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1975 Dallas Cowboys season

NFL team season

NFL team season

FieldValue
teamDallas Cowboys
year1975
record10–4
division_place2nd NFC East
coachTom Landry
general managerTex Schramm
ownerClint Murchison, Jr.
stadiumTexas Stadium
playoffs**Won [Divisional Playoffs](1975-76-nfl-playoffs)**
(at [Vikings](1975-minnesota-vikings-season)) 17–14
**Won [NFC Championship](1975-76-nfl-playoffs)**
(at [Rams](1975-los-angeles-rams-season)) 37–7
Lost Super Bowl X
(vs. [Steelers](1975-pittsburgh-steelers-season)) 17–21
shortnavlinkCowboys seasons

(at Vikings) 17–14 Won NFC Championship (at Rams) 37–7 Lost Super Bowl X (vs. Steelers) 17–21 The 1975 Dallas Cowboys season was the team's sixteenth season in the National Football League (NFL), all under head coach Tom Landry. The Cowboys finished second in the National Football Conference (NFC) East division with a 10–4 regular season record and advanced through the playoffs to Super Bowl X, where they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers 21–17. They were also the first wild card team to reach the Super Bowl.

For the first time in a decade, the Cowboys did not play on Thanksgiving, replaced by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Offseason

The Cowboys were coming off a disappointing 1974 season, after finishing with a record of 8–6, effectively ending an eight-year run of making the playoffs. Accompanied with the retirement or loss of key players like Bob Lilly, Bob Hayes, Cornell Green, Walt Garrison, Dave Manders, John Niland, and Calvin Hill, there was speculation in the media that the franchise was in decline.

For all of the accolades that the Cowboys' scouting department had received throughout the years, the team had never kept more than nine draft choices and the average number was keeping six. Their 1975 NFL draft is considered to be one of the best in league history because twelve picks made the roster, hence the nickname "The Dirty Dozen". This rookie class, didn't even include linebacker Mike Hegman, who was drafted that year but did not enter the NFL until 1976. Neither was included rookie undrafted free agent quarterback Jim Zorn who made the team, but was later cut to make room for running back Preston Pearson, who had been waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL draft

Main article: 1975 NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

PlayerPositionCollege
Percy HowardWide ReceiverAustin Peay State
Jim ZornQuarterbackCal Poly Pomona

Regular season

Schedule

Dallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"WeekDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"DateDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"OpponentDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"ResultDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"RecordDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"Game SiteDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"AttendanceDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"Recap1234567891011121314
September 21[Los Angeles Rams](1975-los-angeles-rams-season)**W** 18–71–0Texas Stadium49,091[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197509210dal.htm)
September 28**[St. Louis Cardinals](1975-st-louis-cardinals-nfl-season)****W** 37–31 (OT)2–0Texas Stadium52,417[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197509280dal.htm)
at [Detroit Lions](1975-detroit-lions-season)**W** 36–103–0Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium79,384[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197510060det.htm)
October 12at **[New York Giants](1975-new-york-giants-season)****W** 13–74–0Shea Stadium56,511[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197510120nyg.htm)
October 19[Green Bay Packers](1975-green-bay-packers-season)**L** 17–194–1Texas Stadium64,189[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197510190dal.htm)
October 26at **[Philadelphia Eagles](1975-philadelphia-eagles-season)****W** 20–175–1Veterans Stadium64,889[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197510260phi.htm)
November 2at **[Washington Redskins](1975-washington-redskins-season)****L** 24–30 (OT)5–2RFK Stadium55,004[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197511020was.htm)
[Kansas City Chiefs](1975-kansas-city-chiefs-season)**L** 31–345–3Texas Stadium63,539[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197511100dal.htm)
November 16at [New England Patriots](1975-new-england-patriots-season)**W** 34–316–3Schaefer Stadium60,905[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197511160nwe.htm)
November 23**Philadelphia Eagles****W** 27–177–3Texas Stadium57,893[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197511230dal.htm)
November 30**New York Giants****W** 14–38–3Texas Stadium53,329[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197511300dal.htm)
December 7at **St. Louis Cardinals****L** 17–318–4Busch Memorial Stadium49,701[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197512070crd.htm)
**Washington Redskins****W** 31–109–4Texas Stadium61,091[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197512130dal.htm)
December 21at [New York Jets](1975-new-york-jets-season)**W** 31–2110–4Shea Stadium37,279[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197512210nyj.htm)

:Division opponents are in bold text

Playoffs

Main article: 1975–76 NFL playoffs

Dallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"RoundDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"DateDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"OpponentDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"ResultDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"Game SiteDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"AttendanceDallas Cowboysyear=1975border=2}}"Recap[Divisional](1975-76-nfl-playoffs-nfc-dallas-cowboys-17-minnesota-vikings-14)[NFC Championship](1975-76-nfl-playoffs-nfc-championship-dallas-cowboys-37-los-angeles-rams-7)Super Bowl
December 28, 1975at [Minnesota Vikings](1975-minnesota-vikings-season)**W** 17–14Metropolitan Stadium46,425[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197512280min.htm)
January 4, 1976at [Los Angeles Rams](1975-los-angeles-rams-season)**W** 37–7Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum84,483[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197601040ram.htm)
January 18, 1976vs [Pittsburgh Steelers](1975-pittsburgh-steelers-season)**L** 17–21Orange Bowl80,187[Recap](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197601180dal.htm)

Standings

Game summaries

Week 1

First quarter Second quarter

  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 25-yard field goal - Cowboys 3-0
  • DAL - Doug Dennison 1-yard run (kick no good) - Cowboys 9-0 Third quarter
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 39-yard field goal - Cowboys 12-0 Fourth quarter
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 19-yard field goal - Cowboys 15-0
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 31-yard field goal - Cowboys 18-0
  • LA - Ron Jaworski 4-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick) - Cowboys 18-7 Cowboys
  • Roger Staubach - 10/23, 106 Yards, 7 Rush, 56 Yds
  • Robert Newhouse - 0/1, 0 Yards, 22 Rush, 88 Yds, 3 Rec, 19 Yds
  • Doug Dennison - 17 Rush, 37 Yds, TD
  • Mitch Hoopes - 1 Rush, 13 Yds
  • Golden Richards - 1 Rush, 3 Yds
  • Scott Laidlaw - 1 Rush, 0 Yds, 2 Rec, 31 Yds
  • Drew Pearson - 2 Rec, 27 Yds
  • Jean Fugett - 2 Rec, 25 Yds
  • Billy Joe Dupree - 1 Rec, 4 Yds
  • Mel Renfro - 2 INT
  • Lee Roy Jordan - 1 INT

Week 2

First quarter Second quarter

  • STL - Jim Bakken 28-yard field goal - Cardinals 3-0
  • DAL - Jean Fugett 1-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 7-3 Third quarter
  • DAL - Drew Pearson 12-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 14-3
  • STL - Mel Gray 23-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) - Cowboys 14-10
  • DAL - Charley Young 1-yard run (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 21-10
  • STL - Earl Thomas 80-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) - Cowboys 21-17
  • DAL - Thomas Henderson 97-yard kickoff return (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 28-17 Fourth quarter
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 40-yard field goal - Cowboys 31-17
  • STL - Jackie Smith 35-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) - Cowboys 31-24
  • STL - Mel Gray 37-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) - Tie 31-31 Overtime
  • DAL - Billy Joe DuPree 3-yard pass from Roger Staubach - Cowboys 37-31

NFC Divisional Playoff

First quarter Second quarter

  • MIN - Chuck Foreman 1-yard run (Fred Cox kick) - Vikings 7-0 Third quarter
  • DAL - Doug Dennison 4-yard run (Toni Fritsch kick) - Tie 7-7 Fourth quarter
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 24-yard field goal - Cowboys 10-7
  • MIN - Brent McClanahan 1-yard run (Fred Cox kick) - Vikings 14-10
  • DAL - Drew Pearson 50-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 17-14 The "Hail Mary" Game

NFC Championship Game

First quarter

  • DAL - Preston Pearson 18-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 7-0 Second quarter
  • DAL - Golden Richards 4-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 14-0
  • DAL - Preston Pearson 15-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 21-0 Third quarter
  • DAL - Preston Pearson 19-yard pass from Roger Staubach (Toni Fritsch kick) - Cowboys 28-0
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 40-yard field goal - Cowboys 31-0
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 26-yard field goal - Cowboys 34-0 Fourth quarter
  • LA - John Cappelletti 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick) - Cowboys 34-7
  • DAL - Toni Fritsch 26-yard field goal - Cowboys 37-7 Quarterback Roger Staubach threw for 220 yards and 4 touchdown passes while also rushing for 54 yards as the Cowboys upset the favored Rams.

Super Bowl X

Scoring summary

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1975 roster
**Quarterbacks**

Season recap

The infusion of new talent not only provided an immediate rebuilding process, but also changed the course of the team in a significant way. This group helped the team reach Super Bowl X that season, and would play a key role in the Cowboys being given the name "America's Team".

The NFL didn't start recognizing quarterback sacks as an official stat until 1982; however, the Cowboys have their own records and according to their stats, Roger Staubach got sacked a league high 45 times the previous season and 43 the year before that, to revert this trend Tom Landry revived the Shotgun formation which he called "the spread", providing the NFL with another long lasting innovation.

The Cowboys experienced an unexpected success, winning the first 4 games on the way to a 10–4 regular season record. However, home losses to the 4–10 Green Bay Packers and 5–9 Kansas City Chiefs cost the Cowboys the NFC East championship. Had Dallas defeated both Green Bay and Kansas City, it would have held home-field advantage in the playoffs thanks to an 18–7 victory over the Rams in the season opener. On the other hand, the Cowboys made home field advantage moot with their playoff wins at Minnesota and Los Angeles.

The new look offense averaged 25 points per game and a revitalized defense that became known as "Doomsday II" gave up only 19 points per game.

They made the playoffs as a wild-card team and beat the Minnesota Vikings 17-14 during the first round, in the now famous “Hail Mary” game. They then defeated the heavily favored Los Angeles Rams 37–7 on the road, winning the NFC Championship Game and becoming the first non-division winner to advance to the Super Bowl in league history. The storybook season ended in Super Bowl X after losing 21–17 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Publications

The Football Encyclopedia

Total Football

Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes

References

References

  1. "1975 NFL Draft".
  2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, {{ISBN. 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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