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. The Bengals ended the season at 11-3, with all of their losses coming in division play, losing twice to the eventual champion Steelers, and a road loss to Cleveland. They finished 8–0 against teams outside of the AFC Central.
This was Bill Walsh's final season as offensive coordinator in Cincinnati. He departed after the season to join the San Diego Chargers with the same role, and then went on to become head coach at Stanford University, and then the San Francisco 49ers, where he later won 3 Super Bowls with them, which included 2 against the Bengals.
Offseason
NFL draft
Personnel
Staff / Coaches
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1September 21 Cleveland BrownsW 24–17 1–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 2September 28 at New Orleans Saints W 21–0 2–0 Louisiana Superdome Recap 3October 5 at Houston Oilers W 21–19 3–0 Astrodome Recap 4October 12 New England Patriots W 27–10 4–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 5October 19 Oakland Raiders W 14–10 5–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 6October 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 8November 9 at Denver Broncos W 17–16 7–1 Mile High Stadium Recap 9 Buffalo Bills W 33–24 8–1 Riverfront Stadium Recap 10November 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 12December 7 at Philadelphia Eagles W 31–0 10–2 Veterans Stadium Recap 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
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 7
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 12
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Standings
Team stats 1975 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats TEAM STATS Bengals Opponents 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 DivisionalDecember 28 at Oakland Raiders L 28–31 0–1 Oakland Coliseum Recap
Awards and records Ken Anderson, Led NFL, Passer Rating, 93.9 Rating NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 447
References
Bengals on Pro Football Reference Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com Bengals History on Official Site