1975 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1975 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 6th season in the National Football League, and the 8th overall.

The final season for Paul Brown as head coach, Cincinnati opened the season 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 lost to the Oakland, 31–28, in the divisional round of the playoffs. Ken Anderson won his second NFL passing championship. A serious blow was the loss of defensive tackle Mike Reid, who, only 27, retired in the off-season 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. Despite the Bengals' great record, they were only 3–3 in division play, losing twice to the eventual champion Steelers, and losing on the road to what was an 0–9 Cleveland Browns team. Other than division play, the Bengals were 8–0 against teams outside of the AFC Central division.

Offseason

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

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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

Roster

1975 Cincinnati Bengals roster

	Quarterbacks 11 John Reaves 14 Ken Anderson Running backs 36 Lenvil Elliott 33 Stan Fritts 38 Champ Henson 19 Essex Johnson 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 89 Jack Novak 84 Bob Trumpy		Offensive linemen 72 Howard Fest G 54 Bob Johnson C 62 Dave Lapham G 71 Rufus Mayes T 64 John Shinners 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		Linebackers 50 Glenn Cameron 52 Brad Cousino 51 Chris Devlin 53 Bo Harris 55 Jim LeClair 58 Al Beauchamp 60 Ron Pritchard Defensive backs 29 Lyle Blackwood S 37 Tommy Casanova S 24 Marvin Cobb S 27 Ricky Davis SS 23 Bernard Jackson S 20 Lemar Parrish CB 13 Ken Riley CB Special teams 41 Dave Green P 16 Horst Muhlmann K		Reserve lists 82 Royce Berry DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 26 Charlie Davis RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 87 Pat McInally WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 21	Cleveland Browns	W 24–17	1–0	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
2	September 28	at New Orleans Saints	W 21–0	2–0	Louisiana Superdome	Recap
3	October 5	at Houston Oilers	W 21–19	3–0	Astrodome	Recap
4	October 12	New England Patriots	W 27–10	4–0	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
5	October 19	Oakland Raiders	W 14–10	5–0	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
6	October 26	at Atlanta Falcons	W 21–14	6–0	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	Recap
7	November 2	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 24–30	6–1	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
8	November 9	at Denver Broncos	W 17–16	7–1	Mile High Stadium	Recap
9	November 17	Buffalo Bills	W 33–24	8–1	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
10	November 23	at Cleveland Browns	L 23–35	8–2	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
11	November 30	Houston Oilers	W 23–19	9–2	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
12	December 7	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 31–0	10–2	Veterans Stadium	Recap
13	December 13	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–35	10–3	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
14	December 21	San Diego Chargers	W 47–17	11–3	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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 Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)

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

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Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total • Steelers 0 10 13 7 30 Bengals 3 0 0 21 24 Date: November 2 Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio Game attendance: 58,418

Scoring summary 1 CIN Dave Green 23-yard field goal Bengals 3–0 2 PIT Roy Gerela 42-yard field goal Tie 3–3 2 PIT Lynn Swann 37-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick) Steelers 10–3 3 PIT Rocky Bleier 3-yard run (Roy Gerela kick) Steelers 17–3 3 PIT Lynn Swann 25-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (kick failed) Steelers 23–3 4 CIN Charlie Joiner 34-yard pass from Ken Anderson (Dave Green kick) Steelers 23–10 4 CIN Essex Johnson 3-yard pass from Ken Anderson (Dave Green kick) Steelers 23–17 4 PIT Terry Bradshaw 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick) Steelers 30–17 4 CIN Chip Myers 22-yard pass from Ken Anderson (Dave Green kick) Steelers 30–24

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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 Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C) • Wind 14 mph (23 km/h)

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

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Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	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)

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
Divisional	December 28	at Oakland Raiders	L 28–31	0–1	Oakland Coliseum	Recap

Awards and records

• Ken Anderson, Led NFL, Passer Rating, 93.9 Rating ^[5]

References

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