# 1975 Baltimore Colts season

The 1975 Baltimore Colts season was the 23rd season for the team in the National Football League. Under first-year head coach Ted Marchibroda, the Colts finished the 1975 season with 10 wins and 4 losses, and tied for first in the AFC East division with the Miami Dolphins; Baltimore won the division tiebreaker based on a head-to-head sweep of Miami — the first sweep of the Dolphins in their six years under head coach Don Shula.
The Colts won their opener, lost four straight, then swept their final nine games and narrowly edged the Dolphins for the division title. The turnaround season became forever known by Colts fans afterward as The Miracle on 33rd Street.
This was the first of three consecutive AFC East titles for the Colts. Hired in January, Marchibroda was previously the offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins under head coach George Allen. The 1975 Colts coaching staff included 23-year-old assistant Bill Belichick, his first association with an NFL team and first coaching position.

## Offseason
### Draft

1975 Baltimore Colts Draft :
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 3 | Ken Huff | G | North Carolina |
| 3 | 53 | Mike Washington | CB | Alabama |
| 3 | 56 | Dave Pear | DT | Washington |
| 4 | 80 | Marshall Johnson | WR | Houston |
| 4 | 93 | Paul Linford | DT | BYU |
| 5 | 105 | Roosevelt Leaks | RB | Texas |
| 6 | 131 | Don Westbrook | WR | Nebraska |
| 7 | 157 | Kim Jones | RB | Colorado State |
| 7 | 160 | Steve Joachim | QB | Temple |
| 7 | 168 | Derrel Luce | LB | Baylor |
| 8 | 184 | John Bushong | DE | Western Kentucky |
| 8 | 187 | Greg Denboer | TE | Michigan |
| 8 | 192 | Mario Cage | RB | Northwestern Louisiana |
| 9 | 209 | Royce McKinney | DB | Kentucky State |
| 10 | 236 | Phil Waganheim | P | Maryland |
| 11 | 261 | David Hazel | WR | Ohio State |
| 12 | 288 | Brad Storm | LB | Iowa State |
| 13 | 313 | John Roman | G | Idaho State |
| 14 | 340 | Mike Smith | C | SMU |
| 15 | 365 | John Goodie | RB | Langston |
| 16 | 392 | Bill Malouf | QB | Ole Miss |
| 16 | 399 | Mike Evavold | DT | MacAlester |
| 16 | 416 | Robert Smith | DB | Maryland |
| 17 | 417 | David McKnight | LB | Georgia |
| 17 | 426 | Mike Bengard | DE | Northwestern (Iowa) |
| 17 | 440 | Frank Russel | WR | Maryland |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 21 | at Chicago Bears | W 35–7 | 1–0 | Soldier Field | 54,152 | Recap |
| 2 | September 28 | Oakland Raiders | L 20–31 | 1–1 | Memorial Stadium | 40,657 | Recap |
| 3 | October 5 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 13–24 | 1–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 62,491 | Recap |
| 4 | October 12 | Buffalo Bills | L 31–38 | 1–3 | Memorial Stadium | 43,907 | Recap |
| 5 | October 19 | at New England Patriots | L 10–21 | 1–4 | Schaefer Stadium | 51,417 | Recap |
| 6 | October 26 | at New York Jets | W 45–28 | 2–4 | Shea Stadium | 55,137 | Recap |
| 7 | November 2 | Cleveland Browns | W 21–7 | 3–4 | Memorial Stadium | 35,235 | Recap |
| 8 | November 9 | at Buffalo Bills | W 42–35 | 4–4 | Rich Stadium | 77,320 | Recap |
| 9 | November 16 | New York Jets | W 52–19 | 5–4 | Memorial Stadium | 52,097 | Recap |
| 10 | November 23 | at Miami Dolphins | W 33–17 | 6–4 | Orange Bowl | 61,986 | Recap |
| 11 | November 30 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 28–14 | 7–4 | Memorial Stadium | 42,122 | Recap |
| 12 | December 7 | at New York Giants | W 21–0 | 8–4 | Shea Stadium | 49,863 | Recap |
| 13 | December 14 | Miami Dolphins | W 10–7$^{OT}$ | 9–4 | Memorial Stadium | 59,398 | Recap |
| 14 | December 21 | New England Patriots | W 34–21 | 10–4 | Memorial Stadium | 48,678 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Baltimore Colts$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 6–2 | 8–3 | 395 | 269 | W9 |
| Miami Dolphins | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 6–2 | 7–4 | 357 | 222 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 5–3 | 7–4 | 420 | 355 | L1 |
| New York Jets | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 2–6 | 3–8 | 258 | 433 | L2 |
| New England Patriots | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 1–7 | 2–9 | 258 | 358 | L6 |
AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Pittsburgh Steelers$^{(1)}$ | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 6–0 | 10–1 | 373 | 162 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals$^{(4)}$ | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 3–3 | 8–3 | 340 | 246 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 2–4 | 7–4 | 293 | 226 | W3 |
| Cleveland Browns | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 1–5 | 2–8 | 218 | 372 | L1 |
AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Oakland Raiders$^{(2)}$ | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 5–1 | 8–3 | 375 | 255 | W1 |
| Denver Broncos | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 3–3 | 4–7 | 254 | 307 | L1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 3–3 | 3–8 | 282 | 341 | L4 |
| San Diego Chargers | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 1–5 | 2–9 | 189 | 345 | L1 |

## Playoffs

The team made it to the playoffs as a No. 3 seed and traveled to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers in the divisional round. Tied at seven at the half, Pittsburgh outscored the Colts 21–3 in the second half. The Steelers defense forced four turnovers and held the Colts to 154 total yards of offense in their 28–10 win.
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| Divisional | December 27 | at Pittsburgh Steelers (1) | L 10–28 | Three Rivers Stadium | 49,053 | Recap |

## Awards and honors

* Sporting News Executive of the Year: Joe Thomas
* AP Coach of the Year, PFW Coach of the Year, Sporting News Coach of the Year, UPI AFC Coach of the Year: Ted Marchibroda