# 1975 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1975 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 15th in the National Football League.
The Vikings began with a 10-game win streak before losing by one point to the Washington Redskins, though there was generally very little expectation they would equal the 1972 Dolphins' perfect season. The 1975 Vikings had an even easier schedule than the often-criticized one of the unbeaten Dolphin team, and in fact had according to Eddie Epstein clearly the easiest schedule of any team between 1950 and 2001, with their fourteen opponents having a winning percentage excluding Vikings games of .346. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, only the Super Bowl-winning 1999 Rams have since had a weaker schedule than the 1975 Vikings, playing only one opponent with a winning record during the regular season. Nine of fourteen opponents finished 4–10 or worse, and like the 1972 Dolphins only two had winning records. Football journalists noted during their streak how the Vikings had been playing very weak schedules for several seasons and flattered thereby.
The Vikings’ 10–0 start was not subsequently equaled until the 1984 Miami Dolphins began 11–0. They sealed their third straight NFC Central title on Thanksgiving Day in this same week when the Detroit Lions lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Vikings finished with a record of 12 wins and two losses, before losing to the Dallas Cowboys, 17–14 in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game at home due to a play known as the "Hail Mary". Earlier in the season, the New York Jets made their first appearance in Minnesota in a much-anticipated match between Super Bowl quarterbacks Fran Tarkenton and Joe Namath, in what had been the first regular season game sold out during the summer.
Third year halfback Chuck Foreman became the first Vikings running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

## Offseason
### 1975 draft

1975 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 25 | Mark Mullaney | Defensive end | Colorado State | |
| 2 | 52 | Robert Barber | Defensive tackle | USC | Originally Steelers pick |
| 3 | 63 | Traded to the New Orleans Saints | Traded to the New Orleans Saints | Traded to the New Orleans Saints | From Lions |
| 3 | 77 | Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals | Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals | Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals | |
| 4 | 89 | Champ Henson | Running back | Ohio State | from Bengals |
| 4 | 103 | Bruce Adams | Wide receiver | Kansas | |
| 5 | 129 | Robert Miller | Running back | Kansas | |
| 6 | 155 | Bubba Broussard | Linebacker | Houston | |
| 7 | 181 | Henry Green | Running back | Southern | |
| 8 | 207 | Joe Hollimon | Defensive back | Arkansas State | |
| 9 | 233 | John Passananti | Guard | Western Illinois | |
| 10 | 258 | Neil Clabo | Punter | Tennessee | Originally Raiders pick |
| 11 | 285 | Ike Spencer | Running back | Utah | |
| 12 | 311 | Autry Beamon | Safety | East Texas State | |
| 13 | 336 | Mike Hurd | Wide receiver | Michigan State | Originally Redskins pick |
| 14 | 363 | Mike Strickland | Running back | Eastern Michigan | |
| 15 | 388 | Ollie Bakken | Linebacker | Minnesota | Originally Raiders pick |
| 16 | 414 | Tom Goedjen | Placekicker | Iowa State | Originally Colts pick |
| 17 | 441 | Adolph Bellizeare | Running back | Penn | |
Notes
* ↑ The Vikings originally held the 51st overall selection but passed, allowing the Steelers to move up, before making their pick 52nd overall.
* ↑ The Vikings traded the third-round selection they acquired from the Lions (63rd overall) to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for G Andy Maurer.
* ↑ The Vikings traded CB Charlie West to the Lions in exchange for a third-round selection (63rd overall).
* 1 2 The details of this trade are unknown.
* ↑ The Vikings originally held the 259th overall selection but moved up to 258th overall when the Oakland Raiders passed.
* ↑ The Vikings originally held the 337th overall selection but moved up to 336th overall when the Washington Redskins passed on the 334th overall selection and allowed several teams to move up.
* ↑ The Vikings originally held the 389th overall selection but moved up to 388th overall when the Oakland Raiders passed.
* ↑ The Vikings originally held the 415th overall selection but moved up to 414th overall when the Baltimore Colts passed.

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 9 | New York Jets | L 15–20 | 0–1 | Sun Devil Stadium, (Tempe, AZ) | 51,323 |
| 2 | August 17 | at New England Patriots | L 10–36 | 0–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 40,218 |
| 3 | August 23 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 16–13 | 1–2 | Texas Stadium | 45,395 |
| 4 | September 1 | Miami Dolphins | W 20–7 | 2–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,653 |
| 5 | September 6 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 6–13 | 2–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,975 |
| 6 | September 13 | at San Diego Chargers | T 14–14 (OT) | 2–3–1 | San Diego Stadium | 31,642 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 21 | San Francisco 49ers | W 27–17 | 1–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,479 |
| 2 | September 28 | at Cleveland Browns | W 42–10 | 2–0 | Cleveland Stadium | 68,064 |
| 3 | October 5 | Chicago Bears | W 28–3 | 3–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,578 |
| 4 | October 12 | New York Jets | W 29–21 | 4–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,739 |
| 5 | October 19 | Detroit Lions | W 25–19 | 5–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,872 |
| 6 | October 27 | at Chicago Bears | W 13–9 | 6–0 | Soldier Field | 51,259 |
| 7 | November 2 | at Green Bay Packers | W 28–17 | 7–0 | Lambeau Field | 57,267 |
| 8 | November 9 | Atlanta Falcons | W 38–0 | 8–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 43,751 |
| 9 | November 16 | at New Orleans Saints | W 20–7 | 9–0 | Louisiana Superdome | 52,765 |
| 10 | November 23 | San Diego Chargers | W 28–13 | 10–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 43,737 |
| 11 | November 30 | at Washington Redskins | L 30–31 | 10–1 | RFK Stadium | 54,498 |
| 12 | December 7 | Green Bay Packers | W 24–3 | 11–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,147 |
| 13 | December 14 | at Detroit Lions | L 10–17 | 11–2 | Silverdome | 73,130 |
| 14 | December 20 | at Buffalo Bills | W 35–13 | 12–2 | Rich Stadium | 54,993 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1: vs. San Francisco 49ers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Vikings | 3 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 27 |
at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota
* Date: September 21, 1975
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C)
* Game attendance: 46,479
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
MIN – Fred Cox 28-yard field goal. Vikings 3–0.
Second quarter
MIN – Fred Cox 29-yard field goal. Vikings 6–0.
MIN – Terry Brown 26-yard fumble return (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 13–0.
SF – Steve Mike-Mayer 19-yard field goal. Vikings 13–3.
SF – Gene Washington 22-yard pass from Norm Snead (Steve Mike-Mayer kick). Vikings 13–10.
Third quarter
No scoring plays.
Fourth quarter
MIN – Brent McClanahan 10-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 20–10.
MIN – Chuck Foreman 1-yard run (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 27–10.
SF – Dave Washington 15-yard blocked punt return (Steve Mike-Mayer kick). Vikings 27–17.
Top passers
SF – Norm Snead – 10/18, 149 yards, TD
MIN – Fran Tarkenton – 14/26, 165 yards, TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
SF – Wilbur Jackson – 15 rushes, 59 yards
MIN – Brent McClanahan – 16 rushes, 61 yards
Top receivers
SF – Gene Washington – 6 receptions, 86 yards, TD
MIN – Brent McClanahan – 6 receptions, 73 yards, TD :

### 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 |

## Postseason
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| Divisional | December 28 | Dallas Cowboys (4) | L 14–17 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,425 |

### Game summaries
#### NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (#4) Dallas Cowboys

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| Vikings | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota
* Date: December 28
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 25 °F (−4 °C)
* Referee: Chuck Heberling
* TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender, Johnny Unitas
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring plays.
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). Tied 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.
Top passers
DAL – Roger Staubach – 17/29, 246 yards, TD
MIN – Fran Tarkenton – 12/26, 135 yards, INT
Top rushers
DAL – Doug Dennison – 11 rushes, 36 yards, TD
MIN – Chuck Foreman – 18 rushes, 56 yards, TD
Top receivers
DAL – Drew Pearson – 4 receptions, 91 yards, TD
MIN – Ed Marinaro – 5 receptions, 64 yards :

## Awards and records

* Fran Tarkenton, Bert Bell Award, and AP MVP
* AP First Team All-Pro selections: RB Chuck Foreman, S Paul Krause, DT Alan Page, QB Fran Tarkenton and T Ron Yary
* Chuck Foreman, set an NFL record with 73 receptions, most by a running back
* DE Jim Marshall, recovered 26th fumble, a new league record
* Pro Bowl selections: Bobby Bryant, Chuck Foreman, John Gilliam, Paul Krause, Alan Page, Jeff Siemon, Fran Tarkenton, Ed White and Ron Yary

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Fran Tarkenton | 2,994 |
| Passing touchdowns | Fran Tarkenton | 25 |
| Rushing yards | Chuck Foreman | 1,070 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Chuck Foreman | 13 |
| Receiving yards | John Gilliam | 777 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Chuck Foreman | 9 |
| Points | Chuck Foreman | 132 |
| Kickoff return yards | Brent McClanahan | 360 |
| Punt return yards | Bobby Bryant | 125 |
| Interceptions | Paul Krause | 10 * |
* Vikings single season record.

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 26) |
| Passing offense | 2,861 | 204.4 | 3rd |
| Rushing offense | 2,094 | 149.6 | 10th |
| Total offense | 4,955 | 353.9 | 5th |
| Passing defense | 1,621 | 115.8 | 1st |
| Rushing defense | 1,532 | 109.4 | 1st |
| Total defense | 3,153 | 262.2 | 1st |