| 1976 Buffalo Bills season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ralph Wilson |
| Head coach | Lou Saban (resigned) Jim Ringo (interim) |
| Home stadium | Rich Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 2–12 |
| Division place | 5thAFC East |
| Playoffs | Did not qualify |
| All-Pros | GJoe DeLamielleure(1st team) RBO. J. Simpson(1st team) |
| Pro Bowlers | GJoe DeLamielleure RBO. J. Simpson |
The1976 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 7th season in theNational Football League, and the 17th overall.
Buffalo's season was troubled from the start, as the team was in a contract dispute with star running backO. J. Simpson. Simpson had been demanding a trade, before finally agreeing to a three-year, $2.5 million contract.[1]
The Bills started the season 2–2, before losing their final ten games of the season. QuarterbackJoe Ferguson only started the first seven games before being sidelined for the season with a back injury. Backup quarterbackGary Marangi started Buffalo's final seven games, all losses.
FullbackJim Braxton injured his knee in the Bills' season opener and was lost for the season. Simpson stillled the NFL in rushing in 1976, even without Braxton's blocking.[1]
Bills head coachLou Saban resigned after the fifth game of the season, with the Bills struggling at 2–3. Offensive line coachJim Ringo took over, but would not win a game for the rest of the year.
The lowest point of the season was when O. J. Simpson was ejected from a game for getting into a fight with New England Patriots defensive endMel Lunsford.[2][3] Lunsford was also ejected from the game. Neither player was fined or suspended by the league.
Before the 1976 season, Buffalo lost some key players, notablywide receiversAhmad Rashad andJ. D. Hill, and defensive linemenEarl Edwards,Walt Patulski andPat Toomay.[1]
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | Gary Hayman | Running back | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Frank Oliver | Defensive back | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 0 | 0 | Pat Toomay | Defensive end | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
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 the1989 season.[4] Defensive end Ben Williams played for the Bills for 10 years; he was a Pro Bowler and second-teamAll-Pro for the1982 season.
| 1976 Buffalo Bills draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Mario Clark | Cornerback | Oregon | |
| 2 | 42 | Ken Jones | Guard | Arkansas State | |
| 2 | 52 | Joe Devlin | Offensive tackle | Iowa | |
| 3 | 78 | Ben Williams * | Defensive end | Ole Miss | |
| 4 | 109 | Dan Jilek | Linebacker | Michigan | |
| 5 | 142 | Fred Coleman | Tight end | Northeast 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 | Cornerback | 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 | |
| Made roster * Made at least onePro Bowl during career | |||||
| 1976 Buffalo Bills staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front office
Coaching staff Offensive coaches
Defensive/Special teams coaches
Scouting
| ||||||
| Quarterbacks(QB) Running backs(RB) Wide receivers(WR) Tight ends(TE) | Offensive linemen(OL) | Linebackers(LB) Defensive backs(DB)
Special teams(ST) | Reserve
|
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 13 | Miami Dolphins | L 21–30 | 0–1 | Rich Stadium | 77,683 | |
| 2 | September 19 | Houston Oilers | L 3–13 | 0–2 | Rich Stadium | 61,384 | |
| 3 | September 26 | atTampa Bay Buccaneers | W 14–9 | 1–2 | Tampa Stadium | 44,505 | |
| 4 | October 3 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 50–17 | 2–2 | Rich Stadium | 51,909 | |
| 5 | October 10 | atNew York Jets | L 14–17 | 2–3 | Shea Stadium | 59,110 | |
| 6 | October 17 | Baltimore Colts | L 13–31 | 2–4 | Rich Stadium | 71,009 | |
| 7 | October 24 | New England Patriots | L 22–26 | 2–5 | Rich Stadium | 45,144 | |
| 8 | October 31 | New York Jets | L 14–19 | 2–6 | Rich Stadium | 41,285 | |
| 9 | November 7 | atNew England Patriots | L 10–20 | 2–7 | Schaefer Stadium | 61,157 | |
| 10 | November 15 | atDallas Cowboys | L 10–17 | 2–8 | Texas Stadium | 51,799 | |
| 11 | November 21 | San Diego Chargers | L 13–34 | 2–9 | Rich Stadium | 36,539 | |
| 12 | November 25 | atDetroit Lions | L 14–27 | 2–10 | Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium | 66,875 | |
| 13 | December 5 | atMiami Dolphins | L 27–45 | 2–11 | Miami Orange Bowl | 43,475 | |
| 14 | December 12 | atBaltimore Colts | L 20–58 | 2–12 | Memorial Stadium | 50,451 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are inbold text. | |||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| • Bills | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Buccaneers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| Q1 | TB | Green 39 yard field goal | TB 3–0 | |
| Q1 | TB | Green 24 yard field goal | TB 6–0 | |
| Q2 | BUF | Chandler 58 yard pass fromFerguson (Ricardo kick) | BUF 7–6 | |
| Q4 | TB | Green 19 yard field goal | TB 9–7 | |
| Q4 | BUF | Gant 15 yard pass from Ferguson (Ricardo kick) | BUF 14–9 | |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiefs | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| •Bills | 16 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 50 |
| 1 | BUF | George Jakowenko 30 yard field goal | Bills 3–0 | |
| 1 | BUF | Bob Chandler 1 yard pass fromJoe Ferguson (George Jakowenko kick) | Bills 10–0 | |
| 1 | BUF | Bob Chandler 5 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (kick failed) | Bills 16–0 | |
| 2 | KC | Henry Marshall 31 yard pass fromTony Adams (Jan Stenerud kick) | Bills 16–7 | |
| 2 | BUF | Bob Chandler 7 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (George Jakowenko kick) | Bills 23–7 | |
| 2 | KC | Jan Stenerud 33 yard field goal | Bills 23–10 | |
| 3 | BUF | Jeff Kinney 1 yard run (George Jakowenko kick) | Bills 30–10 | |
| 3 | KC | Tommy Reamon 49 yard pass from Tony Adams (Jan Stenerud kick) | Bills 30–17 | |
| 4 | BUF | O. J. Simpson 1 yard run (kick failed) | Bills 36–17 | |
| 4 | BUF | O. J. Simpson 5 yard run (George Jakowenko kick) | Bills 43–17 | |
| 4 | BUF | Tony Greene 101 yard interception return (George Jakowenko kick) | Bills 50–17 | |
O. J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards, setting a Thanksgiving Day record that still holds as of the end of the 2016 season.
| AFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Baltimore Colts(2) | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 7–1 | 11–1 | 417 | 246 | W1 |
| New England Patriots(4) | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 6–2 | 10–2 | 376 | 236 | W6 |
| Miami Dolphins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 5–3 | 6–6 | 263 | 264 | L1 |
| New York Jets | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 2–6 | 3–9 | 169 | 383 | L4 |
| Buffalo Bills | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 0–8 | 2–10 | 245 | 363 | L10 |
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| Franchise | |
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| Rivalries | |
| Division championships (15) | |
| Conference championships (4) | |
| League championships (2) | |
| Wall of Fame | |
| Media |
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| Owners | |
| Current league affiliations |
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