1975 Dallas Cowboys season

1975 Dallas Cowboys season
Head coach Tom Landry
General manager Tex Schramm
Owner Clint Murchison, Jr.
Home field Texas Stadium
Results
Record 10–4
Division place 2nd NFC East
Playoff finish

Won Wild Card (Vikings) 17-14

Won NFC Championship (Rams) 37-7

Lost Super Bowl X (Steelers) 21-17

The 1975 Dallas Cowboys season was the team's sixteenth season in the National Football League (NFL) and their sixteenth under head coach Tom Landry. They 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. They were also the first wild card team to reach the Super Bowl.

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 Dallas 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. The 1975 draft is considered to be one of the best in league history because 12 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

RoundPick #PlayerPositionCollege
12Randy WhiteDefensive TackleMaryland
118Thomas HendersonLinebackerLangston
244Burton LawlessGuardFlorida
370Bob BreunigLinebackerArizona State
490Pat DonovanTackleStanford
496Randy HughesDefensive BackOklahoma
5113Kyle DavisCenterOklahoma

[1]

Undrafted free agents

1975 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Percy Howard Wide Receiver Austin Peay State
Jim Zorn Quarterback Cal Poly Pomona

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 21, 1975 Los Angeles Rams W 18–7
49,091
2 September 28, 1975 St. Louis Cardinals W 37–31
52,417
3 October 6, 1975 at Detroit Lions W 36–10
79,384
4 October 12, 1975 at New York Giants W 13–7
56,511
5 October 19, 1975 Green Bay Packers L 19–17
64,189
6 October 26, 1975 at Philadelphia Eagles W 20–17
64,889
7 November 2, 1975 at Washington Redskins L 30–24
55,004
8 November 10, 1975 Kansas City Chiefs L 34–31
63,539
9 November 16, 1975 at New England Patriots W 34–31
60,905
10 November 23, 1975 Philadelphia Eagles W 27–17
57,893
11 November 30, 1975 New York Giants W 14–3
53,329
12 December 7, 1975 at St. Louis Cardinals L 31–17
49,701
13 December 13, 1975 Washington Redskins W 31–10
61,091
14 December 21, 1975 at New York Jets W 31–21
37,279

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Divisional December 28, 1975 at Minnesota Vikings W 17–14
46,425
Conference Championship January 4, 1976 at Los Angeles Rams W 37–7
84,483
Super Bowl January 18, 1976 N Pittsburgh Steelers L 21–17
80,187

Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
St. Louis Cardinals(3) 11 3 0 .786 6–2 9–2 356 276 W3
Dallas Cowboys(4) 10 4 0 .714 6–2 8–3 350 268 W2
Washington Redskins 8 6 0 .571 4–4 7–4 325 276 L2
New York Giants 5 9 0 .357 1–7 3–8 216 306 W2
Philadelphia Eagles 4 10 0 .286 3–5 4–7 225 302 W1

[2]

Game Summaries

Week 1

Week One: Los Angeles Rams (0-0) at Dallas Cowboys (0-0)
1 2 34Total
Rams 0 0 077
Cowboys 0 9 3618

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

  • Date: September 21
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C), wind 12 mph, relative humidity 54%
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

Week 2

Week Two: St. Louis Cardinals (1-0) at Dallas Cowboys (1-0)
1 2 34OTTotal
Cardinals 0 3 1414031
Cowboys 0 7 213637

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

  • Date: September 28
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), wind 13 mph, relative humidity 53%
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information
First quarter

Second quarter

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

NFC Divisional Playoff

Dallas Cowboys 17, Minnesota Vikings 14
1 2 34Total
Cowboys 0 0 71017
Vikings 0 7 0714

at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota

Game information
First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

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

Dallas Cowboys 37, Los Angeles Rams 7
1 2 34Total
Cowboys 7 14 13337
Rams 0 0 077

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Game information
First quarter

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

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

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1975 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Reserve Lists

Rookies in italics
43 Active, 2 Inactive

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 reached 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. 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 ISBN 0-312-11435-4
Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3
Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2

References

  1. ↑ "1975 NFL Draft". Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296
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