1975 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1975 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's tenth year in the National Football League (NFL). With the first overall pick of the NFL draft, the Falcons selected quarterback Steve Bartkowski out of the University of California. However, the pick would do them no good as the Falcons slumped to another miserable 4–10 record and missed the playoffs for the 10th straight season. This was also the first and only full season for head coach Marion Campbell, as he was hired to coach the final 6 games of the previous season and was fired 5 games into the following season.

1975 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
Head coach	Marion Campbell
General manager	Pat Peppler
Home field	Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Offseason

NFL Draft

1975 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Steve Bartkowski *	Quarterback	California
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1975 Atlanta Falcons staff

	Front office Chairman of the Board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General Manager – Pat Peppler Head coaches Head Coach – Marion Campbell Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Bill Nelsen Offensive Backfield – John Rauch Receivers – Jimmy Orr Offensive Line – Bill Walsh			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Fred Bruney Defensive Line – Eddie Khayat Linebackers – Marv Matuszak Defensive Backfield – Al Lavan

Roster

1975 Atlanta Falcons final roster

	Quarterbacks 10 Steve Bartkowski 11 Kim McQuilken 7 Pat Sullivan Running backs 25 Larry Crowe 47 Brad Davis 46 Monroe Eley 43 Dave Hampton 30 Oscar Reed 24 Haskel Stanback 48 Woody Thompson FB Wide receivers 82 Ken Burrow 89 Wallace Francis 84 Alfred Jenkins Tight ends 88 Greg McCrary 86 Jim Mitchell		Offensive linemen 61 Brent Adams T 63 Nick Bebout T 65 Len Gotshalk T 56 Dennis Havig G 68 Larron Jackson G 64 Royce Smith G 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen 78 Roy Hilton DE 69 Mike Lewis DT 75 Jeff Merrow DE 74 Mike Tilleman DT 79 Chuck Walker DT 71 John Zook DE		Linebackers 50 Greg Brezina 58 Don Hansen 54 Fulton Kuykendall 60 Tommy Nobis 55 Ralph Ortega 59 Carl Russ Defensive backs 34 Ray Brown S 38 Rick Byas CB 32 Ray Easterling FS 40 Bob Jones S 22 Rolland Lawrence CB 29 Ron Mabra Special teams 6 John James P 12 Nick Mike-Mayer K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 21	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 20–23	0–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	42,172	Recap
2	September 28	Detroit Lions	L 14–17	0–2	Atlanta Stadium	45,218	Recap
3	October 5	New Orleans Saints	W 14–7	1–2	Atlanta Stadium	29,444	Recap
4	October 12	at San Francisco 49ers	W 17–3	2–2	Candlestick Park	44,043	Recap
5	October 19	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–22	2–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	64,843	Recap
6	October 26	Cincinnati Bengals	L 14–21	2–4	Atlanta Stadium	45,811	Recap
7	November 2	at New Orleans Saints	L 7–23	2–5	Louisiana Superdome	49,342	Recap
8	November 9	at Minnesota Vikings	L 0–38	2–6	Metropolitan Stadium	43,751	Recap
9	November 16	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–16	2–7	Atlanta Stadium	44,595	Recap
10	November 23	Denver Broncos	W 35–21	3–7	Atlanta Stadium	28,686	Recap
11	November 30	at Oakland Raiders	L 34–37	3–8	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	50,860	Recap
12	December 7	Washington Redskins	L 27–30	3–9	Atlanta Stadium	52,809	Recap
13	December 14	San Francisco 49ers	W 31–9	4–9	Atlanta Stadium	38,501	Recap
14	December 21	at Green Bay Packers	L 13–22	4–10	Lambeau Field	56,267	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams^(2)	12	2	0	.857	5–1	9–2	312	135	W6
San Francisco 49ers	5	9	0	.357	3–3	4–7	255	286	L4
Atlanta Falcons	4	10	0	.286	3–3	3–8	240	289	L1
New Orleans Saints	2	12	0	.143	1–5	2–9	165	360	L7

[2]

Week 1: at St. Louis Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	7	6	7	0	20
Cardinals	7	6	0	10	23

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

• Date: Sunday, September 21
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 54°F, wind 10 mph
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter STL – Terry Metcalf 39-yard run (Jim Bakken kick) – Cardinals 7–0 ATL – Steve Bartkowski 1-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) – Tied 7–7 Second quarter STL – Jim Bakken 22-yard field goal – Cardinals 10–7 ATL – Dave Hampton 6-yard run (kick failed) – Falcons 13–10 STL – Jim Bakken 39-yard field goal – Tied 13–13 Third quarter ATL – Dave Hampton 1-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) – Falcons 20–13 Fourth quarter STL – Earl Thomas 8-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick) – Tied 20–20 STL – Jim Bakken 25-yard field goal – Cardinals 23–20 Falcons Steve Bartkowski 8/16, 81 Yds, INT Dave Hampton 23 Rush, 135 Yds, 2 TD Woody Thompson 3 Rec, 29 Yds Cardinals Jim Hart 12/23, 150 Yds, TD, 2 INT Terry Metcalf 20 Rush, 99 Yds, TD Mel Gray 3 Rec, 65 Yds

References

1. "1975 Atlanta Falcons draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296

External links

• 1975 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com