- 1975 NFL season
Infobox NFL
year = 1975
NFLchampion =Pittsburgh Steelers
regular_season =September 21 1975 -December 21 1975
playoffs_start =December 27 1975
AFCchampion =Pittsburgh Steelers
NFCchampion =Dallas Cowboys
sb_name = X
sb_date =January 18 1976
sb_site =Miami Orange Bowl ,Miami, Florida
pb_date =January 26 1976 The 1975 NFL season was the 56th
regular season of theNational Football League . The league made two significant changes to increase the appeal of the game:
#The surviving clubs with the best regular season records were made the home teams for each playoff round. Previously, game sites rotated by division.
#The league pioneered the use of equipping American football referees with wireless microphones to announce penalties and clarify complex and/or unusual rulings to both fans and the media.Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving Day game hosted by the
Dallas Cowboys , the league scheduled aBuffalo Bills at St. Louis Cardinals contest. This would be the first season since 1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday.The season ended with
Super Bowl X when thePittsburgh Steelers defeated theDallas Cowboys .Major rule changes
*After a fourth down incomplete pass goes in or through the end zone, the other team will take possession at the previous line of scrimmage. Previously, it resulted in a touchback.
*The penalty for pass interference on the offensive team is reduced from 15 yards to 10.
*If there are fouls by both teams on the same play but one results in a player ejection, the penalties will still offset but the player will still be ejected.Division races
Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebraker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
Tiebreakers
*Baltimore finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2-0).
*N.Y. Jets finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2-0).
*Los Angeles was the top NFC playoff seed based on better strength of schedule than Minnesota (.383 to Vikings' .332).
*Chicago finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on better division record (2-4 to Packers' 1-5).
Playoffs
Round8
RD1=Divisional Playoffs
RD2=Conference Championship Games
RD3=
References
* "NFL Record and Fact Book" (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
* [http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1971-1980 NFL History 1971-1980] (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
* [http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1975.pdf 1975 season in details]
* "Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League" (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
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