1976 Baltimore Colts season

The 1976 Baltimore Colts season was the 24th season for the team in the National Football League. Led by second-year head coach Ted Marchibroda, the Colts finished with a record of 11 wins and 3 losses, tied for first in the AFC East division with the New England Patriots.^[1] Baltimore won the AFC East title based on a better division record (7–1 to Patriots' 6–2).

1976 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
General manager	Joe Thomas
Head coach	Ted Marchibroda
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	T-1st AFC East
Playoffs	Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Steelers) 14–40
Pro Bowlers	T George Kunz QB Bert Jones WR Roger Carr RB Lydell Mitchell DE John Dutton K Toni Linhart
← 1975 Colts seasons 1977 →

Marchibroda, the reigning NFL coach of the year, resigned a week before the regular season opener, due to a power struggle with general manager Joe Thomas and owner Robert Irsay.^[2] Baltimore had won its first two preseason games, then dropped the final four.^[2] Several Colts assistant coaches threatened to leave the team, and quarterback Bert Jones publicly came to his coach's defense.^[3] Thomas and Irsay quickly made amends with the coach before the season started.^[4][5][6][7] (Thomas would be fired by the team shortly after the season.)

The Colts’ offense was dominant in 1976: they led the league in scoring with 417 points (29.7 per game). Jones was named league MVP after passing for a league-best 3,104 yards, 9.27 yards-per-attempt, and a passer rating of 102.5, second best in the NFL. Running back Lydell Mitchell also had a spectacular year, rushing for 1,200 yards,^[8] and catching 60 passes. Wide receiver Roger Carr proved to be a valuable deep threat in the passing game, leading the league with 1,112 receiving yards and 25.9 yards per reception.^[9] All three offensive players made the Pro Bowl team.

Offseason

1976 expansion draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

Baltimore Colts selected during the expansion draft

Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion team
0	0	Mike Curtis	Linebacker	Seattle Seahawks
0	0	Bill Olds	Fullback	Seattle Seahawks
0	0	Dave Pear	Defensive tackle	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL draft

1976 Baltimore Colts draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	20	Ken Novak	Defensive tackle	Purdue
3	81	Ed Simonini	Linebacker	Texas A&M
3	90	Ron Lee	Running back	West Virginia
5	134	Sanders Shiver	Linebacker	Carson–Newman
5	143	Mike Kirkland	Quarterback	Arkansas	Played for Colts in 1978
8	228	Ricky Thompson	Wide receiver	Baylor
9	258	Stu Levenick	Tackle	Illinois
10	283	Tim Baylor	Defensive back	Morgan State
11	310	Rick Gibney	Defensive tackle	Georgia Tech
12	340	Frank Stavroff	Placekicker	Indiana
14	394	Jeremiah Cummings	Defensive end	Albany State
15	424	Gary Alexander	Tackle	Clemson
16	449	Mike Fuhrman	Tight end	Memphis State
16	451	Steve Ludwig	Center	Miami (FL)
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[10]

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

1976 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office President and treasurer – Robert Irsay General manager – Joe Thomas Assistant general manager – Ernie Accorsi Coaching staff Head coach – Ted Marchibroda Offensive coaches Receivers – Pete McCulley Offensive line – Whitey Dovell		Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Maxie Baughan Defensive line – Jerry Smith Defensive backfield – Frank Lauterbur Special teams coaches Special teams – George Boutselis

Final roster

1976 Baltimore Colts roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Bert Jones 15 Mike Kirkland 12 Bill Troup Running backs (RB) 48 Roosevelt Leaks 34 Ron Lee 23 Don McCauley 26 Lydell Mitchell 27 Howard Stevens Wide receivers (WR) 81 Roger Carr 35 Glenn Doughty 86 Freddie Scott 88 Ricky Thompson Tight ends (TE) 87 Raymond Chester 85 Jimmie Kennedy

Offensive linemen (OL) 50 Forrest Blue C 66 Elmer Collett G 62 Ken Huff G 75 George Kunz T 57 Ken Mendenhall C 61 Robert Pratt G 64 David Taylor T 67 Bob Van Duyne T Defensive linemen (DL) 63 Mike Barnes DT 72 Fred Cook DE 78 John Dutton DE 76 Joe Ehrmann DT 73 Ron Fernandes DE 74 Ken Novak DT

Linebackers (LB) 59 Jim Cheyunski MLB 55 Dan Dickel OLB 58 Derrel Luce OLB 54 Sanders Shiver OLB 56 Ed Simonini MLB 53 Stan White OLB Defensive backs (DB) 47 Tim Baylor FS 33 Randy Hall SS 40 Bruce Laird SS 42 Lloyd Mumphord CB 25 Ray Oldham CB 46 Bryant Salter FS 20 Jackie Wallace FS Special teams (ST) 49 David Lee P  2 Toni Linhart K

Reserve 29 Marshall Johnson WR (IR) 52 Tom MacLeod OLB (IR) 31 Nelson Munsey CB (IR) 30 Doug Nettles CB (IR) Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	July 31	at Cleveland Browns	W 21–0	Lincoln, Nebraska	20,304
2	August 6	Washington Redskins	W 20–3	Memorial Stadium	35,575
3	August 14	at Chicago Bears	L 14–25	Soldier Field	54,338
4	August 20	New Orleans Saints	L 20–26 (OT)	Memorial Stadium	38,879
5	August 28	at Atlanta Falcons	L 7–21	Atlanta Stadium	24,986
6	September 2	at Detroit Lions	L 9–24	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	54,217

Regular season

Main article: 1976 NFL season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 12	at New England Patriots	W 27–13	1–0	Schaefer Stadium	43,512	Link
2	September 19	Cincinnati Bengals	W 28–27	2–0	Memorial Stadium	50,374	Link
3	September 26	at Dallas Cowboys	L 27–30	2–1	Texas Stadium	64,237	Link
4	October 3	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 42–17	3–1	Memorial Stadium	40,053	Link
5	October 10	Miami Dolphins	W 28–14	4–1	Memorial Stadium	58,832	Link
6	October 17	at Buffalo Bills	W 31–13	5–1	Rich Stadium	71,009	Link
7	October 24	at New York Jets	W 20–0	6–1	Shea Stadium	59,576	Link
8	November 1	Houston Oilers	W 38–14	7–1	Memorial Stadium	60,020	Link
9	November 7	at San Diego Chargers	W 37–21	8–1	San Diego Stadium	42,827	Link
10	November 14	New England Patriots	L 14–21	8–2	Memorial Stadium	58,226	Link
11	November 22	at Miami Dolphins	W 17–16	9–2	Miami Orange Bowl	62,104	Link
12	November 28	New York Jets	W 33–16	10–2	Memorial Stadium	44,023	Link
13	December 4	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 17–24	10–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,282	Link
14	December 12	Buffalo Bills	W 58–20	11–3	Memorial Stadium	50,451	Link
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	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

Postseason

Main article: 1976–77 NFL playoffs

The team returned to the playoffs as a No. 2 seed and hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round. The Colts fell behind 26–7 at the half, and lost 40–14.^[11] This game is better remembered for the post-game crash of a private plane into an unoccupied section of Memorial Stadium.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
Divisional	December 19	Pittsburgh Steelers (3)	L 14–40	0–1	Memorial Stadium	60,020	Link

See also

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry