1975 Detroit Lions season

1975 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Head coach	Rick Forzano
Home field	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1975 Detroit Lions season was the 46th season in franchise history. It was the first season for the Detroit Lions at the new Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium in Pontiac, a Detroit suburb, which was built specifically for the team. It was also their first ever season outside Detroit since the franchise's move and name change in 1934; its first three seasons were played in Portsmouth, Ohio as the Portsmouth Spartans. For the seventh consecutive season, the Lions finished the season in second place.

Roster

Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 10 Jack Concannon 11 Greg Landry 14 Joe Reed Running Backs 24 Dexter Bussey FB 30 Jim Hooks FB 42 Altie Taylor 33 Bobby Thompson Wide Receivers 48 Marlin Briscoe 44 George Farmer 89 Dennis Franklin 45 Ray Jarvis 39 Leonard Thompson Tight Ends 81 John McMakin 88 Charlie Sanders	Offensive Linemen 62 Lynn Boden G -- Guy Dennis G 76 Rocky Freitas T 71 Craig Hertwig T 60 R. W. Hicks C 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 63 Jon Morris C 75 Jim Yarbrough T Defensive Linemen 78 Doug English DT 70 Billy Howard DE 83 Jim Mitchell DE 88 Herb Orvis DT 82 Ken Sanders DE		Linebackers 51 Larry Ball 58 Mike Hennigan 52 Jim Laslavic 60 Paul Naumoff 55 Ed O'Neil 59 Charlie Weaver Defensive Backs 20 Lem Barney CB 29 Ben Davis 32 Lenny Dunlap 26 Dick Jauron FS 23 Levi Johnson CB 28 Mike Weger 40 Charlie West SS Special Teams 15 Alan Pringle K 18 Herman Weaver P		Reserve Lists 64 Gordon Jolley G (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 21	at Green Bay Packers	W 30–16	52,613
2	September 28	at Atlanta Falcons	W 17–14	45,218
3	October 6	Dallas Cowboys	L 36–10	79,384
4	October 12	Chicago Bears	W 27–7	74,032
5	October 19	at Minnesota Vikings	L 25–19	47,872
6	October 26	at Houston Oilers	L 24–8	46,904
7	November 2	at San Francisco 49ers	W 28–17	43,209
8	November 9	Cleveland Browns	W 21–10	75,283
9	November 16	Green Bay Packers	W 13–10	76,946
10	November 23	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 24–21 OT	55,161
11	November 27	Los Angeles Rams	L 20–0	69,552
12	December 7	at Chicago Bears	L 25–21	37,772
13	December 14	Minnesota Vikings	W 17–10	73,130
14	December 21	St. Louis Cardinals	L 24–13	64,656

Game summaries

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 0 7 3 7 17 Falcons 0 7 7 0 14 Date: September 28 Location: Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 62°F, Wind 9

Scoring summary 2 ATL Haskel Stanback 17 yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) Falcons 7–0 2 DET Horace King 5 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Tie 7–7 3 ATL Gerald Tinker 26 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) Falcons 14–7 3 DET Errol Mann 29 yard field goal Falcons 14–10 4 DET Altie Taylor 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Lions 17–14

Standings

NFC Central
	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

References

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com
• Detroit Lions on The Football Database