1975 New York Jets season

The 1975 New York Jets season was the 16th season for the team and the sixth in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 7–7 record from 1974 under head coach Charley Winner. The Jets failed to do so, and finished with a record of 3–11, the worst in franchise history at the time. Winner was fired after nine games and replaced with assistant Ken Shipp, who finished the season winning once in five games.

1975 New York Jets season
Owner	Leon Hess
Head coach	Charley Winner (2-7) Ken Shipp (1-4)
Home stadium	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	3–11
Division place	T-4th AFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB John Riggins TE Rich Caster
← 1974 Jets seasons 1976 →

This would be the first of three consecutive 3–11 seasons, as they would repeat this win–loss record in 1976 and 1977. They tied the New England Patriots for last place in their division, the AFC East, but were awarded fourth place by virtue of their head-to-head sweep over the Patriots during the season.

The Jets’ pass defense surrendered 8.12 yards-per-attempt (including quarterback sacks), the second-most in NFL history.^{[1][note 1]}

One of the only bright spots was fullback John Riggins rushing for 1,000 yards in a season (1,005) becoming the first Jet runner to eclipse that mark. Riggins also broke the record for most yards rushing in a season by a New York Jet (breaking the previous record of 948 set by Matt Snell).

Offseason

Roster

1975 New York Jets roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 J. J. Jones 12 Joe Namath Running backs (RB) 32 Emerson Boozer 35 Steve Davis 26 Carl Garrett 36 Bob Gresham 43 Jazz Jackson 44 John Riggins Wide receivers (WR) 83 Jerome Barkum  7 Eddie Bell 82 David Knight 89 Lou Piccone Tight ends (TE) 86 Willie Brister 88 Rich Caster

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Darrell Austin G/T 79 Gordie Browne T 65 Joe Fields C/G 75 Winston Hill T 50 Wayne Mulligan C 77 Garry Puetz G 66 Randy Rasmussen G 72 Robert Woods T Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Carl Barzilauskas DT 76 Jim Bailey DE/DT 85 Ed Galigher DT 81 Richard Neal DE 87 Billy Newsome DE 70 Larry Woods DT

Linebackers (LB) 53 Ken Bernich OLB 55 John Ebersole MLB 57 Rich Lewis OLB 52 Steve Reese MLB 56 Godwin Turk OLB 58 Richard Wood OLB Defensive backs (DB) 29 Carl Capria FS 23 Jerry Davis CB 48 George Hoey CB 22 Burgess Owens SS 46 Rich Sowells CB 38 Ed Taylor FS/SS 47 Roscoe Word CB Special teams (ST)  8 Greg Gantt P  5 Pat Leahy K

Reserve 62 Al Atkinson LB (IR) 33 Bob Burns RB (IR) 20 Delles Howell S (IR) 84 Mark Lomas DE (IR) 54 Jamie Rivers LB (IR) 80 James Scott WR (IR) 21 Steve Tannen CB/S (IR) 27 Phil Wise S (IR) 18 Al Woodall QB (IR) 64 Joe Wysock G (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	Attendance
1	September 21	at Buffalo Bills	L 42–14	0–1	Rich Stadium	77,837
2	September 28	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 30–24	1–1	Arrowhead Stadium	73,939
3	October 5	New England Patriots	W 36–7	2–1	Shea Stadium	57,365
4	October 12	at Minnesota Vikings	L 29–21	2–2	Metropolitan Stadium	47,739
5	October 19	Miami Dolphins	L 43–0	2–3	Shea Stadium	47,191
6	October 26	Baltimore Colts	L 45–28	2–4	Shea Stadium	55,137
7	November 2	Buffalo Bills	L 24–23	2–5	Shea Stadium	58,343
8	November 9	at Miami Dolphins	L 27–7	2–6	Miami Orange Bowl	72,896
9	November 16	at Baltimore Colts	L 52–19	2–7	Memorial Stadium	52,097
10	November 23	St. Louis Cardinals	L 37–6	2–8	Shea Stadium	53,169
11	November 30	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 20–7	2–9	Shea Stadium	52,618
12	December 7	at New England Patriots	W 30–28	3–9	Schaefer Stadium	53,989
13	December 15	at San Diego Chargers	L 24–16	3–10	San Diego Stadium	49,706
14	December 21	Dallas Cowboys	L 31–21	3–11	Shea Stadium	37,279
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

^[2]

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts(3)	10	4	0	.714	6–2	8–3	395	269	W9
Miami Dolphins	10	4	0	.714	6–2	7–4	357	222	W1
Buffalo Bills	8	6	0	.571	5–3	7–4	420	355	L1
New York Jets	3	11	0	.214	2–6	3–8	258	433	L2
New England Patriots	3	11	0	.214	1–7	2–9	258	358	L6

Notes

1. The 1981 Colts are the only NFL team to surrender more yards per opposing pass attempt.