1975 Buffalo Bills season

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

The 1975 Buffalo Bills season was the 16th season for the club, and their 6th in the National Football League.

The Bills led the league in points scored, with 420 (30.0 per game). This amount is the most point 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

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

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]

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

References

Buffalo Bills

Founded in 1960 Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York

Franchise	Franchise History Players Seasons List of Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl selections First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches Logos and uniforms NFL in Toronto Bills series

Stadiums	War Memorial Stadium New Era Field Rogers Centre (Bills Toronto Series) New Era Field II (proposed)

Culture	Buffalo sports curse Ralph Wilson Billy Buffalo Buffalo Jills Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson Second String "Shout" (The Isley Brothers song) Four Falls of Buffalo

Lore	AAFC Buffalo Bills Electric Company The Comeback Wide Right Music City Miracle

Rivalries	Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets

Division championships (10)	1964 1965 1966 1980 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995

Conference championships (4)	1990 1991 1992 1993

League championships (2)	1964 1965

Wall of Fame	Simpson Kemp McGroder Sestak Shaw Wilson 12th Man Dubenion Stratton Ferguson Levy DeLamielleure James Abramoski Kalsu Saimes Kelly Smerlas Hull Talley Ritcher Thomas Reed Tasker Smith Edgerson Hansen Polian Miller Saban

Media	Radio Radio network WGR 550 Television MSG Western New York Personalities: John Murphy Van Miller Mark Kelso Steve Tasker

Owners	Wilson Pegula family Terry Kim

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: East Division

Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)

Seasons (56)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Buffalo Bills seasons

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1975 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets			Washington

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