# 1975 Detroit Lions season

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.

## 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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Lions | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| Falcons | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |