1975 Denver Broncos season
# 1975 Denver Broncos season

The 1975 Denver Broncos season was the team's 16th year in professional football and its sixth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by fourth-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos were 6–8, second in the AFC West, but five games behind the Oakland Raiders, who clinched in late November.

Denver opened the season with two wins at home, against the Chiefs and Packers, but won only four of their last twelve games. In their sixteen years of existence, the Broncos had yet to reach the postseason.

## Offseason

### NFL Draft

1975 Denver Broncos draft :

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 17 | Louis Wright * | CB | San Jose State |
| 2 | 43 | Charles Smith | DE | North Carolina Central |
| 3 | 54 | Mike Franckowiak | FB | Central Michigan |
| 3 | 69 | Drew Mahalic | LB | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 84 | Steve Taylor | DB | Georgia |
| 4 | 95 | Rick Upchurch * | WR | Minnesota |
| 5 | 107 | Stan Rogers | T | Maryland |
| 5 | 121 | Rubin Carter | DT | Miami (FL) |
| 8 | 199 | Steve Foley | DB | Tulane |
| 9 | 225 | Rousell Williams | DB | Arizona |
| 10 | 240 | Hank Englehardt | C | Pacific |
| 10 | 251 | Steve Haggerty | WR | UNLV |
| 12 | 303 | Harry Walters | LB | Maryland |
| 13 | 329 | Eric Penick | RB | Notre Dame |
| 14 | 355 | Jerry Arnold | G | Oklahoma |
| 15 | 381 | Ken Shelton | TE | Virginia |
| 16 | 409 | Bubba Bridges | DT | Colorado |
| 17 | 433 | Lester Sherman | RB | Albany State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel

### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | September 21 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 37–33 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 51,858 |
| 2 | September 29 | Green Bay Packers | W 23–13 | 2–0 | Mile High Stadium | 52,621 |
| 3 | October 5 | at Buffalo Bills | L 14–38 | 2–1 | Rich Stadium | 79,864 |
| 4 | October 12 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 9–20 | 2–2 | Three Rivers Stadium | 49,169 |
| 5 | October 19 | Cleveland Browns | W 16–15 | 3–2 | Mile High Stadium | 52,590 |
| 6 | October 26 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 13–26 | 3–3 | Arrowhead Stadium | 70,043 |
| 7 | November 2 | Oakland Raiders | L 17–42 | 3–4 | Mile High Stadium | 52,505 |
| 8 | November 9 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 16–17 | 3–5 | Mile High Stadium | 49,919 |
| 9 | November 16 | at San Diego Chargers | W 27–17 | 4–5 | San Diego Stadium | 26,048 |
| 10 | November 23 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 21–35 | 4–6 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 28,686 |
| 11 | November 30 | San Diego Chargers | W $13–10^{OT}$ | 5–6 | Mile High Stadium | 44,982 |
| 12 | December 8 | at Oakland Raiders | L 10–17 | 5–7 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 51,075 |
| 13 | December 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 25–10 | 6–7 | Mile High Stadium | 36,860 |
| 14 | December 20 | at Miami Dolphins | L 13–14 | 6–8 | Orange Bowl | 43,064 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries

**Week 2**

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| • Broncos | 0 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 23 |

### Standings

AFC West :

| viewtalkedit | 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 |
