| Year: | 1976 |
| Nflchampion: | Oakland Raiders |
| Regular Season: | September 12 – December 12, 1976 |
| Playoffs Start: | December 18, 1976 |
| Afcchampion: | Oakland Raiders |
| Nfcchampion: | Minnesota Vikings |
| Sb Name: | XI |
| Sb Date: | January 9, 1977 |
| Sb Site: | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California |
| Pb Date: | January 17, 1977 |
| Pb 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
| Week | East | Central | West | 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 |
| 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 |
See main article: 1976–77 NFL playoffs.
| 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 Steelers | |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Sammy White, wide receiver, Minnesota Vikings | |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Mike Haynes, cornerback, New England Patriots | |
| Man of the Year | Franco Harris, running back, Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| Comeback Player of the Year | Greg Landry, quarterback, Detroit Lions | |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Fred Biletnikoff, wide receiver, Oakland Raiders |
Paul Brown retired after over 40 years of coaching. Bill Johnson was named as Brown's replacement.
Hank Stram became the team's new head coach. John North was fired after a 1-5 start to the 1975 season, and Ernie Hefferle then served as interim.
Lou Holtz was named as head coach of the Jets. Charley Winner was fired nine games into the 1975 season after only posting two wins. Offensive coordinator Ken Shipp served as interim for the last five games.
Mike McCormack was replaced by Dick Vermeil.
Monte Clark replaced Dick Nolan.
Jack Patera became the expansion team's first head coach.
John McKay became the expansion team's first head coach.
Marion Campbell was fired after a 1-4 start to the season. General manager Pat Peppler served as interim for the rest of the season.
Lou Saban resigned after the fifth game of the season. Offensive line coach Jim Ringo took over as interim.
Rick Forzano left after the team lost three of its first four games. Coordinator of personnel and scouting Tommy Hudspeth took over for the last 10 games.
Bill Arnsparger was fired after the team lost its first seven games. Assistant coach John McVay was promoted to head coach.
Lou Holtz resigned prior to the last game of the season, returning to college as coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Mike Holovak served as interim for the team's final game, as the team finished at 3–11.
This was the third year under the league's four-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. Lee Leonard replaced Jack Buck, joining Bryant Gumbel on NBC's pregame show GrandStand. Al DeRogatis also left the network, leaving Curt Gowdy and Don Meredith as NBC's lead broadcast team in a two-man booth. "Jimmy the Greek" Snyder joined The NFL Today to predict the results of NFL games.[2]