All NFL game summaries for 12/07/1975:

The Redskins went down to the final seconds again to defeat the Falcons and remain alive in the NFC East race. After Nick Mike-Mayer kicked a 44-yard field goal to pull Atlanta even at 24-24 with 61 seconds left, Washington's Billy Kilmer took command and completed five of six passes for 56 yards to the Falcons' 22 and Mark Moseley kicked a 39-yard field goal with two seconds remaining. Kilmer completed 25 of 38 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Atlanta rookie quarterback Steve Bartkowski had his finest game, hitting 14 of 26 for 281 yards and three touchdowns.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Redskins by 7

( 3- 0) WAS Mark Moseley 42 yard field goal
(10- 0) WAS Larry Brown 3 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Mark Moseley kick)
(10- 7) ATL Ken Burrow 9 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)
(10-14) ATL Wallace Francis 67 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)
(10-17) ATL Nick Mike-Mayer 23 yard field goal
(17-17) WAS Frank Grant 69 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Mark Moseley kick)
(20-17) WAS Mark Moseley 34 yard field goal
(27-17) WAS Jerry Smith 12 yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Mark Moseley kick)
(27-24) ATL Dave Hampton 3 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)
(27-27) ATL Nick Mike-Mayer 44 yard field goal
(30-27) WAS Mark Moseley 39 yard field goal

                     WAS             ATL
First Downs:         22              16
Rushes-yards:        30-91           30-127
Yards/rush:          3.0             4.2
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     25-38-320-1     14-26-281-3
Sacked-yards:        1-6             2-20
Net pass yards:      314             261
Net yards/pass:      8.1             9.3
Total net yards:     405             388
Total plays:         69 (43% run)    58 (51% run)  
Yards/play:          5.9             6.7
Fumbles-lost:        2-1             1-0
Turnovers:           2               3
Penalties-yards:     3-27            5-47

Attendance: 52,809

---

Rookie Roland Harper dashed 27 yards up the middle for a touchdown with 4:22 remaining to lift the Bears to their third victory. Harper's decisive score took the sting out of a pair of Lions' touchdowns ? Joe Reed to Marlin Briscoe passes for 15 and 59 yards ? that occurred within 69 seconds and gave Detroit a 21-19 lead in the fourth period. Chicago rookie quarterback Bob Avellini completed 11 of 19 passes for 204 yards.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Lions by 7

( 7- 0) DET Altie Taylor 1 yard rush (Errol Mann kick)
( 7- 3) CHI Bob Thomas 36 yard field goal
( 7-10) CHI Walter Payton 4 yard rush (Bob Thomas kick)
( 7-13) CHI Bob Thomas 41 yard field goal
( 7-19) CHI Walter Payton 5 yard rush (kick failed)
(14-19) DET Marlin Briscoe 15 yard pass from Joe Reed (Errol Mann kick)
(21-19) DET Marlin Briscoe 59 yard pass from Joe Reed (Errol Mann kick)
(21-25) CHI Roland Harper 27 yard rush (kick failed)

                     DET             CHI
First Downs:         19              15
Rushes-yards:        39-153          42-140
Yards/rush:          3.9             3.3
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     14-34-220-1     11-19-204-2
Sacked-yards:        2-28            3-31
Net pass yards:      192             173
Net yards/pass:      5.3             7.9
Total net yards:     345             313
Total plays:         75 (52% run)    64 (65% run)  
Yards/play:          4.6             4.9
Fumbles-lost:        3-2             3-2
Turnovers:           3               4
Penalties-yards:     6-77            8-45

Attendance: 37,772

---

San Diego broke an 11-game losing streak and scored its first victory of season as rookie Rickey Young ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Young's second score in the fourth quarter gave the Chargers the lead and Dan Fouts' touchdown clinched the win. Interceptions by Emmitt Thomas and Mike Sensibaugh set up two Kansas City touchdowns before the Chargers' comeback.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Chiefs by 9

( 7- 0) SD  Rickey Young 5 yard rush (Ray Wersching kick)
( 7- 3) KC  Jan Stenerud 21 yard field goal
( 7- 6) KC  Jan Stenerud 22 yard field goal
(14- 6) SD  Sam Scarber 8 yard rush (Ray Wersching kick)
(14-13) KC  Woody Green 1 yard rush (Jan Stenerud kick)
(14-20) KC  Barry Pearson 17 yard pass from Len Dawson (Jan Stenerud kick)
(21-20) SD  Rickey Young 3 yard rush (Ray Wersching kick)
(28-20) SD  Dan Fouts 9 yard rush (Ray Wersching kick)

                     SD              KC
First Downs:         21              17
Rushes-yards:        50-247          30-63
Yards/rush:          4.9             2.1
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     8-18-168-3      17-30-198-0
Sacked-yards:        1-3             4-29
Net pass yards:      165             169
Net yards/pass:      8.7             5.0
Total net yards:     412             232
Total plays:         69 (72% run)    64 (46% run)  
Yards/play:          6.0             3.6
Fumbles-lost:        2-1             6-3
Turnovers:           4               3
Penalties-yards:     8-40            4-30

Attendance: 46,888

---

Quarterback Don Strock, filling in for the injured Bob Griese and Earl Morrall, threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score to keep the Dolphins one game in front of Baltimore and eliminate the Bills from playoff contention. Buffalo trailed 21-0 at the half but closed gap to 24-21 in final quarter before Don Nottingham ran 56 yards to the Buffalo one and Norm Bulaich scored the clincher. Howard Twilley caught the two scoring passes from Strock, who had thrown only five passes in his three-year career prior to this game. O. J. Simpson rushed for 96 yards, caught eight passes for 117 yards and scored his 19th and 20th touchdowns.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Dolphins by 2

( 0- 7) MIA Don Strock 4 yard rush (Garo Yepremian kick)
( 0-14) MIA Howard Twilley 8 yard pass from Don Strock (Garo Yepremian kick)
( 0-21) MIA Howard Twilley 1 yard pass from Don Strock (Garo Yepremian kick)
( 7-21) BUF O.J. Simpson 14 yard rush (John Leypoldt kick)
( 7-24) MIA Garo Yepremian 20 yard field goal
(14-24) BUF J.D. Hill 31 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick)
(21-24) BUF O.J. Simpson 62 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick)
(21-31) MIA Norm Bulaich 1 yard rush (Garo Yepremian kick)

                     BUF             MIA
First Downs:         21              19
Rushes-yards:        29-130          44-197
Yards/rush:          4.5             4.5
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     20-41-279-2     12-15-99-0
Sacked-yards:        3-24            0-0
Net pass yards:      255             99
Net yards/pass:      5.8             6.6
Total net yards:     385             296
Total plays:         73 (39% run)    59 (74% run)  
Yards/play:          5.3             5.0
Fumbles-lost:        0-0             0-0
Turnovers:           2               0
Penalties-yards:     7-99            7-75

Attendance: 74,573

---

Fran Tarkenton threw two touchdown passes to John Gilliam and another to Chuck Foreman in the first half as the Vikings rebounded from their first defeat to sweep their season series with the Packers. Tarkenton's three scoring passes lifted his lifetime touchdown completions to 289, one off John Unitas' NFL career record of 290. Foreman's touchdown was his 18th of the season. Foreman's 64 rushing yards lifted his NFC-leading total to 961, and his six receptions boosted his conference-leading total to 62 for 600 yards.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Vikings by 12

( 0- 7) MIN John Gilliam 18 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick)
( 0-14) MIN Chuck Foreman 32 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick)
( 3-14) GB  Joe Danelo 22 yard field goal
( 3-21) MIN John Gilliam 37 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick)
( 3-24) MIN Fred Cox 37 yard field goal

                     GB              MIN
First Downs:         6               19
Rushes-yards:        20-51           42-161
Yards/rush:          2.5             3.8
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     11-30-93-3      23-36-235-0
Sacked-yards:        3-22            1-9
Net pass yards:      71              226
Net yards/pass:      2.2             6.1
Total net yards:     122             387
Total plays:         53 (37% run)    79 (53% run)  
Yards/play:          2.3             4.9
Fumbles-lost:        2-0             3-0
Turnovers:           3               0
Penalties-yards:     5-45            7-41

Attendance: 46,147

---

Joe Namath ran his personal record against the Patriots to 15-2-1 as the Jets snapped an eight-game losing streak. Namath completed 14 of 18 passes and sneaked for a first down to set up the first of three field goals by Pat Leahy. John Riggins rushed for 152 yards and a total of 868 in his bid to become club's first 1,000-yard runner. Rookie Steve Grogan threw two touchdown passes to Randy Vataha but was intercepted twice. Don Calhoun, subbing for the injured Sam Cunningham, gained 103 yards in first start.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Patriots by 7

( 3- 0) NYJ Pat Leahy 42 yard field goal
( 6- 0) NYJ Pat Leahy 27 yard field goal
(13- 0) NYJ Carl Garrett 4 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick)
(13- 7) NE  Randy Vataha 20 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick)
(20- 7) NYJ John Riggins 37 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick)
(20-14) NE  Don Calhoun 38 yard rush (John Smith kick)
(27-14) NYJ John Riggins 6 yard rush (Pat Leahy kick)
(30-14) NYJ Pat Leahy 44 yard field goal
(30-21) NE  Randy Vataha 10 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick)
(30-28) NE  Steve Grogan 1 yard rush (John Smith kick)

                     NYJ             NE
First Downs:         21              21
Rushes-yards:        53-205          29-163
Yards/rush:          3.9             5.6
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     14-18-160-0     15-30-273-4
Sacked-yards:        1-4             2-12
Net pass yards:      156             261
Net yards/pass:      8.2             8.2
Total net yards:     361             424
Total plays:         72 (73% run)    61 (47% run)  
Yards/play:          5.0             7.0
Fumbles-lost:        4-1             4-1
Turnovers:           1               5
Penalties-yards:     9-70            6-31

Attendance: 53,989

---

The Rams could not score an offensive touchdown and had to rely on a 67-yard fumble return by special teamer Jim Peterson, a safety achieved when defensive end Jack Youngblood tackled Archie Manning in the end zone, and field goals of 47 and 37 yards by Tom Dempsey to post their fourth straight victory.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Rams by 14

( 2- 0) LA  Safety, Archie Manning tackled in end zone by Jack Youngblood
( 8- 0) LA  Jim Peterson 67 yard fumble return (kick failed)
(11- 0) LA  Tom Dempsey 47 yard field goal
(11- 7) NO  Rod McNeill 5 yard pass from Archie Manning (Rich Szaro kick)
(14- 7) LA  Tom Dempsey 37 yard field goal

                     LA              NO
First Downs:         14              12
Rushes-yards:        38-132          30-76
Yards/rush:          3.5             2.5
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     11-18-115-2     14-23-165-2
Sacked-yards:        2-15            3-23
Net pass yards:      100             142
Net yards/pass:      5.0             5.5
Total net yards:     232             218
Total plays:         58 (65% run)    56 (53% run)  
Yards/play:          4.0             3.9
Fumbles-lost:        4-2             2-1
Turnovers:           4               3
Penalties-yards:     3-20            5-30

Attendance: 39,958

---

Lydell Mitchell rushed for 119 yards to become the first player in Baltimore history to run for more than 1,000 yards in a season and the Colts' defense smothered the Giants with eight sacks as Baltimore won its seventh straight game to remain one game behind AFC East leader Miami. Mitchell boosted his 12-game rushing total to 1,008 yards.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Colts by 10

( 7- 0) BAL Lydell Mitchell 9 yard rush (Toni Linhart kick)
(14- 0) BAL Stan White 23 yard interception return (Toni Linhart kick)
(21- 0) BAL Bill Olds 1 yard rush (Toni Linhart kick)

                     BAL             NYG
First Downs:         15              14
Rushes-yards:        39-148          29-93
Yards/rush:          3.8             3.2
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     11-18-92-0      12-28-195-3
Sacked-yards:        2-17            8-62
Net pass yards:      75              133
Net yards/pass:      3.8             3.7
Total net yards:     223             226
Total plays:         59 (66% run)    65 (44% run)  
Yards/play:          3.8             3.5
Fumbles-lost:        1-0             4-1
Turnovers:           0               4
Penalties-yards:     8-70            4-43

Attendance: 49,863

---

Ken Anderson, returning to the lineup after missing a game because of a chest bruise, completed 20 passes for 223 yards to pace a 484-yard Bengals' attack that boosted Cincinnati's record to 10-2 and kept them within one game of AFC Central leader Pittsburgh. Isaac Curtis caught five passes for 83 yards, and Boobie Clark's 65 yards led a 258-yard ground attack.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Bengals by 6

( 7- 0) CIN Ed Williams 1 yard rush (Dave Green kick)
(14- 0) CIN Stan Fritts 3 yard rush (Dave Green kick)
(21- 0) CIN Ed Williams 10 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Dave Green kick)
(24- 0) CIN Dave Green 48 yard field goal
(31- 0) CIN John Reaves 3 yard rush (Dave Green kick)

                     CIN             PHI
First Downs:         34              13
Rushes-yards:        48-258          24-118
Yards/rush:          5.4             4.9
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     21-37-234-2     13-41-121-4
Sacked-yards:        1-8             2-14
Net pass yards:      226             107
Net yards/pass:      5.9             2.5
Total net yards:     484             225
Total plays:         86 (55% run)    67 (35% run)  
Yards/play:          5.6             3.4
Fumbles-lost:        6-4             3-1
Turnovers:           6               5
Penalties-yards:     6-64            8-85

Attendance: 56,984

---

Terry Bradshaw led the Steelers to their tenth straight victory with two touchdown passes to Lynn Swann, clinching at least a wild card playoff berth for the defending champions. The Browns stung the Steelers with two touchdowns within 14 seconds and led at halftime 17-10. Franco Harris reached the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in four seasons with 103 yards for a total of 1,002 yards. Swann's scores were his ninth and tenth of the year and Bradshaw's two TD passes gave him 17 for the season, a career high.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Steelers by 16

( 3- 0) CLE Don Cockroft 26 yard field goal
( 3- 7) PIT Franco Harris 3 yard rush (Roy Gerela kick)
(10- 7) CLE Greg Pruitt 1 yard rush (Don Cockroft kick)
(17- 7) CLE Willie Miller 17 yard fumble return (Don Cockroft kick)
(17-10) PIT Roy Gerela 32 yard field goal
(17-17) PIT Lynn Swann 3 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick)
(17-24) PIT Lynn Swann 18 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick)
(17-31) PIT Franco Harris 8 yard rush (Roy Gerela kick)

                     CLE             PIT
First Downs:         15              17
Rushes-yards:        32-122          39-160
Yards/rush:          3.8             4.1
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     14-37-145-3     11-25-135-0
Sacked-yards:        3-30            4-37
Net pass yards:      115             98
Net yards/pass:      2.9             3.4
Total net yards:     237             258
Total plays:         72 (44% run)    68 (57% run)  
Yards/play:          3.3             3.8
Fumbles-lost:        2-1             2-2
Turnovers:           4               2
Penalties-yards:     4-41            7-40

Attendance: 47,962

---

The Oilers' defense limited the 49ers to five yards rushing and Billy Johnson returned a punt 76 yards to set up Houston's final touchdown, a two-yard run by Ronnie Coleman. Houston snapped a 13-13 tie early in the fourth period on a 67-yard scoring drive climaxed by Willie Rodgers' one-yard touchdown bolt. Coleman rushed for 82 yards and Ken Burrough caught seven passes for 85 yards. Oilers cornerback Zeke Moore's 74-yard interception return was the longest in the AFC during 1975.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Oilers by 1

( 3- 0) HOU Skip Butler 27 yard field goal
( 3- 3) SF  Steve Mike-Mayer 42 yard field goal
( 6- 3) HOU Skip Butler 30 yard field goal
( 6-10) SF  Larry Schreiber 1 yard rush (Steve Mike-Mayer kick)
( 6-13) SF  Steve Mike-Mayer 41 yard field goal
(13-13) HOU Don Hardeman 1 yard rush (Skip Butler kick)
(20-13) HOU Willie Rodgers 1 yard rush (Skip Butler kick)
(27-13) HOU Ronnie Coleman 2 yard rush (Skip Butler kick)

                     HOU             SF
First Downs:         23              11
Rushes-yards:        51-170          25-5
Yards/rush:          3.3             0.2
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     11-23-118-0     18-32-221-1
Sacked-yards:        2-9             3-26
Net pass yards:      109             195
Net yards/pass:      4.4             5.6
Total net yards:     279             200
Total plays:         76 (67% run)    60 (41% run)  
Yards/play:          3.7             3.3
Fumbles-lost:        4-3             3-2
Turnovers:           3               3
Penalties-yards:     5-46            4-45

Attendance: 44,015

---

Jim Hart completed three touchdown passes ? 30 yards to Terry Metcalf and 49 and 6 yards to Mel Gray ? as the Cardinals soared to a 28-3 halftime lead and held on to take a one-game lead over the Cowboys, who fell into a second-place tie with the Redskins in the NFC East. Hart hit 11 of 19 passes, while Metcalf rushed for 86 yards and pushed his total offense yardage to 2,335, just 109 short of the NFL record of 2,444 yards for one season.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Cardinals by 1

( 0- 7) STL Terry Metcalf 30 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
( 3- 7) DAL Toni Fritsch 23 yard field goal
( 3-14) STL Mel Gray 49 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
( 3-21) STL Steve Jones 1 yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)
( 3-28) STL Mel Gray 6 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
(10-28) DAL Doug Dennison 1 yard rush (Toni Fritsch kick)
(10-31) STL Jim Bakken 27 yard field goal
(17-31) DAL Preston Pearson 1 yard rush (Toni Fritsch kick)

                     DAL             STL
First Downs:         28              22
Rushes-yards:        25-118          43-169
Yards/rush:          4.7             3.9
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     25-41-268-3     11-18-199-1
Sacked-yards:        3-13            0-0
Net pass yards:      255             199
Net yards/pass:      5.8             11.1
Total net yards:     373             368
Total plays:         69 (36% run)    61 (70% run)  
Yards/play:          5.4             6.0
Fumbles-lost:        0-0             1-0
Turnovers:           3               1
Penalties-yards:     5-22            7-67

Attendance: 49,701

---