From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1975 Dallas Cowboys season
NFL team season
NFL team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| team | Dallas Cowboys |
| year | 1975 |
| record | 10–4 |
| division_place | 2nd NFC East |
| coach | Tom Landry |
| general manager | Tex Schramm |
| owner | Clint Murchison, Jr. |
| stadium | Texas Stadium |
| playoffs | Won Divisional Playoffs |
| (at Vikings) 17–14 | |
| Won NFC Championship | |
| (at Rams) 37–7 | |
| Lost Super Bowl X | |
| (vs. Steelers) 17–21 | |
| shortnavlink | Cowboys 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
| Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|
| Percy Howard | Wide Receiver | Austin Peay State |
| Jim Zorn | Quarterback | Cal Poly Pomona |
Regular season
Schedule
| Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Week | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Date | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Opponent | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Result | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Record | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Game Site | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Attendance | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Recap | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 21 | Los Angeles Rams | W 18–7 | 1–0 | Texas Stadium | 49,091 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 28 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 37–31 (OT) | 2–0 | Texas Stadium | 52,417 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| at Detroit Lions | W 36–10 | 3–0 | Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium | 79,384 | Recap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 12 | at New York Giants | W 13–7 | 4–0 | Shea Stadium | 56,511 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 19 | Green Bay Packers | L 17–19 | 4–1 | Texas Stadium | 64,189 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 26 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 20–17 | 5–1 | Veterans Stadium | 64,889 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 2 | at Washington Redskins | L 24–30 (OT) | 5–2 | RFK Stadium | 55,004 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City Chiefs | L 31–34 | 5–3 | Texas Stadium | 63,539 | Recap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 16 | at New England Patriots | W 34–31 | 6–3 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,905 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 23 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–17 | 7–3 | Texas Stadium | 57,893 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 30 | New York Giants | W 14–3 | 8–3 | Texas Stadium | 53,329 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 7 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 17–31 | 8–4 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,701 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington Redskins | W 31–10 | 9–4 | Texas Stadium | 61,091 | Recap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 21 | at New York Jets | W 31–21 | 10–4 | Shea Stadium | 37,279 | Recap |
:Division opponents are in bold text
Playoffs
Main article: 1975–76 NFL playoffs
| Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Round | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Date | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Opponent | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Result | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Game Site | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Attendance | Dallas Cowboys | year=1975 | border=2}}" | Recap | Divisional | NFC Championship | Super Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 28, 1975 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 17–14 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,425 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| January 4, 1976 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 37–7 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 84,483 | Recap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| January 18, 1976 | vs Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–21 | Orange Bowl | 80,187 | Recap |
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
- "1975 NFL Draft".
- NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, {{ISBN. 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296
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.
Ask Mako anything about 1975 Dallas Cowboys season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report