Miracle on 33rd Street: Remembering the 1975 Baltimore Colts

The 1974 Baltimore Colts were a typical losing team. They suffered from poor coaching, an inordinate number of mistakes, and an incredibly high amount of just plain bad luck. They finished the 1974 season with a dismal record of 2 wins and 12 losses.

Fast forward to the end of the 1975 season, and the same team records a 10-4 mark and the championship of the AFC Eastern Division. How did they do it? What was the secret to their success?

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Getting the Right Coach

For one thing, the 1975 Baltimore Colts hired the right guy to be their head coach. Ted Marchibroda was a long-time assistant coach for the Washington Redskins.

He learned the tricks of the trade from none other than George Allen, and he employed what he had learned right from the get-go in Baltimore. Marchibroda had some talented players who were already on his roster. He already had quarterback Bert Jones. He already had tailback Lydell Mitchell.

What the team really lacked was the unity, the purpose, the drive, and the determination to excel. They also needed a head coach who had a plan to get them to make the best use of the talents that they possessed. Now they had that head coach in Ted Marchibroda. Now the sky was the limit.

Same Old Colts?

Well, not exactly. At least not in the first month of the season. The 1975 Baltimore Colts began that year by continuing what they did most often in the previous season…losing football games. They managed to win their opener at the lowly Chicago Bears but then went on a four-game losing streak, which most people felt would effectively ruin any chance that they had for the playoffs.

The Colts lost to the Oakland Raiders, the Los Angeles Rams, the Buffalo Bills, and the New England Patriots. Things looked bleak, to be sure.

But at least one man felt that Baltimore would soon turn things around. The great Buffalo running back, O.J. Simpson, commented after his team survived a scare against the Colts by a score of 38-31. “We knew that they were improved,” said Simpson. “We knew that they were always tough on us. They’re definitely a tough football team. All they have to do is win a few and they’ll be gone.”

Simpson was completely correct. After Baltimore’s fourth straight loss, a 21-10 defeat at New England, they (the Colts) would not lose another game until the playoffs. The winning streak began in earnest when they managed to outscore the host New York Jets 45-28, in a game that resembled more of a track meet than a football game.

The Colts then came home to venerable Memorial Stadium and earned their second straight victory of 1975 when they upended the Cleveland Browns, 21-7. They now had a record of three wins and four, as an increasing number of fans started to take notice in The Old Line State (Maryland’s nickname).

They Kept On Rolling

The wins kept mounting up for the Colts throughout the rest of the season. It did not matter if they were favored to win or not. Nor did it matter if they found themselves behind in those games in the second half or even in the fourth quarter of those games. Baltimore was going to find a way to win. After their victory over Cleveland, they went to Buffalo and came from behind to beat the Bills in their rematch, 42-35.

The Colts then romped over the New York Jets at home, 52-19. Perhaps Baltimore’s most impressive win occurred in the Orange Bowl, where they spanked the perennial playoff team, the Dolphins, by a score of 33-17. The Colts returned home the Sunday after Thanksgiving to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 28-14.

The stretch drive was now upon Marchibroda’s men. They knew that if they won all their final three games, they would finish the year with an outstanding 10-4 record. They would also win the AFC Eastern Division championship.

Considering where they had been at this point the season before, they had accomplished an incredible feat. Going from 2-12 to 10-4 in the span of just one season was – and is – remarkable. Baltimore’s 12th game of the year was at Shea Stadium to take on the New York Giants. The Colts performed in a workmanlike fashion and defeated them by a score of 21-0.

The Colts’ 13th game was at home against Miami in a fog-shrouded game. Nearby Chesapeake Bay had caused the foggy conditions, but the Colts defense had caused the Dolphins to score only one touchdown all game long.
A gut-check touchdown by Lydell Mitchell in the fourth quarter sent the game into overtime, where placekicker Toni Linhart kicked Baltimore to a 10-7 triumph.

End of the Season

The Colts’ final game of the regular season was again at Memorial Stadium against the New England Patriots. Baltimore won comfortably by a score of 34-21. This victory sent them into the 1975 AFC Playoffs as the AFC Eastern Division Champions.

It was indeed a Cinderella type of season. But it did not have an ultimately happy ending. Baltimore traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh to take on the defending World Champion Steelers in the first round of the 1975 AFC Playoffs. Colts quarterback Bert Jones injured his shoulder on a freak accident/hit by Steelers defensive back J.T. Thomas early in the first quarter. Without Jones, Baltimore languished and eventually lost, 28-10.

But that loss did not truly define the 1975 Baltimore Colts. They had turned around 180 degrees in the span of one season on 33rd street, the street where Memorial Stadium was located in Baltimore. It was indeed a season unlike any other in Baltimore sports history and one which definitely brings a smile to the faces of every true Colts fan to this very day.

Pro Football in the 1970s Trivia Question!

In the episode of the podcast, I asked this trivia question:

Who was the quarterback who replaced Bert Jones after Jones suffered his injury in the playoff game at Pittsburgh?

Check for the answer at the bottom of the page.

Host and Author of Pro Football in the 1970s - Joe Zagorski

Throughout his days, Joe spent some time as a sportswriter and has been a member of the Pro Football Researchers Association since the mid-1980s. Joe is also a proud member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Also, if you’re interested in picking one of Joe’s books up, all three are listed below.

Here, you can learn more about Joe and Pro Football in the 1970s.