1975 Oakland Raiders season

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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).^[1] 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.^[2] 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

^[3]

Roster

**1975 Oakland Raiders roster**

	Quarterbacks 15 Pete Beathard 11 David Humm 13 Larry Lawrence 12 Ken Stabler Running backs 40 Pete Banaszak 33 Louis Carter 28 Clarence Davis 34 Harold Hart 44 Marv Hubbard 30 Mark van Eeghen FB Wide receivers 81 Morris Bradshaw 25 Fred Biletnikoff 21 Cliff Branch 49 Mike Siani Tight ends 46 Warren Bankston 87 Dave Casper 88 Bob Moore		Offensive linemen 64 George Buehler G 50 Dave Dalby C 70 Henry Lawrence T 79 Dan Medlin G 78 Art Shell T 66 Steve Sylvester G 63 Gene Upshaw G 75 John Vella T Defensive linemen 84 Tony Cline DE 82 Horace Jones DE 71 Kelvin Korver DT 74 Dave Rowe DT 60 Otis Sistrunk DE 80 Art Thoms DT		Linebackers 54 Mike Dennery 83 Ted Hendricks 86 Gerald Irons 58 Monte Johnson 41 Phil Villapiano Defensive backs 43 George Atkinson FS 24 Willie Brown CB 20 Neal Colzie CB 47 Charlie Phillips 32 Jack Tatum FS 26 Skip Thomas CB Special teams 8 Ray Guy P 16 George Blanda K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

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.

^[4]

Season summary

Week 10

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

Date: November 23
Location: RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.
Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 41 °F (5 °C) • Wind 10 mph (16 km/h)
Referee: Pat Haggerty

Scoring summary

1	OAK	Pete Banaszak 1-yard run (kick failed)	Raiders 6–0

2	WSH	Charley Taylor 8-yard pass from Billy Kilmer (kick failed)	Tie 6–6

2	WSH	Mark Moseley 34-yard field goal	Redskins 9–6

2	OAK	Pete Banaszak 27-yard run (George Blanda kick)	Raiders 13–9

2	OAK	Pete Banaszak 7-yard run (George Blanda kick)	Raiders 20–9

3	WSH	Mike Thomas 2-yard run (Mark Moseley kick)	Raiders 20–16

4	OAK	George Blanda 22-yard field goal	Raiders 23–16

4	WSH	Frank Grant 33-yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Mark Moseley kick)	Tie 23–23

OT	OAK	George Blanda 27-yard field goal	Raiders 26–23

^[5]

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	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

Game summary

Period	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

Game information
Scoring OAK – field goal Blanda 31 OAK 3–0 OAK – Siani 9 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 10–3 CIN – Fritts 1 run (Green kick) OAK 10–7 OAK – Moore 8 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 17–7 OAK – Banaszak 6 run (Blanda kick) OAK 24–7 CIN – Elliott 6 run (Green kick) OAK 24–14 OAK – Casper 2 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 31–14 CIN – Joiner 25 pass from Anderson (Green kick) OAK 31–21 CIN – Curtis 14 pass from Anderson (Green kick) OAK 31–28

Game information

Scoring
- OAK – field goal Blanda 31 OAK 3–0
- OAK – Siani 9 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 10–3
- CIN – Fritts 1 run (Green kick) OAK 10–7
- OAK – Moore 8 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 17–7
- OAK – Banaszak 6 run (Blanda kick) OAK 24–7
- CIN – Elliott 6 run (Green kick) OAK 24–14
- OAK – Casper 2 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) OAK 31–14
- CIN – Joiner 25 pass from Anderson (Green kick) OAK 31–21
- CIN – Curtis 14 pass from Anderson (Green kick) OAK 31–28

Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Oakland Raiders 10

Game summary

Period	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

Game information
Scoring PIT – field goal Gerela 36 PIT 3–0 PIT – Harris 25 run (Gerela kick) PIT 10–0 OAK – Siani 14 pass from Stabler (Blanda kick) PIT 10–7 PIT – Stallworth 20 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed) PIT 16–7 OAK – field goal Blanda 41 PIT 16–10

Awards and honors

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

References

^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 340
^ Cold Hard Football Facts: Shutdown! The greatest pass defenses in history, the 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers have the best defensive passer rating total.
^ 1975 NFL Draft on databaseFootball.com Archived March 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
^ "1975 Oakland Raiders Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com

Raiders on Pro Football Reference
Raiders on Database Football

v t e Las Vegas Raiders
Founded in 1960 Played in Oakland, California (1960–1981, 1995–2019) and Los Angeles (1982–1994) Based in Paradise, Nevada Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada
Franchise	History in Oakland in Los Angeles relocation to Las Vegas NFL in Los Angeles Seasons Players First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Head coaches
Stadiums	Kezar Stadium Candlestick Park Frank Youell Field Oakland Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Allegiant Stadium
Key personnel	Owner/CEO: Mark Davis President: Sandra Douglass Morgan General manager: Tom Telesco Head coach: Antonio Pierce
Culture	Las Vegas Raiderettes Raider Nation "The Autumn Wind" Mount Davis Ricky's Sports Theatre and Grill Straight Outta L.A. In the House
Lore	Heidi Game Immaculate Reception The Sea of Hands Ghost to the Post Holy Roller Red Right 88 Tuck Rule Game Lunatic Lateral
Rivalries	Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Chargers Miami Dolphins (dormant) New England Patriots Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers (former) Seattle Seahawks (former)
Media	Broadcasters Television: KVVU KRON KTLA Radio: Radio network KRLV (AM) KOMP (FM) KSRO KLAA KENO (Spanish) Other: Compass Media Networks Personalities: Bill King Greg Papa J. T. the Brick Brent Musburger
Wild card berths (6)	1977 1980 1984 1991 1993 2016 2021
Division championships (15)	1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1983 1985 1990 2000 2001 2002
Conference championships (4)	1976 1980 1983 2002
League championships (4)	1967 1976 (XI) 1980 (XV) 1983 (XVIII)
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: West Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)

v t e Las Vegas Raiders seasons
Played in Oakland (1960–1981, 1995–2019) and Los Angeles (1982–1994)
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates AFL Championship (1960–1965) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates AFL Championship (1966–1969) and/or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance

1975 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets			Washington