1975 Detroit Lions season

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1975 Detroit Lions season
OwnerWilliam Clay Ford Sr.
Head coachRick Forzano
Home stadiumPontiac Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record7–7
Division place2nd NFC Central
PlayoffsDid not qualify
All-ProsNone
Pro Bowlers
2

The 1975 Detroit Lions season was the 46th season in franchise history. It was the first season for the Detroit Lions at the new Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium in Pontiac, a Detroit suburb, which was built specifically for the team. It was also their first ever season outside Detroit since the franchise's move and name change in 1934; its first three seasons were played in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartans. For the seventh consecutive season, the Lions finished the season in second place.

NFL draft

1975 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 13 Lynn Boden  G South Dakota State
2 38 Doug English *  DT Texas
4 94 Craig Hertwig  OT Georgia
6 138 Fred Cooper  DB Purdue from New Orleans
6 141 Horace King  RB Georgia from New England
6 144 Dennis Franklin  WR Michigan
7 169 Mike Murphy  WR Drake
8 194 Leonard Thompson  RB Oklahoma State
9 219 Steve Strinko  LB Michigan
10 250 Brad Boyd  TE LSU
11 275 Steve Myers  G Ohio State
12 300 Andre Roundtree  LB Iowa State
13 325 James Smith  RB North Carolina Central
14 350 Jim McMillan  QB Widener
15 375 Rudy Green  RB Yale
16 406 Les Chaves  DB Kansas State
17 431 Mark Lancaster  G Tulsa
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

  • Detroit traded its third-round pick (91st) to Minnesota in exchange for S Charlie West.
  • Detroit traded its fifth-round pick (119th) to Cleveland in exchange for CB Ben Davis.
  • Detroit traded TE Dave Thompson and its first-round pick (13th) in 1974 to New Orleans in exchange for the Saints' first-round pick (8th) in 1974 and sixth-round pick (138th) in this draft.
  • Detroit traded FB Leon Crosswhite to New England in exchange for the Patriots' sixth-round pick (141st) and eighth-round pick in 1976.
  • Detroit traded LB Jim Teal to Los Angeles in exchange for the Rams' ninth-round pick (229th), and then traded this pick to Denver in exchange for CB Leroy Mitchell.

Roster

Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 21 at Green Bay Packers W 30–16 1–0 Milwaukee County Stadium 52,613
2 September 28 at Atlanta Falcons W 17–14 2–0 Atlanta Fulton County Stadium 45,218
3 October 6 Dallas Cowboys L 10–36 2–1 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 79,384
4 October 12 Chicago Bears W 27–7 3–1 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 74,032
5 October 19 at Minnesota Vikings L 19–25 3–2 Metropolitan Stadium 47,872
6 October 26 at Houston Oilers L 8–24 3–3 Astrodome 46,904
7 November 2 at San Francisco 49ers W 28–17 4–3 Candlestick Park 43,209
8 November 9 Cleveland Browns W 21–10 5–3 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 75,283
9 November 16 Green Bay Packers W 13–10 6–3 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 76,946
10 November 23 at Kansas City Chiefs L 21–24(OT) 6–4 Arrowhead Stadium 55,161
11 November 27 Los Angeles Rams L 0–20 6–5 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 69,552
12 December 7 at Chicago Bears L 21–25 6–6 Soldier Field 37,772
13 December 14 Minnesota Vikings W 17–10 7–6 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 73,130
14 December 21 St. Louis Cardinals L 13–24 7–7 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 64,656
  • Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

Team 1 234Total
• Lions 0 737 17
Falcons 0 770 14
  • Date: September 28
  • Location: Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 62 °F or 16.7 °C, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
Scoring summary
2ATLHaskel Stanback 17 yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)Falcons 7–0
2DETHorace King 5 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Tie 7–7
3ATLGerald Tinker 26 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)Falcons 14–7
3DETErrol Mann 29 yard field goalFalcons 14–10
4DETAltie Taylor 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Lions 17–14

[1]

Standings

NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings(1) 12 2 0 .857 5–1 8–2 377 180 W1
Detroit Lions 7 7 0 .500 4–2 6–5 245 262 L1
Chicago Bears 4 10 0 .286 2–4 4–7 191 379 W1
Green Bay Packers 4 10 0 .286 1–5 4–7 226 285 W1

References