nebraska
2	42	Bob Nelson	LB	Nebraska
	50	Glenn Loft	DB	Drake University
4	102	Tom Donchez	RB	Penn State
5	115	John McCrumbly	LB	Texas A&M
7	166	Gil Chapman	RB	Michigan
	174	Reggie Cherry	RB	Houston
	175	Harry Banks	DB	Michigan
8	201	John Hill	DT	Duke
10	253	Roland Hooks	RB	North Carolina State
11	279	Tom Drake	DB	Michigan
12	305	Mark Johnson	DE	Missouri
13	331	Mark Dienhart	OT	St. Thomas (MN)
14	357	Robert Evans	WR	Morris Brown
15	383	Chris Kupec	QB	North Carolina
16	408	Tom Fine	TE	Notre Dame
17	435	Jeff Turcotte	DE	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 20 Robert James CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 27 Ahmad Rashad WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 21	New York Jets	W 42–14	1–0	Rich Stadium	77,837
2	September 28	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–21	2–0	Three Rivers Stadium	49,348
3	October 5	Denver Broncos	W 38–14	3–0	Rich Stadium	79,864
4	October 12	at Baltimore Colts	W 38–31	4–0	Memorial Stadium	43,907
5	October 20	New York Giants	L 14–17	4–1	Rich Stadium	79,428
6	October 26	Miami Dolphins	L 30–35	4–2	Rich Stadium	79,141
7	November 2	at New York Jets	W 24–23	5–2	Shea Stadium	58,343
8	November 9	Baltimore Colts	L 35–42	5–3	Rich Stadium	77,320
9	November 17	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–33	5–4	Riverfront Stadium	56,666
10	November 23	New England Patriots	W 45–31	6–4	Rich Stadium	65,655
11	November 27	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 32–14	7–4	Busch Memorial Stadium	41,899
12	December 7	at Miami Dolphins	L 21–31	7–5	Miami Orange Bowl	78,701
13	December 14	at New England Patriots	W 34–14	8–5	Schaefer Stadium	58,393
14	December 20	Minnesota Vikings	L 13–35	8–6	Rich Stadium	54,993

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 vs Jets

Week 2 at Steelers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (1-0)	0	10	13	7	30
Steelers (1-0)	0	0	7	14	21

Week 3 vs Broncos

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 (14 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)

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 4 at Colts

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (3-0)	10	14	7	7	38
Colts (1-2)	14	7	7	3	31

Week 5 vs Giants

1 2 3 4 Total • Giants 0 7 0 10 17 Bills 7 7 0 0 14 Date: October 20 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

Week 6 vs Dolphins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins (4-1)	0	14	7	14	35
Bills (4-1)	13	10	0	7	30

Week 7 at Jets

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (4-2)	7	0	10	7	24
Jets (2-4)	3	13	7	0	23

Week 8 vs Colts

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts (3-4)	0	21	0	21	42
Bills (5–2)	7	21	0	7	35

Week 9 at Bengals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (5-3)	3	7	7	7	24
Bengals (7-1)	6	14	3	10	33

MNF

Week 10 vs Patriots

	1	2	3	4	Total
Patriots (3-6)	7	14	7	3	31
Bills (5-4)	14	10	7	14	45

Week 11 at Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (6-4)	6	7	6	13	32
Cardinals (8-2)	7	0	0	7	14

Thursday game

Week 12 at Dolphins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (7-4)	0	0	14	7	21
Dolphins (8-3)	7	14	3	7	31

Week 13 at Patriots

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (7-5)	6	7	14	7	34
Patriots (3-9)	0	7	0	7	14

Week 14 vs Vikings

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings (11-2)	14	7	14	0	35
Bills (8-5)	0	7	6	0	13

Saturday game

• Snow

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

Awards and honors

All-Pros

First Team

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

Second Team

• Reggie McKenzie, Guard

See also

• Electric Company

References

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