1976 NFL season

1976 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	September 12 – 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

The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The year 1976 was also the Bicentennial of the United States although the NFL did not issue its own Bicentennial patch. The Dallas Cowboys did modify their helmet (red, white and blue stripes) to honor the year, and were the only NFL team to recognize the Bicentennial.^[1]

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 season. The Buccaneers would set a record of futility, becoming the first NFL team to finish a 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 New York Giants finally opened their new stadium Giants Stadium after spending 2 seasons at the Yale Bowl and one season at Shea Stadium.

The season ended with Super Bowl XI when the Oakland Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in the Rose Bowl.

Major rule changes

• A play clock is placed at each end of the stadium, 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 during a 1970 game.
• The official coin toss was moved to three minutes before kickoff. From 1947 through 1975, the official coin toss was held 30 minutes prior to kickoff, and a simulated coin toss was held at midfield three minutes prior to kickoff to inform the fans and media of the outcome of the toss.

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, two or 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 (East, Central and West) 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	Chicago, Minnesota	1–0–0	Los Angeles, San Francisco	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	Dallas, Washington	3–0–0	Minnesota	2–0–1	Los Angeles	2–0–1	Dallas, Washington	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 Francisco	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	Baltimore, Miami	1–0–0	3 teams	1–0–0	Oakland, San Diego	1–0–0	4 teams	1–0–0
2	Baltimore	2–0–0	Houston	2–0–0	Denver, Oakland	2–0–0	2 teams	2–0–0
3	Miami*	2–1–0	Houston*	2–1–0	Oakland, San Diego	3–0–0	5 teams	2–1–0
4	Baltimore*	3–1–0	Cincinnati*	3–1–0	Denver, Oakland	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

	Divisional Playoffs				Conf. Championship Games				Super Bowl XI
	December 19 – Memorial Stadium
	3) Pittsburgh	40
					December 26 – Oakland Coliseum
	2) Baltimore	14
					3) Pittsburgh	7
	December 18 – Oakland Coliseum
					1) Oakland	24
	4) New England	21
									January 9 – Rose Bowl
	1) Oakland	24
									A1) Oakland	32
	December 19 – Texas Stadium
									N1) Minnesota	14
	3) Los Angeles	14
					December 26 – Metropolitan Stadium
	2) Dallas	12
					3) Los Angeles	13
	December 18 – Metropolitan Stadium
					1) Minnesota	24
	4) Washington	20
	1) Minnesota	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

1. "Cowboys have the quirkiest uniform set in all of sports". ESPN. October 26, 2007. Retrieved March 10, 2016.

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1971–1980 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)