The 1976

1976 NFL season

The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...

 Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

 season was the 47th season in franchise history. After the first four games of the season, Rick Forzano was released and replaced by Tommy Hudspeth.

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1

Regular season

During the Thanksgiving Day game on November 25, O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills set a record with the most rushing yards in one Thanksgiving Day game, by rushing for 273 yards vs. the Lions.

In spite of their poor overall record the Lions offense set a statistical record for Passer Rating Differential (40.9, 14th best 196--2011). Such a high rating is usually reserved for playoff teams or Super Bowl winners;

Top 25 Teams in Passer Rating Differential (1960-present) Ranking Team OPR DPR Differential Record Won title

1 1960 Browns 109.5 51.7 57.8 8-3-1 --
2 1966 Packers 102.1 46.1 56.0 12-2 Yes
3 1987 49ers 106.2 53.8 52.4 13-2 --
4 1989 49ers 114.8 68.5 46.3 14-2 Yes
5 1975 Vikings 90.8 46.2 44.6 12-2 --
6 1975 Steelers 86.7 42.8 43.9 12-2 Yes
7 1994 49ers 111.4 68.1 43.3 13-3 Yes
8 1999 Rams 106.6 64.1 42.5 13-3 Yes
9 1975 Bengals 89 46.9 42.1 11-3 --
10 1963 Giants* 94.4 52.7 41.7 11-3 Yes
11 1962 Packers 84.9 43.4 41.5 13-1 Yes
12 1976 Lions 84.6 43.7 40.9 6-8 -- 13 1963 Bears 75.6 34.8 40.8 11-1-2 Yes
14 1996 Packers 95.7 55.4 40.3 13-3 Yes
15 1974 Redskins 90 49.9 40.1 10-4 --
16 1972 Dolphins 86.9 47.4 39.5 14-0 Yes
17 1988 Vikings 80.4 41.2 39.2 11-5 --
18 1991 Redskins 98 58.9 39.1 14-2 Yes
19 1960 Eagles 87.9 49.1 38.8 10-2 Yes
20 2007 Patriots* 116 78.1 37.9 16-0 Yes
21 2002 Buccaneers 86.3 48.4 37.9 12-4 Yes
22 2009 Saints 106 68.6 37.4 13-3 Yes
23 1984 Dolphins* 108.5 71.4 37.1 14-2 Yes
24 1977 Cowboys 85.3 48.2 37.1 12-2 Yes
25 1967 Rams 84.4 47.5 36.9 11-1-2 --
Note: The 1963 Giants, 2007 Patriots and 1984 Dolphins lost in their respective title games.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/kerry_byrne/06/23/most.important.stat.passer.rating.differential/index.html#ixzz1QGZRg767

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 12, 1976	at Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 10-3	54,125
2	September 19, 1976	Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 24-10	50,840
3	September 26, 1976	Minnesota Vikings Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...	L 10-9	77,292
4	October 3, 1976	at Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...	L 24-14	55,041
5	October 10, 1976	New England Patriots New England Patriots The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...	W 30-10	60,174
6	October 17, 1976	at Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...	L 20-7	45,908
7	October 24, 1976	at Seattle Seahawks Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...	W 41-14	61,280
8	October 31, 1976	Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...	W 27-6	74,992
9	November 7, 1976	at Minnesota Vikings Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...	L 31-23	46,735
10	November 14, 1976	at New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....	L 17-16	42,048
11	November 21, 1976	Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 14-10	78,042
12	November 25, 1976	Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 27-14	66,875
13	December 5, 1976	at New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 24-10	66,069
14	December 11, 1976	Los Angeles Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...	L 20-17	73,470

Standings

NFC Central
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Minnesota Vikings 1976 Minnesota Vikings season 1976 was the 16th year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of 11 wins, two losses, and one tie. They lost Super Bowl XI to the Oakland Raiders 32-14. As of 2011, this has been the last Super Bowl...	11	2	1	.821	305	176
Chicago Bears 1976 Chicago Bears season The 1976 Chicago Bears season was their 57th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 7-7 record, in their second season under Jack Pardee.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Standings:-References:...	7	7	0	.500	253	216
Detroit Lions	6	8	0	.429	262	220
Green Bay Packers 1976 Green Bay Packers season The 1976 Green Bay Packers season was their 56th season in the National Football League. The club posted a 5-9 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a fourth-place finish in the NFC Central division.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Standings:-Roster:...	5	9	0	.357	218	299

Roster

Quarterbacks Running Backs Wide Receivers Tight Ends		Offensive Linemen Defensive Linemen		Linebackers Defensive Backs Special Teams		Reserve Lists Currently vacant Rookies in italics