# 1975 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1975 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 56th year with the National Football League and the 16th season in St. Louis. The club scored 356 points while the defense gave up 276 points. The team appeared in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, by winning the NFC East with a record of eleven wins and three losses (the best finish in the Coryell era). They never returned the playoffs during a full NFL season until 1998, by which time they moved from St. Louis to Arizona.
The team was nicknamed the “Cardiac Cards”, because eight of their games were decided in the final minute of play; the Cardinals went 7–1 in these games.
After this season, the Cardinals never reached the top of the NFC East again. They would not again have a division title until 33 years later, after they had moved to Arizona, and later to the NFC West.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1975 St. Louis Cardinals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 21 | Tim Gray | Safety | Texas A&M |
| 2 | 46 | Jim Germany | Running back | New Mexico State |
| 5 | 124 | Harvey Goodman | Offensive tackle | Colorado |
| 6 | 152 | Larry Jameson | Defensive tackle | Indiana |
| 7 | 177 | Steve Beaird | Running back | Baylor |
| 8 | 188 | John Adams | Defensive tackle | West Virginia |
| 8 | 202 | Louis Lauriano | Defensive back | Long Beach State |
| 10 | 255 | Mike McGraw | Linebacker | Wyoming |
| 11 | 280 | Jerry Latin | Running back | Northern Illinois |
| 12 | 308 | Ben Jones | Wide receiver | LSU |
| 13 | 333 | Steve Lindgren | Defensive end | Hamline |
| 14 | 358 | Ritch Bahe | Wide receiver | Nebraska |
| 15 | 386 | Ron Franklin | Defensive tackle | Boise State |
| 16 | 411 | Mark Miller | Wide receiver | Missouri |
| 17 | 436 | Ken Monroe | Running back | Indiana State |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 21 | Atlanta Falcons | W 23–20 | 1–0 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 42,172 |
| 2 | September 28 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 31–37 (OT) | 1–1 | Texas Stadium | 52,417 |
| 3 | October 5 | New York Giants | W 26–14 | 2–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 44,919 |
| 4 | October 13 | at Washington Redskins | L 17–27 | 2–2 | RFK Stadium | 54,693 |
| 5 | October 19 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 31–20 | 3–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 45,242 |
| 6 | October 25 | at New York Giants | W 20–13 | 4–2 | Shea Stadium | 49,598 |
| 7 | November 2 | New England Patriots | W 24–17 | 5–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 45,907 |
| 8 | November 9 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 24–23 | 6–2 | Veterans Stadium | 60,277 |
| 9 | November 16 | Washington Redskins | W 20–17 (OT) | 7–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,919 |
| 10 | November 23 | at New York Jets | W 37–6 | 8–2 | Shea Stadium | 53,169 |
| 11 | November 27 | Buffalo Bills | L 14–32 | 8–3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 41,899 |
| 12 | December 7 | Dallas Cowboys | W 31–17 | 9–3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,701 |
| 13 | December 14 | at Chicago Bears | W 34–20 | 10–3 | Soldier Field | 35,052 |
| 14 | December 21 | at Detroit Lions | W 24–13 | 11–3 | Pontiac Municipal Stadium | 64,656 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| St. Louis Cardinals$^{(3)}$ | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 6–2 | 9–2 | 356 | 276 | W3 |
| Dallas Cowboys$^{(4)}$ | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 6–2 | 8–3 | 350 | 268 | W2 |
| Washington Redskins | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 4–4 | 7–4 | 325 | 276 | L2 |
| New York Giants | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 1–7 | 3–8 | 216 | 306 | W2 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 3–5 | 4–7 | 225 | 302 | W1 |
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 |
NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(2)}$ | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 5–1 | 9–2 | 312 | 135 | W6 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 3–3 | 4–7 | 255 | 286 | L4 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 3–3 | 3–8 | 240 | 289 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 1–5 | 2–9 | 165 | 360 | L7 |

### Game summaries
#### Week 1: vs. Atlanta Falcons

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 7 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
| Cardinals | 7 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 23 |
at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
* Date: Sunday, September 21
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 54 °F (12.2 °C), wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
STL – Terry Metcalf 39-yard run (Jim Bakken kick) – Cardinals 7–0
ATL – Steve Bartkowski 1-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) – Tied 7–7
Second quarter
STL – Jim Bakken 22-yard field goal – Cardinals 10–7
ATL – Dave Hampton 6-yard run (kick failed) – Falcons 13–10
STL – Jim Bakken 39-yard field goal – Tied 13–13
Third quarter
ATL – Dave Hampton 1-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) – Falcons 20–13
Fourth quarter
STL – Earl Thomas 8-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) – Tied 20–20
STL – Jim Bakken 25-yard field goal – Cardinals 23–20
Falcons
Steve Bartkowski 8/16, 81 Yds, INT
Dave Hampton 23 Rush, 135 Yds, 2 TD
Woody Thompson 3 Rec, 29 Yds
Cardinals
Jim Hart 12/23, 150 Yds, TD, 2 INT
Terry Metcalf 20 Rush, 99 Yds, TD
Mel Gray 3 Rec, 65 Yds :

## Postseason
### NFC Divisional Playoff

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| Rams | 14 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 35 |
at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
* Game attendance: 72,650
* Referee: Dick Jorgensen
* TV: CBS

## Awards and records

* Terry Metcalf, NFL Leader, 2,462 Combined Net Yards

### Milestones

* Terry Metcalf, Second Consecutive 2000 Combined Net Yards Season (816 Rush Yards, 378 Pass Receiving Yards, 285 Punt Return Yards, 960 Kick Return Yards, 23 fumble return yards)