1975 Chicago Bears season

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.

1975 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Jack Pardee
Home stadium	Soldier Field
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1974 Bears seasons 1976 →

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

Main article: 1975 NFL draft

1975 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	4	Walter Payton * †	Running back	Jackson State
2	31	Mike Hartenstine	Defensive end	Penn State
4	83	Virgil Livers	Cornerback	Western Kentucky
5	110	Revie Sorey	Guard	Illinois
6	135	Bob Avellini	Quarterback	Maryland
6	151	Tom Hicks	Linebacker	Illinois
7	178	Earl Douthitt	Safety	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	Safety	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
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1975 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Greg Engebos	Cornerback	Minnesota

Roster

1975 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Bob Avellini 11 Virgil Carter 19 Gary Huff Running backs (RB) 20 Mike Adamle 36 Tom Donchez 35 Roland Harper 22 Johnny Musso 34 Walter Payton Wide receivers (WR) 27 Bob Grim 80 Bo Rather 85 Steve Schubert Tight ends (TE) 81 Gary Butler 88 Greg Latta 86 Bob Parsons P

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Lionel Antoine T 74 Bob Asher T 65 Noah Jackson G 51 Dan Neal C 78 Bob Newton G 63 Mark Nordquist G 75 Jeff Sevy T 69 Revie Sorey G Defensive linemen (DL) 60 Wally Chambers DT 84 Richard Harris DE 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 72 Gary Hrivnak DE 68 Jim Osborne DT 76 Ron Rydalch DT 71 Roger Stillwell DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 John Babinecz OLB 50 Waymond Bryant OLB 55 Doug Buffone OLB 54 Larry Ely MLB 59 Carl Gersbach MLB 58 Bob Pifferini OLB Defensive backs (DB) 45 Craig Clemons FS 43 Earl Douthitt SS 48 Allan Ellis CB 31 Bill Knox CB 24 Virgil Livers CB 46 Doug Plank SS 21 Nemiah Wilson CB Special teams (ST) 16 Bob Thomas K

Reserve 53 Dan Peiffer C (IR) 87 Tom Reynolds WR (IR) 57 Don Rives LB (IR) 25 Ronnie Shanklin WR (IR) -- Joe Taylor CB (PUP) 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

Team	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

Team	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