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1975 NFL season

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AFC Champions
  
Pittsburgh Steelers

Champions
  
Pittsburgh Steelers

Start date
  
1975

NFC Champions
  
Dallas Cowboys

Champion
  
Pittsburgh Steelers

Site
  
Miami Orange Bowl

Duration
  
September 21 – December 21, 1975

Similar
  
1974 NFL season, 1976 NFL season, 1970 NFL season, 1980 NFL season, 1982 NFL season

The 1975 NFL season was the 56th regular season of the National Football League. It was also the first time that featured an entire season with no games ending in a tie. The league made two significant changes to increase the appeal of the game:

Contents

  1. The surviving clubs with the best regular season records were made the home teams for each playoff round. Previously, game sites rotated by division.
  2. The league pioneered the use of equipping referees with wireless microphones to announce penalties and clarify complex and/or unusual rulings to both fans and the media.

Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving Day game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys, the league scheduled a Buffalo Bills at St. Louis Cardinals contest. This would be the first season since 1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday.

The season ended with Super Bowl X when the Pittsburgh Steelers repeated as champions by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Major rule changes

  • After a fourth down incomplete pass goes in or through the end zone, the other team will take possession at the previous line of scrimmage. Previously, it resulted in a touchback.
  • The penalty for pass interference on the offensive team is reduced from 15 yards to 10.
  • If there are fouls by both teams on the same play but one results in a player ejection, the penalties will still offset but the player will still be ejected.

    • Stadium changes

    Detroit moved into the Pontiac Silverdome. New Orleans moved into the Louisiana Superdome. The New York Giants played their home games at Shea Stadium, which they shared for 1975 with the New York Jets.

    Division races

    Starting in 1970, through 2001, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents' records, and conference play.

    Final standings

    W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

     x  – clinched wild card berth,  y  – clinched division title

    Tiebreakers

  • Baltimore finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
  • N.Y. Jets finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
  • Minnesota was the top NFC playoff seed based on point rating system (Vikings were 1st in NFC in points scored and 2nd in NFC in points allowed for a combined rating of 3 while Rams were 5th in NFC in points scored and 1st in NFC in points allowed for a combined rating of 6).
  • Chicago finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on better division record (2–4 to Packers' 1–5).

    • Playoffs

    *Pittsburgh (the AFC 1 seed) did not play Cincinnati (the 4 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.

    References

    1975 NFL season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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