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

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]}

Offseason

1976 Expansion Draft

Detroit Lions selected during the Expansion Draft
Name	Position	Expansion Team
Larry Ball	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Gordon Jolley	Offensive tackle	Seattle Seahawks
John McMakin	Tight end	Seattle Seahawks

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1976 Detroit Lions draft
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

Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks

16 Gary Danielson

11 Greg Landry

14 Joe Reed

Running backs

43 Andy Bolton

24 Dexter Bussey

38 Lawrence Gaines FB

30 Jim Hooks FB

25 Horace King

Wide receivers

41 J. D. Hill

45 Ray Jarvis

44 Bob Picard

39 Leonard Thompson

49 Larry Walton

Tight ends

81 David Hill

88 Charlie Sanders

Offensive linemen

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

79 Don Croft DT

78 Doug English DT

74 Larry Hand DT

70 Billy Howard DE

83 Jim Mitchell DE

88 Herb Orvis DT

72 Ernie Price DE

82 Ken Sanders DE

Linebackers

52 Jim Laslavic

50 Paul Naumoff

55 Ed O'Neil

57 Garth TenNapel

59 Charlie Weaver

Defensive backs

20 Lem Barney CB

29 Ben Davis

28 James Hunter S

23 Levi Johnson CB

26 Dick Jauron S

40 Charlie West S

Special teams

10 Ian Sunter K

18 Herman Weaver P

Reserve lists

currently vacant

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

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

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

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

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 2 vs Falcons

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

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

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

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 4 at Packers

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

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

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

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

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

References

^ "The Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 114.
^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 377
^ "Aaron Rodgers shows Passer Rating Differential is important stat - Kerry J. Byrne - SI.com". Archived from the original on June 26, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011.

[1] "The Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved October 10, 2021.

[2] NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 114.

[3] NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 377

[4] "Aaron Rodgers shows Passer Rating Differential is important stat - Kerry J. Byrne - SI.com". Archived from the original on June 26, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011.

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