1976 Buffalo Bills season
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1976 Buffalo Bills season
| 1976 Buffalo Bills season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Jim Ringo and Lou Saban | ||||||
| Owner | Ralph Wilson | ||||||
| Home field | Rich Stadium | ||||||
| Results | |||||||
| Record | 2–12 | ||||||
| Division Place | 5th AFC East | ||||||
| Playoff finish | did not qualify | ||||||
| Timeline | |||||||
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The 1976 Buffalo Bills season was the 17th season for the club and its seventh in the National Football League.
Buffalo's season was troubled from the start, as the team was in a contract dispute with star running back O.J. Simpson. Simpson had been demanding a trade, before finally agreeing to a three-year, $2.5 million dollar contract.[1]
The Bills started the season 2-2, before losing their final ten games of the season. Quarterback Joe Ferguson only started the first seven games before being sidelined for the season with a back injury. Backup quarterback Gary Marangi started Buffalo's final seven games, all losses.
Fullback Jim Braxton injured his knee in the Bills' season opener and was lost for the season. Simpson still led the NFL in rushing in 1976, even without Braxton's blocking.[2]
Bills head coach Lou Saban resigned after the fifth game of the season, with the Bills struggling at 2-3. Offensive line coach Jim Ringo took over, but would not win a game for the rest of the year.
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Contents
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Offseason
Before the 1976 season, Buffalo lost some key players, notably wide receivers Ahmad Rashad and J.D. Hill, and defensive linemen Earl Edwards, Walt Patulski and Pat Toomay.[3]
NFL Draft
Main article: 1976 NFL Draft
Note: 1976 was the final year in which the NFL draft was seventeen rounds; it would be reduced to twelve rounds in 1977.
The Bills' 1976 draft produced four long-time starters with their first four picks. First round pick Mario Clark played for seven seasons with the Bills. Offensive guard Ken Jones played for the Bills for eleven years. Offensive tackle Joe Devlin played every game of his 14-year career with the Bills, playing in all 191 regular-season games until his retirement after the 1989 season.[4] Defensive end Ben Williams played for the Bills for 10 years; he was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro for the 1982 season.
| = Pro Bowler [5] |
| Round | Pick # | Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Mario Clark | Defensive back | Oregon |
| 2 | 45 | Ken Jones | Guard | Arkansas State |
| 2 | 52 | Joe Devlin | Tackle | Iowa |
| 3 | 78 | Ben Williams[6] | Defensive end | Mississippi |
| 4 | 109 | Dan Jilek | Linebacker | Michigan |
| 5 | 142 | Fred Coleman | Tight end | N.E. Louisiana |
| 6 | 164 | Leslie Benson | Defensive end | Baylor |
| 6 | 171 | Scott Piper | Wide receiver | Arizona |
| 6 | 175 | Darnell Powell | Running back | Tennessee-Chattanooga |
| 7 | 195 | Jackie Williams | Defensive back | Texas A & M |
| 8 | 215 | Scott Gardner | Quarterback | Virginia |
| 8 | 226 | Bobby Joe Easter | Running back | Middle Tennessee State |
| 8 | 227 | Art Meadowcroft | Guard | Minnesota |
| 9 | 241 | Jeff Turner | Linebacker | Kansas |
| 9 | 255 | Bob Kotzur | Defensive tackle | Southwest Texas State |
| 10 | 280 | Keith Moody | Defensive back | Syracuse |
| 11 | 309 | Forry Smith | Wide receiver | Iowa State |
| 12 | 336 | Joe Lowery | Running back | Jackson State |
| 13 | 365 | Will Wilcox | Guard | Texas |
| 14 | 392 | Tony Williams | Wide receiver | Middle Tennessee State |
| 15 | 421 | Arnold Robinson | Linebacker | Bethune-Cookman |
| 16 | 448 | Gary Gorrell | [Linebacker | Boise State |
| 17 | 477 | Bob Berg | Kicker | New Mexico |
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 13, 1976 | Miami Dolphins | L 30–21 |
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| 2 | September 19, 1976 | Houston Oilers | L 13–3 |
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| 3 | September 26, 1976 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 14–9 |
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| 4 | October 3, 1976 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 50–17 |
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| 5 | October 10, 1976 | at New York Jets | L 17–14 |
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| 6 | October 17, 1976 | Baltimore Colts | L 31–13 |
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| 7 | October 24, 1976 | New England Patriots | L 26–22 |
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| 8 | October 31, 1976 | New York Jets | L 19–14 |
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| 9 | November 7, 1976 | at New England Patriots | L 20–10 |
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| 10 | November 15, 1976 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 17–10 |
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| 11 | November 21, 1976 | San Diego Chargers | L 34–13 |
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| 12 | November 25, 1976 | at Detroit Lions | L 27–14 |
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| 13 | December 5, 1976 | at Miami Dolphins | L 45–27 |
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| 14 | December 12, 1976 | at Baltimore Colts | L 58–20 |
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Standings
| AFC East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| New England Patriots | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 376 | 236 | W-6 |
| Baltimore Colts | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 417 | 246 | W-1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 263 | 264 | L-1 |
| New York Jets | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 169 | 383 | L-4 |
| Buffalo Bills | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 245 | 363 | L-10 |
Roster
Awards and honors
- O.J. Simpson, Thanksgiving Day Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 273 yards vs. Detroit Lions, Nov. 25 [7]
First Team All-Pros
Main article: 1976 All-Pro Team
- Joe DeLamielleure, Guard
- O.J. Simpson, Running back
See also
References
- ^ [Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 306, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
- ^ Neft, ibid
- ^ Neft, ibid
- ^ Databasefootball.com: Joe Devlin
- ^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
- ^ 1982 Pro Bowler
- ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 377
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