# 1975 Oakland Raiders season

The 1975 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 16th season, and 6th in the National Football League.
The 1975 season was George Blanda's final season in the NFL. Blanda retired with two significant records: the most seasons in American professional football (26), and most games played (340). The Raiders finished the season with an 11–3 record and won the AFC West for the 4th straight year. They also made the playoffs for the 4th straight season. In the playoffs, the Raiders stunned the Cincinnati Bengals 31–28 in the Divisional Round. In the AFC Championship game, their third straight, they lost to the Steelers for the second straight season 16–10.
Opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 37.2 against Oakland in 1975, the second-lowest total of the Super Bowl era. The Raiders defeated the Dolphins to win their season opener for the first time since 1969.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1975 Oakland Raiders Draft :
| Round | Selection | Selection | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 24 | 24 | Neal Colzie | Ohio State | DB |
| 2 | 19 | 45 | Charlie Phillips | USC | DB |
| 3 | 24 | 76 | Louis Carter | Maryland | RB |
| 5 | 24 | 128 | David Humm | Nebraska | QB |
| 7 | 24 | 180 | James Daniels | Texas A&M | DB |
| 9 | 24 | 232 | Harry Knight | Richmond | QB |
| 10 | 25 | 259 | Steve Sylvester | Notre Dame | T |
| 12 | 24 | 310 | Jack Magee | Boston College | C |
| 14 | 24 | 362 | Tom Doyle | Yale | QB |
| 15 | 25 | 389 | Paul Careathers | Tennessee | RB |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 22 | at Miami Dolphins | W 31–21 | 1–0 | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap |
| 2 | September 28 | at Baltimore Colts | W 31–20 | 2–0 | Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | October 5 | at San Diego Chargers | W 6–0 | 3–0 | San Diego Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | October 12 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–42 | 3–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 19 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–14 | 3–2 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 26 | San Diego Chargers | W 25–0 | 4–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| 7 | November 2 | at Denver Broncos | W 42–17 | 5–2 | Mile High Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | November 9 | New Orleans Saints | W 48–10 | 6–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| 9 | November 16 | Cleveland Browns | W 38–17 | 7–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| 10 | November 23 | at Washington Redskins | W 26–23 | 8–2 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 30 | Atlanta Falcons | W 37–34 | 9–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| 12 | December 8 | Denver Broncos | W 17–10 | 10–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| 13 | December 14 | Houston Oilers | L 26–27 | 10–3 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| 14 | December 21 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 28–20 | 11–3 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Season summary
#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Raiders | 6 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 26 |
| Redskins | 0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 23 |

### Standings

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 Raiders defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 31–28 in the divisional round in Oakland. The following Sunday, they fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 16–10 in the AFC Championship Game.

### Oakland Raiders 31, Cincinnati Bengals 28

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Raiders | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
* Date: December 28, 1975
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
* Game attendance: 53,030
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis

### Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Oakland Raiders 10

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Steelers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 16 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: January 4, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game attendance: 50,609
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis, and Don Meredith

## Awards and honors

* George Blanda, most seasons in American professional football (26)
* George Blanda, most games played, (340)