1976 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachLou Saban (resigned)
Jim Ringo (interim)
Home fieldRich Stadium
Results
Record2–12
Division place5th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersG Joe DeLamielleure
RB O. J. Simpson
AP All-ProsG Joe DeLamielleure (1st team)
RB O. J. Simpson (1st team)

The 1976 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 7th season in the National 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 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

Buffalo Bills selected during the Expansion Draft
Round Overall Name Position Expansion Team
00Gary HaymanRunning backSeattle Seahawks
00Frank OliverDefensive backTampa Bay Buccaneers
00Pat ToomayDefensive endTampa Bay Buccaneers

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.

= Pro Bowler [5]
1976 Buffalo Bills Draft
Round Selection Player Position College Notes
1 18 Mario Clark DB Oregon
2 45 Ken Jones OG Arkansas State
52 Joe Devlin T Iowa
3 78 Ben Williams[6] DE Mississippi
4 109 Dan Jilek LB Michigan
5 142 Fred Coleman TE Northeast Louisiana
6 164 Leslie Benson DE Baylor
171 Scott Piper WR Arizona
175 Darnell Powell RB Tennessee-Chattanooga
7 195 Jackie Williams DB Texas A & M
8 215 Scott Gardner QB Virginia
226 Bobby Joe Easter RB Middle Tennessee State
227 Art Meadowcroft G Minnesota
9 241 Jeff Turner LB Kansas
255 Bob Kotzur DT Southwest Texas State
10 280 Keith Moody DB Syracuse
11 309 Forry Smith WR Iowa State
12 336 Joe Lowery RB Jackson State
13 365 Will Wilcox G Texas
14 392 Tony Williams WR Middle Tennessee State
15 421 Arnold Robinson LB Bethune-Cookman
16 448 Gary Gorrell LB Boise State
17 477 Bob Berg K New Mexico

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1976 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive/Special teams coaches

Scouting

  • Director of Scouting - Marvin Bass

Roster

1976 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



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 45–27 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

1 234Total
• Bills 0 707 14
Buccaneers 6 003 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
Q1TBGreen 39 yard field goalTB 3–0
Q1TBGreen 24 yard field goalTB 6–0
Q2BUFChandler 58 yard pass from Ferguson (Ricardo kick)BUF 7–6
Q4TBGreen 19 yard field goalTB 9–7
Q4BUFGant 15 yard pass from Ferguson (Ricardo kick)BUF 14–9

[7]

Week 4

1 234Total
Chiefs 0 1070 17
• Bills 16 7720 50
Scoring summary
1BUFGeorge Jakowenko 30 yard field goalBills 3–0
1BUFBob Chandler 1 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (George Jakowenko kick)Bills 10–0
1BUFBob Chandler 5 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (kick failed)Bills 16–0
2KCHenry Marshall 31 yard pass from Tony Adams (Jan Stenerud kick)Bills 16–7
2BUFBob Chandler 7 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (George Jakowenko kick)Bills 23–7
2KCJan Stenerud 33 yard field goalBills 23–10
3BUFJeff Kinney 1 yard run (George Jakowenko kick)Bills 30–10
3KCTommy Reamon 49 yard pass from Tony Adams (Jan Stenerud kick)Bills 30–17
4BUFO. J. Simpson 1 yard run (kick failed)Bills 36–17
4BUFO. J. Simpson 5 yard run (George Jakowenko kick)Bills 43–17
4BUFTony Greene 101 yard interception return (George Jakowenko kick)Bills 50–17

[8]

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
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 [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 306, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
  2. ↑ "Buffalo Bills' O.J. Simpson walks along sidelines after being ejected".
  3. ↑ "Simpson Ejected for Fighting" (PDF).
  4. ↑ Databasefootball.com: Joe Devlin Archived November 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
  6. ↑ 1982 Pro Bowler
  7. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-06.
  8. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 377
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