1976 Detroit Lions season

The 1976 Detroit Lions season was the 47th season in franchise history. After the first four games of the season, Rick Forzano resigned under pressure of owner William Clay Ford, and was replaced by one time Brigham Young University head coach and Lions assistant Tommy Hudspeth.^[2] In spite of a stellar season by quarterback Greg Landry, that year's NFL Comeback Player Of The Year, the team was still mired in mediocrity, finishing 6–8.^{[citation needed]}

1976 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
General manager	Russ Thomas
Head coach	Rick Forzano and Tommy Hudspeth
Home stadium	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium[1]
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	2 TE Charlie Sanders CB Lem Barney
All-Pros	None
← 1975 Lions seasons 1977 →

Offseason

1976 Expansion Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

Detroit Lions selected during the Expansion Draft

Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion Team
0	0	Larry Ball	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
0	0	Gordon Jolley	Offensive tackle	Seattle Seahawks
0	0	John McMakin	Tight end	Seattle Seahawks

NFL Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL draft

1976 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	10	James Hunter	CB	Grambling State	from Chicago
1	16	Lawrence Gaines	RB	Wyoming
2	44	Ken Long	G	Purdue
2	46	David Hill *	TE	Texas A&I	from San Diego
3	68	Russ Bolinger	OT	Long Beach State	from Chicago
3	76	John Woodcock	DT	Hawaii
5	145	Steadman Scavella	LB	Miami (FL)	from Miami
7	198	Garth TenNapel	LB	Texas A&M
8	217	Rich Sorenson	K	Chico State	from New England
8	225	Charles Braswell	DB	West Virginia
9	253	Leanell Jones	TE	Long Beach State
10	279	Bill Bowerman	DB	New Mexico State
11	307	Gary Shugrue	DE	Villanova
12	335	Mike McCabe	C	South Carolina
13	363	Mel Jacobs	WR	San Diego State
14	391	Leonard Elston	WR	Kentucky State
15	419	Trent Smock	WR	Indiana
16	447	Craig McCurdy	LB	William & Mary
17	475	Jim Meeks	DB	Boise State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

• Detroit were awarded a first-round pick (8th) from Los Angeles as compensation for the Rams signing Lions free agent WR Ron Jessie. During the draft, Detroit traded this 8th pick to Chicago in exchange for the Bears' first- and third-round picks (10th and 68th).
• Detroit were awarded a second-round pick (46th) from San Diego as compensation for the Chargers signing Lions free agent C Ed Flanagan.
• Detroit traded its fourth-round pick (108th) to Miami in exchange for LB Larry Ball and the Dolphins' fifth-round pick (145th).
• Detroit traded its fifth-round pick (140th) to San Francisco in exchange for QB Joe Reed.
• Detroit traded its sixth-round pick (170th) to New England in exchange for C Jon Morris.
• Detroit traded FB Leon Crosswhite to New England in exchange for the Patriots' eighth-round pick (217th) and sixth-round pick in 1975.

Roster

1976 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Gary Danielson 11 Greg Landry 14 Joe Reed Running backs (RB) 43 Andy Bolton 24 Dexter Bussey 38 Lawrence Gaines 33 Bobby Thompson Wide receivers (WR) 45 Ray Jarvis 44 Bob Picard 39 Leonard Thompson 49 Larry Walton Tight ends (TE) 81 David Hill 88 Charlie Sanders

Offensive linemen (OL) 62 Lynn Boden G 73 Russ Bolinger G 76 Rocky Freitas T 71 Craig Hertwig T 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 65 Ken Long G 68 Mark Markovich C 63 Jon Morris C 75 Jim Yarbrough T Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Don Croft DT 70 Billy Howard DE 83 Jim Mitchell DE/DT 72 Ernie Price DE 82 Ken Sanders DE 77 John Woodcock DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Jim Laslavic MLB 50 Paul Naumoff OLB 55 Ed O'Neil MLB 57 Garth TenNapel OLB 59 Charlie Weaver OLB Defensive backs (DB) 20 Lem Barney CB 29 Ben Davis CB 28 James Hunter FS 23 Levi Johnson CB 27 Maurice Tyler SS 40 Charlie West SS Special teams (ST)  1 Benny Ricardo K 18 Herman Weaver P

Reserve 78 Doug English DT (IR) 74 Larry Hand DT (IR) 41 J. D. Hill WR (IR) 26 Dick Jauron S (IR) 25 Horace King RB (IR) 88 Herb Orvis DT (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

On November 25, O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills set a record with the most rushing yards in a Thanksgiving Day game, by rushing for 273 yards against the Lions.^[3]

In spite of their poor overall record the Lions offense set a statistical record for Passer Rating Differential (40.9, 14th best 1960 to 2011). Such a high rating is usually reserved for playoff teams or Super Bowl winners.^[4]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	at Chicago Bears	L 3–10	0–1	Soldier Field	54,125
2	September 19	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–10	1–1	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	50,840
3	September 26	Minnesota Vikings	L 9–10	1–2	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	77,292
4	October 3	at Green Bay Packers	L 14–24	1–3	Lambeau Field	55,041
5	October 10	New England Patriots	W 30–10	2–3	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	60,174
6	October 17	at Washington Redskins	L 7–20	2–4	RFK Stadium	45,908
7	October 24	at Seattle Seahawks	W 41–14	3–4	Kingdome	61,280
8	October 31	Green Bay Packers	W 27–6	4–4	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	74,992
9	November 7	at Minnesota Vikings	L 23–31	4–5	Metropolitan Stadium	46,735
10	November 14	at New Orleans Saints	L 16–17	4–6	Louisiana Superdome	42,048
11	November 21	Chicago Bears	W 14–10	5–6	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	78,042
12	November 25	Buffalo Bills	W 27–14	6–6	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	66,875
13	December 5	at New York Giants	L 10–24	6–7	Giants Stadium	66,069
14	December 11	Los Angeles Rams	L 17–20	6–8	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	73,470

!Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1 at Bears

See also: 1976 Chicago Bears season and Bears–Lions rivalry

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	3	0	0	3
Bears	0	0	7	3	10

Game information

Second quarter DET – Errol Mann 27-yard field goal. Lions 3–0. Drive: Third quarter CHI – Johnny Musso 3-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 7–3. Drive: Fourth quarter CHI – Bob Thomas 27-yard field goal. Bears 10–3. Drive: Top passers DET – Joe Reed – 11/23, 91 yards CHI – Bob Avellini – 7/16, 120 yards Top rushers DET – Horace King – 15 rushes, 57 yards CHI – Walter Payton – 25 rushes, 70 yards Top receivers DET – Ray Jarvis – 4 receptions, 85 yards CHI – Greg Latta – 2 receptions, 87 yards

Week One: Detroit Lions (0–0) at Chicago Bears (0–0)

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: September 12, 1976
• Game time: 2:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 69 °F or 20.6 °C • Wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
• Game attendance: 54,125
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 2 vs Falcons

See also: 1976 Atlanta Falcons season

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	7	3	0	10
Lions	0	0	0	24	24

Game information

Second quarter ATL – Bubba Bean 5-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Falcons 7–0. Drive: Third quarter ATL – Nick Mike-Mayer 41-yard field goal. Falcons 10–0. Drive: Fourth quarter DET – Greg Landry 5-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Falcons 10–7. Drive: DET – Errol Mann 32-yard field goal. Tie 10–10. Drive: DET – Ed O'Neil 32-yard pass from Joe Reed (Errol Mann kick). Lions 17–10. Drive: DET – James Hunter 39-yard interception return (Errol Mann kick). Lions 24–10. Top passers ATL – Steve Bartkowski – 5/16, 59 yards, 3 INT DET – Joe Reed – 5/11, 78 yards, TD Top rushers ATL – Bubba Bean – 22 rushes, 98 yards, TD DET – Dexter Bussey – 15 rushes, 79 yards Top receivers ATL – Alfred Jenkins – 3 receptions, 47 yards DET – Horace King – 3 receptions, 33 yards

Week Two: Atlanta Falcons (0–1) at Detroit Lions (0–1)

at Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan

• Date: September 19, 1976
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 50,840
• Box Score

Week 4 at Packers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	14	0	0	14
Packers	10	0	0	14	24

Game information

First quarter GB – Barty Smith 1-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 7–0. Drive: GB – Chester Marcol 35-yard field goal. Packers 10–0. Drive: Second quarter DET – Dexter Bussey 7-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Packers 10–7. Drive: DET – Ray Jarvis 3-yard pass from Greg Landry (Errol Mann kick). Lions 14–10. Drive: Third quarter No scoring Fourth quarter GB – Bert Askson 2-yard pass from Lynn Dickey (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 17–14. Drive: GB – Steve Odom 40-yard pass from Willard Harrell (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 24–14. Drive: Top passers DET – Greg Landry – 12/17, 122 yards, TD, INT GB – Willard Harrell – 1/1, 40 yards, TD Top rushers DET – Dexter Bussey – 22 rushes, 81 yards, TD GB – Willard Harrell – 17 rushes, 111 yards Top receivers DET – Charlie Sanders – 3 receptions, 41 yards GB – Steve Odom – 2 receptions, 45 yards, TD

Week Four: Detroit Lions (1–2) at Green Bay Packers (0–3)

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Date: October 3
• Game time: 2:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 60 °F or 15.6 °C
• Game attendance: 55,041
• Box Score

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings(1)	11	2	1	.821	5–1	9–2–1	305	176	W2
Chicago Bears	7	7	0	.500	4–2	7–5	253	216	L1
Detroit Lions	6	8	0	.429	2–4	4–8	262	220	L2
Green Bay Packers	5	9	0	.357	1–5	5–8	218	299	W1