1975 Chicago Bears season

NFL team season

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The 1975 Chicago Bears season was their 56th regular season in the National Football League. The team matched their 4–10 record from 1974, in the first season under head coach Jack Pardee.

The 1975 Bears are the only NFL team to have been outscored by 25 points six different times during a 14-game season, a record for futility that has that has only been matched once under the current 16-game format.^[1]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1975 Chicago Bears Draft
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	4	Walter Payton	Running back	Jackson State
2	31	Mike Hartenstine	Defensive end	Penn State
4	83	Virgil Livers	Defensive back	Western Kentucky
5	110	Revie Sorey	Guard	Illinois
6	135	Bob Avellini	Quarterback	Maryland
6	151	Tom Hicks	Linebacker	Illinois
7	178	Earl Douthitt	Defensive back	Iowa
8	197	Joe Harris	Linebacker	Georgia Tech
9	212	Roger Stillwell	Defensive tackle	Stanford
10	254	Mike Julius	Guard	St. Thomas
11	264	Mike Dean	Kicker	Texas
12	291	Doug Plank	Defensive back	Ohio State
13	316	Charles McDaniel	Running back	Louisiana Tech
14	343	Walter Hartfield	Running back	Southwest Texas State
15	368	Steve Marcantonio	Wide receiver	Miami (FL)
16	395	Witt Beckman	Wide receiver	Miami (FL)
17	420	Roland Harper	Running back	Louisiana Tech

Roster

**1975 Chicago Bears final roster**

	Quarterbacks 7 Bob Avellini 11 Virgil Carter 19 Gary Huff Running backs 20 Mike Adamle 36 Tom Donchez 37 Cid Edwards FB 35 Roland Harper 34 Walter Payton Wide receivers 27 Bob Grim 80 Bo Rather 85 Steve Schubert Tight ends 81 Gary Butler 88 Greg Latta		Offensive linemen 79 Lionel Antoine T 74 Bob Asher T 65 Noah Jackson G 65 Randy Jackson T 51 Dan Neal C 78 Bob Newton G 63 Mark Nordquist G 53 Dan Peiffer C 75 Jeff Sevy G 69 Revie Sorey G Defensive linemen 60 Wally Chambers DT 84 Richard Harris DE 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 72 Gary Hrivnak DE 68 Jim Osborne DT 71 Roger Stillwell DE 89 Mel Tom DE		Linebackers 52 John Babinecz 50 Waymond Bryant 55 Doug Buffone 54 Larry Ely 59 Carl Gersbach 58 Bob Pifferini 57 Don Rives Defensive backs 45 Craig Clemons FS 43 Earl Douthitt 48 Allan Ellis CB 31 Bill Knox 24 Virgil Livers CB 46 Doug Plank SS 21 Nemiah Wilson CB Special teams 86 Bob Parsons P 16 Robert R. Thomas K		Reserve lists 87 Tom Reynolds WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 21	Baltimore Colts	L 7–35	0–1	Soldier Field	54,152
2	September 28	Philadelphia Eagles	W 15–13	1–1	Soldier Field	48,071
3	October 5	at Minnesota Vikings	L 3–28	1–2	Metropolitan Stadium	47,578
4	October 12	at Detroit Lions	L 7–27	1–3	Pontiac Municipal Stadium	74,032
5	October 19	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–34	1–4	Three Rivers Stadium	47,579
6	October 27	Minnesota Vikings	L 9–13	1–5	Soldier Field	51,259
7	November 2	Miami Dolphins	L 13–46	1–6	Soldier Field	57,455
8	November 9	Green Bay Packers	W 27–14	2–6	Soldier Field	48,738
9	November 16	at San Francisco 49ers	L 3–31	2-7	Candlestick Park	41,726
10	November 23	at Los Angeles Rams	L 10–38	2-8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	64,979
11	November 30	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–28	2-9	Lambeau Field	56,267
12	December 7	Detroit Lions	W 25–21	3–9	Soldier Field	37,772
13	December 14	St. Louis Cardinals	L 20–34	3–10	Soldier Field	35,052
14	December 21	at New Orleans Saints	W 42–17	4–10	Louisiana Superdome	33,371
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 2

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	3	0	7	13
• Bears	0	9	0	6	15

Date: September 28
Location: Soldier Field • Chicago, Illinois
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C), wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)

Scoring summary

1		PHI	Horst Muhlmann 44-yard field goal	Eagles 3–0

2		CHI	Bob Thomas 44-yard field goal	Tie 3–3

2		CHI	Cid Edwards 7-yard pass from Gary Huff (kick failed)	Bears 9–3

2		PHI	Horst Muhlmann 43-yard field goal	Bears 9–6

4		CHI	Bob Thomas 24-yard field goal	Bears 12–6

4	4:09	PHI	Harold Carmichael 14-yard pass from Roman Gabriel (Horst Muhlmann kick)	Eagles 13–12

4	:08	CHI	Bob Thomas 26-yard field goal	Bears 15–12

^[2]

Week 8

	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	7	0	7	14
• Bears	10	7	10	0	27

Date: November 9
Location: Soldier Field, Chicago
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h)

Scoring summary

1	CHI	Bob Thomas 34 yard field goal	Bears 3–0

1	CHI	Bob Parsons 12 yard pass from Gary Huff (Bob Thomas kick)	Bears 10–0

2	GB	Steve Odom 42 yard pass from Don Milan (Joe Danelo kick)	Bears 10–7

2	CHI	Walter Payton 5 yard run (Bob Thomas kick)	Bears 17–7

3	CHI	Bob Thomas 48 yard field goal	Bears 20–7

3	CHI	Craig Clemons 76 yard interception return (Bob Thomas kick)	Bears 27–7

4	GB	Barry Smith 18 yard pass from Carlos Brown (Joe Danelo kick)	Bears 27–14

^[3]

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	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

^[4]

Awards and records

References

^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the NFL, in the regular season, requiring Points Differential <= -25, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 296

v t e Chicago Bears
Founded in 1919 Formerly the Decatur Staleys (1919–1920) and the Chicago Staleys (1921) Based in Chicago, Illinois Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois
Franchise	History Coaches Seasons Current season
Records	Franchise records All-time record versus NFL Team awards and honors Players Head coaches Pro Football Hall of Famers First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks
Stadiums	Staley Field Wrigley Field Memorial Stadium Soldier Field Chicago Bears stadium (proposed)
Culture	Brian's Song 1971 2001 Brian Piccolo Award "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" "The Super Bowl Shuffle" Monsters of the Midway "Sweet Home Chicago" Bill Swerski's Superfans Chuck Swirsky Chicago Honey Bears Staley Da Bear Logos and uniforms Halas Hall A. E. Staley Jack Brickhouse George Halas Mike Ditka Roosevelt/Wabash 85386 Payton Jim Cornelison Club Dub ("Swag Surfin")
Lore	Staley Swindle 1932 Playoff Game First NFL Championship Game Sneakers Game T formation 73–0 ‘85 Bears Super Bowl XX 46 defense Asterisk Game Fog Bowl "They are who we thought they were!" Double Doink
Rivalries	Arizona Cardinals Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings New York Giants
Minor league affiliates	Newark Bears (AA, 1939–1941) Wichita Aero Commandos (1942) Akron Bears (AFL, 1946) Bloomfield Cardinals (AFL, 1947) Richmond Rebels (AFL, 1948–1950) Quad City Mohawks (MWPFL, 1970–1972)
Retired numbers	3 5 7 28 34 40 41 42 51 56 61 66 77 89
Key personnel	Principal owner: Virginia Halas McCaskey Chairman: George McCaskey President/CEO: Kevin Warren General manager: Ryan Poles Head coach: Matt Eberflus
Division championships (21)	1933 1934 1937 1940 1941 1942 1943 1946 1956 1963 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1990 2001 2005 2006 2010 2018
Conference championships (4)	1956 1963 1985 2006
League championships (9)	1921 1932 1933 1940 1941 1943 1946 1963 1985 (XX)
Media	Broadcasters Radio: WMVP Personnel: Jeff Joniak (play-by-play) Tom Thayer (analyst) Jason McKie (sideline reporter) Television: WFLD (pre-season and most regular season games through Fox, official pre-game and post-game alternate) Marquee Sports Network (official post-game and in-season programming) Personnel: Lou Canellis (gameday television host, pre-season sideline reporter) Adam Amin (pre-season play-by-play) Jim Miller (pre-season analyst)
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division
Category:Chicago Bears WikiProject Chicago Bears

v t e Chicago Bears seasons
Formerly the Decatur Staleys (1920) and the Chicago Staleys (1921)
1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 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 NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) 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