A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
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 league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of Seattle Seahawks and 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, on the other hand, the Buccaneers did not return to the AFC in 2002. The Buccaneers became the first NFL team to finish a season 0–14. The Buccaneers lost their first 26 games as they also lost their first 12 games in 1977.
The season ended with Super Bowl XI when the Oakland Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32–14 at the Rose Bowl. The Raiders were the first original AFL team to win a Super Bowl in the post-merger era.
Player movement
Draft
The 1976 NFL Draft was held from April 8 to 9, 1976 at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel. With the first pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected defensive end Lee Roy Selmon from the University of Oklahoma.
Expansion Draft
The 1976 NFL expansion draft was held from March 30 to 31, 1976, with the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers each selecting 39 players from the other 26 NFL teams.
New officials
Due to expansion, the NFL needed a new crew to help handle the weekly workload of 14 games. The most notable new official was Jerry Markbreit, hired as a line judge on the crew of referee Tommy Bell. Bell retired after working the 1976 AFC championship game, and Markbreit was promoted to referee for 1977, where he later became the first (and as of 2021, only) man to serve as the referee for four Super Bowls (XVII, XXI, XXVI and XXIX).
Another distinguished new official was Bob McElwee, who was promoted to referee in 1980. McElwee was the referee in Super Bowl XXII, Super Bowl XXVIII and Super Bowl XXXIV.
Norm Schachter retired after officiating Super Bowl X, his third after previously serving as crew chief for Super Bowl I and Super Bowl V. Red Cashion and Don Wedge were promoted after each had worked four seasons in the league.
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 (this penalty was repealed in 2008). The penalty for twisting, turning, or pulling the facemask is 15 yards. A player risks immediate disqualification 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 thirty 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 did not 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, records versus common opponents, and records in conference play.
National Football Conference
Week | East | Central | West | Wild Card | ||||
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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 | East | Central | West | 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 |