1975 Cincinnati Bengals season

1975 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	11–3–0
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card

The 1975 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's eighth year in professional football and its sixth with the National Football League.

The Bengals opened with six straight wins and went on to post an 11–3 record, their best regular-season mark. The Bengals qualified as the AFC wild card team for the playoffs, but they lost to Oakland, 31–28, in the playoffs. Ken Anderson won his second NFL passing championship. A serious blow was the loss of defensive tackle Mike Reid, who retired at age 26 to pursue a career in music.

The team qualified for the postseason for the third time in just eight years of existence, but 1975 would be the last time that the Bengals would do so until 1981.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1975 NFL Draft

1975 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Glenn Cameron	Linebacker	Florida
2	39	Al Krevis	Offensive tackle	Boston College
3	55	Gary Burley	Defensive end	Pittsburgh
3	64	Gary Sheide	Quarterback	BYU
3	77	Bo Harris	Linebacker	LSU
4	97	Stan Fritts	Running back	North Carolina State
5	120	Pat McInally *	Wide receiver	Harvard
5	122	Jeff West	Punter	Cincinnati
6	142	Tom Shuman	Quarterback	Penn State
6	145	Rollen Smith	Defensive back	Arkansas
7	170	Chris Devlin	Linebacker	Penn State
8	195	Ricky Davis	Defensive back	Alabama
9	220	Greg Dubinetz	Guard	Yale
9	227	Lofell Williams	Wide receiver	Virginia Union
10	245	Rockey Felker	Defensive back	Mississippi State
11	276	Marvin Cobb	Defensive back	USC
12	301	Jack Novak	Tight end	Wisconsin
13	326	Ron Rosenberg	Linebacker	Montana
14	351	Frank Haywood	Defensive tackle	North Carolina State
15	376	Greg Enright	Placekicker	Southern Oregon
16	401	John Tuttle	Wide receiver	Kansas State
17	432	Elvin Charity	Defensive back	Yale
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1975 Cincinnati Bengals staff
	Front office President – John Sawyer Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach/General Manager – Paul Brown Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Bill Walsh Offensive Backfield – Jack Donaldson Offensive Line – Bill Johnson			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backfield – Chuck Weber Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Linebackers – Howard Brinker Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Regular season

Schedule

1975 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule
Week	Date	Opponent	W-L	Score	Attendance	Stadium
1	September 21	Cleveland Browns	W	24–17	52,874	Riverfront Stadium
2	September 28	at New Orleans Saints	W	21–0	52,531	Louisiana Superdome
3	October 5	at Houston Oilers	W	21–19	45,321	Astrodome
4	October 12	New England Patriots	W	27–10	51,220	Riverfront Stadium
5	October 19	Oakland Raiders	W	14–10	48,122	Riverfront Stadium
6	October 26	at Atlanta Falcons	W	21–14	45,811	Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
7	November 2	Pittsburgh Steelers	L	24–30	58,418	Riverfront Stadium
8	November 9	at Denver Broncos	W	17–16	49,919	Mile High Stadium
9	November 17	Buffalo Bills	W	33–24	56,666	Riverfront Stadium
10	November 23	at Cleveland Browns	L	23–35	56,427	Cleveland Stadium
11	November 30	Houston Oilers	W	23–19	46,128	Riverfront Stadium
12	December 7	at Philadelphia Eagles	W	31–0	56,984	Veterans Stadium
13	December 13	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L	14–35	48,889	Three Rivers Stadium
14	December 21	San Diego Chargers	W	47–17	46,474	Riverfront Stadium

Season summary

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 0 3 14 0 17 • Bengals 14 3 7 0 24 Date: September 21 Location: Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 57°F, wind 11 mph

Scoring summary 1 CIN Isaac Curtis 27-yard pass from Ken Anderson (Dave Green kick) Bengals 7–0 1 CIN Boobie Clark 14-yard run (Dave Green kick) Bengals 14–0 2 CLE Don Cockroft 18-yard field goal Bengals 14–3 2 CIN Dave Green 44-yard field goal Bengals 17–3 3 CIN Lenvil Elliott 3-yard run (Dave Green kick) Bengals 24–3 3 CLE Greg Pruitt 8-yard run (Don Cockroft kick) Bengals 24–10 3 CLE Charlie Hall recovered fumble in end zone (Don Cockroft kick) Bengals 24–17

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total • Bengals 7 17 0 7 31 Eagles 0 0 0 0 0 Date: December 7 Location: Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 40°F • Wind 14

Scoring summary 1 CIN Ed Williams 1-yard run (Dave Green kick) Bengals 7–0 2 CIN Stan Fritts 3-yard run (Dave Green kick) Bengals 14–0 2 CIN Ed Williams 10-yard pass from Ken Anderson (Dave Green kick) Bengals 21–0 2 CIN Dave Green 48-yard field goal Bengals 24–0 4 CIN John Reaves 3-yard run (Dave Green kick) Bengals 31–0

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(1)	12	2	0	.857	6–0	10–1	373	162	L1
Cincinnati Bengals(4)	11	3	0	.786	3–3	8–3	340	246	W1
Houston Oilers	10	4	0	.714	2–4	7–4	293	226	W3
Cleveland Browns	3	11	0	.214	1–5	2–8	218	372	L1

Team stats

1975 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS	Bengals	Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
TOTAL NET YARDS
Avg Per Game
Total Plays
Avg. Per Play
NET YARDS RUSHING
Avg. Per Game
Total Rushes
NET YARDS PASSING
Avg. Per Game
Sacked Yards Lost
Gross Yards
Att. Completions
Completion Pct.
Intercepted
PUNTS-AVERAGE
PENALTIES-YARDS
FUMBLES-BALL LOST
TOUCHDOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Returns

Score by Periods	1	2	3	4	Tot
Bengals
Opponents

Team leaders

• Passing: Ken Anderson (377 Att, 228 Comp, 3169 Yds, 60.5 Pct, 21 TD, 11 Int, 93.9 Rating)
• Rushing: Boobie Clark (167 Att, 594 Yds, 3.6 Avg, 17 Long, 4 TD)
• Receiving: Isaac Curtis (44 Rec, 934 Yds, 21.2 Avg, 55 Long, 7 TD)
• Scoring: Dave Green, 70 points (10 FG; 40 PAT)

Roster

Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks 11 John Reaves 14 Ken Anderson Running Backs 19 Essex Johnson 26 Charlie Davis 33 Stan Fritts 36 Lenvil Elliott 38 Champ Henson 42 Boobie Clark 43 Ed Williams Wide Receivers 18 Charlie Joiner 25 Chip Myers 85 Isaac Curtis 86 John McDaniel Tight Ends 88 Bruce Coslet 84 Bob Trumpy 89 Jack Novak		Offensive Linemen 54 Bob Johnson C 62 Dave Lapham G 64 John Shinners G 71 Rufus Mayes T 72 Howard Fest G 75 Al Krevis T 76 Vernon Holland T Defensive Linemen 65 Maulty Moore DT 67 Gary Burley DE 68 Bill Kollar DT 70 Ron Carpenter DT 74 Mike Reid DT 78 Bob Brown DT 80 Ken Johnson DE 83 Sherman White DE 82 Royce Berry DE		Linebackers 50 Glenn Cameron 51 Chris Devlin 52 Brad Cousino 53 Bo Harris 55 Jim LeClair 58 Al Beauchamp 60 Ron Pritchard Defensive Backs 13 Ken Riley CB 20 Lamar Parrish CB 23 Bernard Jackson S 24 Marvin Cobb S 27 Ricky Davis S 29 Lyle Blackwood S 37 Tommy Casanova S Special Teams 41 Dave Green P 16 Horst Muhlmann K

Playoffs

1975 AFC Division Playoffs
Date	Opponent	W-L	Score	Attendance	Stadium
December 28	at Oakland Raiders	L	28–31	53,030	Oakland Coliseum

Awards and records

• Ken Anderson, Led NFL, Passer Rating, 93.9 Rating

References

• Bengals on Pro Football Reference
• Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com
• Bengals History on Official Site