1976 Los Angeles Rams season

1976 Los Angeles Rams season
Head coach	Chuck Knox
Owner	Carroll Rosenbloom
Home field	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	10–3–1
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoff finish	Won Divisional (14–12 at Dallas Cowboys) Lost Conference (24–13 at Minnesota Vikings)

The 1976 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 39th year with the National Football League and the 31st season in Los Angeles.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance	Summary
1	September 12, 1976	at Atlanta Falcons	W 30–14	53,607	With James Harris injured, Ron Jaworski opened the Rams' season as the starter. Jaworski ran for a TD and passed for another, but was injured late. RB's Lawrence McCutcheon and John Cappelletti each ran for over 100 yards and the Ram defense picked off three passes, including an interception return TD by CB Monte Jackson.
2	September 19, 1976	at Minnesota Vikings	T 10–10	47,310	With Harris and Jaworski both down, the Rams turned to rookie Pat Haden. Haden played it close to the vest with ball-control as McCutcheon and Cappelletti both went over 100 yards rushing for the second straight week. Rams overcame a 10–0 deficit in the fourth to forge the tie.
3	September 26, 1976	New York Giants	W 24–10	60,698	Harris returned as the starter and passed for a TD as the Rams scored 24 unanswered points after a 10–0 first quarter Giants lead. Rams' defense picked off 4 passes.
4	October 3, 1976	at Miami Dolphins	W 31–28	60,753	In perhaps his finest performance as Ram QB, Harris passed for 436 yards and two TDs and ran for another as he helped the Rams overcome a 14–0 halftime deficit. Tom Dempsey won it with a late field goal.
5	October 11, 1976	San Francisco 49ers	L 16–0	80,532	In a Monday-night showdown against the upstart 49ers, Rams were dominated at home by the Niner defense, especially the pass rush. The 49ers sacked Harris 10 times, six alone by DE Tommy Hart. Harris injured his shoulder late and would miss the next few games.
6	October 17, 1976	Chicago Bears	W 20–12	71,751	Rams went with a Haden/Jaworski platoon. McCutcheon scored two TD's on a run and on a pass from Haden.
7	October 24, 1976	at New Orleans Saints	W 16–10	51,984	Despite being outgained in yards 422–214 and completing only five passes, the Rams won on a Haden-to-Harold Jackson TD bomb late. Rams defense did record nine QB sacks. Jaworski would be injured, but Harris would return for the next game.
8	October 31, 1976	Seattle Seahawks	W 45–6	52,035	Harris got the start in this blowout and passed for two TD's. Monte Jackson had his second interception return TD of the season as well.
9	November 7, 1976	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 20–12	52,480	Ken Anderson passed for two TD's. Harris played the entire game, but coach Chuck Knox announced that Haden would be his starter for the remainder of the season.
10	November 14, 1976	St. Louis Cardinals	L 30–28	64,698	Haden started and passed for a TD and ran for one, but the Rams couldn't hold off a Cardinal comeback led by Jim Hart's 324 passing yards. Jim Bakken won it with a late FG.
11	November 21, 1976	at San Francisco 49ers	W 23–3	58,573	Rams avenged the earlier loss by holding the 49ers to 88 net yards of offense and nine of 28 pass completions. Haden only completed 3 passes, but one was for a TD to Ron Jessie. Jackson had his third INT return TD.
12	November 28, 1976	New Orleans Saints	W 33–14	54,906	Haden threw for two scores and ran for another and McCutcheon had 119 yards rushing and a TD as the Rams rolled to a 26–7 halftime lead and cruised. Rams had 323 yards on the ground.
13	December 4, 1976	Atlanta Falcons	W 59–0	57,366	McCutcheon scored 3 TD's and Haden ran for one. Harris entered the game in the 4th and had a TD run and TD pass as the Rams mauled the Falcons.
14	December 11, 1976	at Detroit Lions	W 20–17	73,470	Haden started, but left the game early with strained knee ligaments. Harris came in and led the Rams to a comeback win, but Haden would be the starter for the playoffs.

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	December 19, 1976	at Dallas Cowboys	W 14–12	62,436
Conference Championship	December 26, 1976	at Minnesota Vikings	L 24–13	47,191

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams^(3)	10	3	1	.750	5–1–0	8–2–1	351	190	W4
San Francisco 49ers	8	6	0	.571	4–2	5–5	270	190	W1
New Orleans Saints	4	10	0	.286	2–5	3–8	253	346	L3
Atlanta Falcons	4	10	0	.286	2–5	4–8	172	312	L3
Seattle Seahawks	2	12	0	.143	1–3	1–12	229	429	L5

References