1976 Buffalo Bills season

1976 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Lou Saban (resigned) Jim Ringo (interim)
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	2–12
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1976 Buffalo Bills season was the 17th season for the club and its seventh in the National Football League.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

= Pro Bowler

Round	Pick #	Player	Position	College
1	18	Mario Clark	Defensive back	Oregon
2	45	Ken Jones	Guard	Arkansas State
2	52	Joe Devlin	Tackle	Iowa
3	78	Ben Williams	Defensive end	Mississippi
4	109	Dan Jilek	Linebacker	Michigan
5	142	Fred Coleman	Tight end	N.E. 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	Defensive back	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

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 13, 1976	Miami Dolphins	L 30–21	77,683
2	September 19, 1976	Houston Oilers	L 13–3	61,384
3	September 26, 1976	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 14–9	44,505
4	October 3, 1976	Kansas City Chiefs	W 50–17	51,909
5	October 10, 1976	at New York Jets	L 17–14	59,110
6	October 17, 1976	Baltimore Colts	L 31–13	71,009
7	October 24, 1976	New England Patriots	L 26–22	45,144
8	October 31, 1976	New York Jets	L 19–14	41,285
9	November 7, 1976	at New England Patriots	L 20–10	61,157
10	November 15, 1976	at Dallas Cowboys	L 17–10	51,799
11	November 21, 1976	San Diego Chargers	L 34–13	36,539
12	November 25, 1976	at Detroit Lions	L 27–14	66,875
13	December 5, 1976	at Miami Dolphins	L 45–27	43,475
14	December 12, 1976	at Baltimore Colts	L 58–20	50,451

Season summary

Week 3

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; wind 6

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

Week 4

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, wind 7 mph

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

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts(2)	11	3	0	.786	7–1	11–1	376	236	W1
New England Patriots(4)	11	3	0	.786	6–2	10–2	246	171	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, Nov 25

First Team All-Pros

Main article: 1976 All-Pro Team

• Joe DeLamielleure, Guard
• O.J. Simpson, Running back

See also

• Electric Company

References

• Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Bills on jt-sw.com
• Bills Stats on jt-sw.com