# 1975 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1975 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 6th season in the National Football League, and the 8th overall.
The final season for Paul Brown as head coach, Cincinnati opened the season with six straight wins and went on to post an 11–3 record, their best regular-season mark. The Bengals qualified as the AFC wild card team for the playoffs, but lost to the Oakland, 31–28, in the divisional round of the playoffs. Ken Anderson won his second NFL passing championship. A serious blow was the loss of defensive tackle Mike Reid, who, only 27, retired in the off-season to pursue a career in music.
The team qualified for the postseason for the third time in just eight years of existence, but 1975 would be the last time that the Bengals would do so until 1981. Despite the Bengals' great record, they were only 3–3 in division play, losing twice to the eventual champion Steelers, and losing on the road to what was an 0–9 Cleveland Browns team. Other than division play, the Bengals were 8–0 against teams outside of the AFC Central division.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1975 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 14 | Glenn Cameron | Linebacker | Florida |
| 2 | 39 | Al Krevis | Offensive tackle | Boston College |
| 3 | 55 | Gary Burley | Defensive end | Pittsburgh |
| 3 | 64 | Gary Sheide | Quarterback | BYU |
| 3 | 77 | Bo Harris | Linebacker | LSU |
| 4 | 97 | Stan Fritts | Running back | North Carolina State |
| 5 | 120 | Pat McInally * | Wide receiver | Harvard |
| 5 | 122 | Jeff West | Punter | Cincinnati |
| 6 | 142 | Tom Shuman | Quarterback | Penn State |
| 6 | 145 | Rollen Smith | Defensive back | Arkansas |
| 7 | 170 | Chris Devlin | Linebacker | Penn State |
| 8 | 195 | Ricky Davis | Defensive back | Alabama |
| 9 | 220 | Greg Dubinetz | Guard | Yale |
| 9 | 227 | Lofell Williams | Wide receiver | Virginia Union |
| 10 | 245 | Rockey Felker | Defensive back | Mississippi State |
| 11 | 276 | Marvin Cobb | Defensive back | USC |
| 12 | 301 | Jack Novak | Tight end | Wisconsin |
| 13 | 326 | Ron Rosenberg | Linebacker | Montana |
| 14 | 351 | Frank Haywood | Defensive tackle | North Carolina State |
| 15 | 376 | Greg Enright | Placekicker | Southern Oregon |
| 16 | 401 | John Tuttle | Wide receiver | Kansas State |
| 17 | 432 | Elvin Charity | Defensive back | Yale |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 21 | Cleveland Browns | W 24–17 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 28 | at New Orleans Saints | W 21–0 | 2–0 | Louisiana Superdome | Recap |
| 3 | October 5 | at Houston Oilers | W 21–19 | 3–0 | Astrodome | Recap |
| 4 | October 12 | New England Patriots | W 27–10 | 4–0 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 19 | Oakland Raiders | W 14–10 | 5–0 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 26 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 21–14 | 6–0 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | November 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 24–30 | 6–1 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | November 9 | at Denver Broncos | W 17–16 | 7–1 | Mile High Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | November 17 | Buffalo Bills | W 33–24 | 8–1 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 23 | at Cleveland Browns | L 23–35 | 8–2 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 30 | Houston Oilers | W 23–19 | 9–2 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | December 7 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 31–0 | 10–2 | Veterans Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 13 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–35 | 10–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 21 | San Diego Chargers | W 47–17 | 11–3 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Season summary
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 17 |
| • Bengals | 14 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 24 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Steelers | 0 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 30 |
| Bengals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 24 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Standings

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 |

### Team stats

1975 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats :
* TEAM STATS
* TOTAL FIRST DOWNS
* Rushing
* Passing
* Penalty
* TOTAL NET YARDS
* Avg Per Game
* Total Plays
* Avg. Per Play
* NET YARDS RUSHING
* Avg. Per Game
* Total Rushes
* NET YARDS PASSING
* Avg. Per Game
* Sacked Yards Lost
* Gross Yards
* Att. Completions
* Completion Pct.
* Intercepted
* PUNTS-AVERAGE
* PENALTIES-YARDS
* FUMBLES-BALL LOST
* TOUCHDOWNS
* Rushing
* Passing
* Returns
| Score by Periods | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot |
| Bengals | | | | | |
| Opponents | | | | | |

### Team leaders

* Passing: Ken Anderson (377 Att, 228 Comp, 3169 Yds, 60.5 Pct, 21 TD, 11 Int, 93.9 Rating)
* Rushing: Boobie Clark (167 Att, 594 Yds, 3.6 Avg, 17 Long, 4 TD)
* Receiving: Isaac Curtis (44 Rec, 934 Yds, 21.2 Avg, 55 Long, 7 TD)
* Scoring: Dave Green, 70 points (10 FG; 40 PAT)

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| Divisional | December 28 | at Oakland Raiders | L 28–31 | 0–1 | Oakland Coliseum | Recap |

## Awards and records

* Ken Anderson, Led NFL, Passer Rating, 93.9 Rating