- 1976 NFL season
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1976 National Football League season Regular season Duration September 12, 1976 - December 12, 1976 Playoffs Start date December 18, 1976 AFC Champions Oakland Raiders NFC Champions Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl XI Date January 9, 1977 Site Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Champions Oakland Raiders Pro Bowl Date January 17, 1977 Site Kingdome, Seattle National Football League seasons < 1975 1977 > The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This fulfilled one of the conditions agreed to in 1966 for the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, which called for the league to expand to 28 teams by 1970 or soon thereafter.
For this season only, the Seahawks played in the NFC West while the Buccaneers played in the AFC West. (The Seahawks would return to the NFC West with the realignment prior to the 2002 NFL season.)
In addition, the Buccaneers would set a record of futility, finishing the season 0-14. The Buccaneers would go on to lose their first 26 games as a franchise before finally winning against the New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Cardinals to finish the 1977 season.
The season ended with Super Bowl XI when the Oakland Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings.
Contents
Major rule changes
- Two 30-seconds clocks, one on each end of the field, will be used for all games. They will be visible to both players and fans to note the official time between the ready-for-play signal and the snap of the ball.
- If the defensive team commits a foul during a failed extra point attempt, the try is replayed and the offensive team has the option to either have the distance penalty assessed on the next try or the ensuing kickoff.
- If the defensive team commits a foul during a successful extra point attempt, the penalty will be assessed on the ensuing kickoff.
- Players cannot grasp the facemask of an opponent. The penalty for an incidental grasp of the facemask is 5 yards. The penalty for twisting, turning, or pulling the facemask is 15 yards. A player can be ejected from the game if the foul is judged to be vicious and/or flagrant.
- A defender is prohibited from running or diving into, or throwing his body against or on a ballcarrier who falls or slips to the ground untouched and makes no attempt to advance, before or after the ball is dead. This is sometimes called as the "Ben Davidson Rule" after the Raiders defender who almost seriously injured quarterback Len Dawson after the Chiefs passer fell to the ground and made no attempt to advance.
Division races
The two expansion clubs, Tampa Bay and Seattle, were "swing" teams that didn't participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14 game schedule against other conference teams. As a member of the AFC in 1976, Tampa Bay played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the NFC. The 14th game, played in Week Six, was Seattle's 13–10 win at Tampa.
Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents' records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
Week Eastern Central Western Wild Card 1 3 teams 1-0-0 (Chi, Min) 1-0-0 (LA, SF) 1-0-0 4 teams 1-0-0 2 3 teams 2-0-0 CHICAGO 2-0-0 LOS ANGELES 1-0-1 2 teams 2-0-0 3 (Dal, Was) 3-0-0 MINNESOTA 2-0-1 LOS ANGELES 2-0-1 (Dal Was) 3-0-0 4 DALLAS 4-0-0 MINNESOTA 3-0-1 LOS ANGELES 3-0-1 ST. LOUIS* 3-1-0 5 DALLAS 5-0-0 MINNESOTA 4-0-1 SAN FRANCISC0 4-1-0 ST. LOUIS 4-1-0 6 ST. LOUIS* 5-1-0 MINNESOTA 5-0-1 SAN FRANCISCO 5-1-0 DALLAS 5-1-0 7 DALLAS 6-1-0 MINNESOTA 6-0-1 SAN FRANCISCO 6-1-0 LOS ANGELES 5-1-1 8 DALLAS 7-1-0 MINNESOTA 6-1-1 LOS ANGELES 6-1-1 ST. LOUIS* 6-2-0 9 DALLAS 8-1-0 MINNESOTA 7-1-1 LOS ANGELES 6-2-1 ST. LOUIS 7-2-0 10 DALLAS 9-1-0 MINNESOTA 8-1-1 LOS ANGELES 6-3-1 ST. LOUIS 8-2-0 11 DALLAS 9-2-0 MINNESOTA 9-1-1 LOS ANGELES 7-3-1 ST. LOUIS 8-3-0 12 DALLAS 10-2-0 MINNESOTA 9-2-1 LOS ANGELES 8-3-1 WASHINGTON* 8-4-0 13 DALLAS 11-2-0 MINNESOTA 10-2-1 LOS ANGELES 9-3-1 WASHINGTON* 9-4-0 14 DALLAS 11-3-0 MINNESOTA 11-2-1 LOS ANGELES 10-3-1 WASHINGTON* 10-4-0 American Football Conference
Week Eastern Central Western Wild Card 1 (Bal, Mia) 1-0-0 3 teams 1-0-0 (Oak, SD) 1-0-0 4 teams 1-0-0 2 BALTIMORE 2-0-0 HOUSTON 2-0-0 (Den, Oak) 2-0-0 2 teams 2-0-0 3 MIAMI* 2-1-0 HOUSTON* 2-1-0 (Oak, SD) 3-0-0 5 teams 2-1-0 4 BALTIMORE* 3-1-0 CINCINNATI* 3-1-0 (Den, Oak) 3-1-0 3 teams* 3-1-0 5 BALTIMORE 4-1-0 CINCINNATI* 4-1-0 OAKLAND 4-1-0 HOUSTON 4-1-0 6 BALTIMORE 5-1-0 CINCINNATI* 4-2-0 OAKLAND 5-1-0 NEW ENGLAND* 4-2-0 7 BALTIMORE 6-1-0 CINCINNATI 5-2-0 OAKLAND 6-1-0 NEW ENGLAND 5-2-0 8 BALTIMORE 7-1-0 CINCINNATI 6-2-0 OAKLAND 7-1-0 NEW ENGLAND 5-3-0 9 BALTIMORE 8-1-0 CINCINNATI 7-2-0 OAKLAND 8-1-0 NEW ENGLAND 6-3-0 10 BALTIMORE 8-2-0 CINCINNATI 8-2-0 OAKLAND 9-1-0 NEW ENGLAND 7-3-0 11 BALTIMORE 9-2-0 CINCINNATI 9-2-0 OAKLAND 10-1-0 NEW ENGLAND 8-3-0 12 BALTIMORE 10-2-0 CINCINNATI 9-3-0 OAKLAND 11-1-0 NEW ENGLAND 9-3-0 13 BALTIMORE* 10-3-0 CINCINNATI* 9-4-0 OAKLAND 12-1-0 NEW ENGLAND* 10-3-0 14 BALTIMORE* 11-3-0 PITTSBURGH* 10-4-0 OAKLAND 13-1-0 NEW ENGLAND 11-3-0 Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
x - clinched wild card berth, y - clinched division title
AFC East Team W L T PCT PF PA y-Baltimore Colts 11 3 0 .786 417 246 x-New England Patriots 11 3 0 .786 376 236 Miami Dolphins 6 8 0 .429 263 264 New York Jets 3 11 0 .214 169 383 Buffalo Bills 2 12 0 .143 245 363 AFC Central Team W L T PCT PF PA y-Pittsburgh Steelers 10 4 0 .714 342 138 Cincinnati Bengals 10 4 0 .714 335 210 Cleveland Browns 9 5 0 .643 267 287 Houston Oilers 5 9 0 .357 222 273 AFC West Team W L T PCT PF PA y-Oakland Raiders 13 1 0 .929 350 237 Denver Broncos 9 5 0 .643 315 206 San Diego Chargers 6 8 0 .429 248 285 Kansas City Chiefs 5 9 0 .357 290 376 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0 14 0 .000 125 412 NFC East Team W L T PCT PF PA y-Dallas Cowboys 11 3 0 .786 296 194 x-Washington Redskins 10 4 0 .714 291 217 St. Louis Cardinals 10 4 0 .714 309 267 Philadelphia Eagles 4 10 0 .286 165 286 New York Giants 3 11 0 .214 170 250 NFC Central Team W L T PCT PF PA y-Minnesota Vikings 11 2 1 .821 305 176 Chicago Bears 7 7 0 .500 253 216 Detroit Lions 6 8 0 .429 262 220 Green Bay Packers 5 9 0 .357 218 299 NFC West Team W L T PCT PF PA y-Los Angeles Rams 10 3 1 .750 351 190 San Francisco 49ers 8 6 0 .571 270 190 Atlanta Falcons 4 10 0 .286 172 312 New Orleans Saints 4 10 0 .286 253 346 Seattle Seahawks 2 12 0 .143 229 429 Tiebreakers
- Baltimore finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on better division record (7–1 to Patriots' 6–2).
- Pittsburgh finished ahead of Cincinnati in the AFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- Washington finished ahead of St. Louis in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- Atlanta finished ahead of New Orleans in the NFC West based on better division record (2–4 to Saints' 1–5).
Playoffs
Main article: 1976–77 NFL playoffsDivisional Playoffs Conf. Championship Games Super Bowl XI December 19 - Memorial Stadium 3) Pittsburgh Steelers 40 December 26 - Oakland Coliseum 2) Baltimore Colts 14 3) Pittsburgh Steelers 7 December 18 - Oakland Coliseum 1) Oakland Raiders 24 4) New England Patriots 21 January 9 - Rose Bowl 1) Oakland Raiders 24 A1) Oakland Raiders 32 December 19 - Texas Stadium N1) Minnesota Vikings 14 3) Los Angeles Rams 14 December 26 - Metropolitan Stadium 2) Dallas Cowboys 12 3) Los Angeles Rams 13 December 18 - Metropolitan Stadium 1) Minnesota Vikings 24 4) Washington Redskins 20 1) Minnesota Vikings 35 Awards
Most Valuable Player Bert Jones, Quarterback, Baltimore Colts Coach of the Year Forrest Gregg, Cleveland Browns Offensive Player of the Year Bert Jones, Quarterback, Baltimore Colts Defensive Player of the Year Jack Lambert, Linebacker, Pittsburgh Offensive Rookie of the Year Sammy White, Wide Receiver, Minnesota Vikings Defensive Rookie of the Year Mike Haynes, Cornerback, New England References
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- NFL History 1971-1980 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
- 1976 season in details
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
1976 NFL seasonAFC East Central West East Central West NFC Baltimore Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta Buffalo Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Los Angeles Miami Houston Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans New England Pittsburgh San Diego St. Louis Minnesota San Francisco NY Jets Tampa Bay Washington Seattle 1976 NFL Draft • NFL Playoffs • Pro Bowl • Super Bowl XI National Football League seasons Early era
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(1970–present)1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013Categories:- 1976 National Football League season
- National Football League seasons
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