1976 Buffalo Bills season

The 1976 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 7th season in the National Football League, and the 17th overall.

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	5th AFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
All-Pros	G Joe DeLamielleure (1st team) RB O. J. Simpson (1st team)
Pro Bowlers	G Joe DeLamielleure RB O. J. Simpson
← 1975 Bills seasons 1977 →

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 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.^[1]

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.

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 end Mel Lunsford.^[2][3] Lunsford was also ejected from the game as well. Neither player was fined or suspended by the league.

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.^[1]

1976 expansion draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

Buffalo Bills selected during the expansion draft

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

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.

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 one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1976 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office Majority owner/team president – Ralph Wilson Vice President & General Manager – Bob Lustig Vice president/minority owner – Pat McGroder Coaching staff Head coach – Lou Saban Interim Head/Assistant Coach - Jim Ringo Offensive coaches Running backs coach – Jim LaRue Offensive line coaches – Jim Ringo & Marvin Bass Defensive/Special teams coaches Defensive Coordinator / Defensive Backs Coach - Richie McCabe Defensive line – Jerry Wampfler Linebackers – John Ray Defensive backfield – Billy Atkins Special teams – Ed Cavanaugh Scouting Director of Scouting - Marvin Bass

Roster

1976 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Gary Marangi 14 Sam Wyche Running backs (RB) 25 Roland Hooks 36 Jeff Kinney 38 Eddie Ray 33 Andy Reid 32 O. J. Simpson Wide receivers (WR) 81 Bob Chandler 86 Emmett Edwards 80 John Holland Tight ends (TE) 88 Reuben Gant 87 Paul Seymour

Offensive linemen (OL) 60 Bill Adams T 68 Joe DeLamielleure G 70 Dave Foley T 76 Joe Devlin T 74 Donnie Green T 67 Reggie McKenzie G 53 Mike Montler C 65 Bob Patton C Defensive linemen (DL) 50 Mark Johnson DE 69 Ken Jones DE 71 Mike Kadish DT 75 Jeff Lloyd DT 79 Marty Smith DT 85 Tody Smith DE 83 Sherman White DE 77 Ben Williams DE

Linebackers (LB) 30 Bo Cornell OLB 51 Dan Jilek OLB 52 Merv Krakau MLB 56 Bob Nelson MLB 54 Tom Ruud OLB 55 John Skorupan OLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Clifford Brooks SS 29 Mario Clark CB 22 Steve Freeman FS 43 Tony Greene FS 28 Dwight Harrison CB 24 Doug Jones SS 46 Keith Moody CB Special teams (ST) 7 Marv Bateman P 5 George Jakowenko K

Reserve 34 Jim Braxton RB (IR) 85 Fred Coleman TE (IR) 12 Joe Ferguson QB (IR) 21 Van Green S (IR) 20 Robert James CB (IR) 61 Willie Parker C/G (IR) 35 Darnell Powell RB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

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	at Tampa 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	at New 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	at New England Patriots	L 10–20	2—7	Schaefer Stadium	61,157
10	November 15	at Dallas Cowboys	L 10–17	2—8	Cotton Bowl	51,799
11	November 21	San Diego Chargers	L 13–34	2—9	Rich Stadium	36,539
12	November 25	at Detroit Lions	L 14–27	2—10	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	66,875
13	December 5	at Miami Dolphins	L 27–45	2—11	Miami Orange Bowl	43,475
14	December 12	at Baltimore Colts	L 20–58	2—12	Memorial Stadium	50,451
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 3

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bills	0	7	0	7	14
Buccaneers	6	0	0	3	9

• Date: September 26
• Location: Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 80 °F or 26.7 °C; wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)

Scoring summary

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 from Ferguson (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

^[5]

Week 4

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	0	10	7	0	17
• Bills	16	7	7	20	50

• Date: October 3
• Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
• Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 55 °F or 12.8 °C, wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)

Scoring summary

1		BUF	George Jakowenko 30 yard field goal	Bills 3–0
1		BUF	Bob Chandler 1 yard pass from Joe 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 from Tony 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

^[6]

Week 12

O. J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards, setting a Thanksgiving Day record that still holds as of the end of the 2016 season.

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

Awards and honors

• O. J. Simpson, Thanksgiving Day Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 273 yards vs. Detroit Lions, November 25 ^[7]

See also

• Electric Company