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1976 St. Louis Cardinals season
1976 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner	Bill Bidwill
Head coach	Don Coryell
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	C Tom Banks; G Conrad Dobler; T Dan Dierdorf; QB Jim Hart; WR Mel Gray; CB Roger Wehrli; K Jim Bakken
	← 1975; Cardinals seasons; 1977 →;

The 1976 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 57th season the franchise was in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 11–3, instead regressing by one win.^[1] This was the first time in three seasons the team did not qualify for the playoffs. The Cardinals finished tied with the Washington Redskins for 2nd place in the NFC East, but they lost the tiebreaker due to Washington winning both matchups during the season.

Ultimately, the Cardinals became the only NFC team to win ten games without making the playoffs under a 14-game schedule.

Notably, they took on the San Diego Chargers in a preseason game in the first NFL game to take place in Japan.

Offseason

1976 Expansion Draft

St. Louis Cardinals selected during the Expansion Draft
Name	Position	Expansion Team
Dwayne Crump	Cornerback	Seattle Seahawks
Gary Keithley	Quarterback	Seattle Seahawks
Council Rudolph	Defensive end	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1976 St. Louis Cardinals draft
1	22	Mike Dawson	Defensive tackle	Arizona
3	65	Brad Oates	Offensive tackle	BYU
4	114	Pat Tilley *	Wide receiver	Louisiana Tech
5	141	Wayne Morris	Running back	SMU
7	203	Phil Rogers	Running back	Virginia Tech
8	233	Randall Burks	Wide receiver	Southeastern Oklahoma State
10	285	Randy Walker	Linebacker	Bethune–Cookman
11	315	Marty Akins	Defensive back	Texas
13	369	Greg Brewton	Defensive tackle	Michigan State
14	399	Raymond Crosier	Defensive end	Abilene Christian
15	420	Lee Nelson	Safety	Florida State
16	453	Cecil Beaird	Wide receiver	Fisk
17	483	Dan Myers	Defensive back	Georgia Tech
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

St. Louis Cardinals roster

Quarterbacks

10 Bill Donckers

17 Jim Hart

15 Sam Wyche

Running backs

34 Steve Jones

32 Jerry Latin

21 Terry Metcalf

24 Wayne Morris FB

27 Eddie Moss

35 Jim Otis FB

Wide receivers

85 Mel Gray

84 Ike Harris

30 Gary Hammond

83 Pat Tilley

Tight ends

88 J. V. Cain

81 Jackie Smith

Offensive linemen

61 Hank Allison G

54 Tom Banks C

51 Tom Brahaney C

72 Dan Dierdorf T

66 Conrad Dobler G

60 Roger Finnie T

65 Brad Oates T

62 Keith Wortman T

64 Bob Young G

Defensive linemen

79 Bob Bell DE

70 Leo Brooks DT

76 Charlie Davis DT

73 Mike Dawson DT

71 Steve Okoniewski DT

78 Ron Yankowski DE

63 John Zook DE

Linebackers

57 Mark Arneson

58 Al Beauchamp

59 Carl Gersbach

56 Tim Kearney

52 Mike McGraw

53 Steve Neils

55 Ray White

Defensive backs

26 Dwayne Crump CB

41 Clarence Duren FS

38 Lee Nelson FS

36 Ken Reaves SS

43 Norm Thompson CB

22 Roger Wehrli CB

Special teams

25 Jim Bakken K

87 Terry Joyce

Reserve lists

50 Greg Hartle LB (IR)

74 Walt Patulski DE (IR)

Practice squad

rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	at Seattle Seahawks	W 30–24	1–0	Kingdome	58,441
2	September 19	Green Bay Packers	W 29–0	2–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,842
3	September 26	at San Diego Chargers	L 24–43	2–1	San Diego Stadium	40,212
4	October 3	New York Giants	W 27–21	3–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,039
5	October 10	Philadelphia Eagles	W 33–14	4–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	44,933
6	October 17	Dallas Cowboys	W 21–17	5–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,317
7	October 25	at Washington Redskins	L 10–20	5–2	RFK Stadium	48,325
8	October 31	San Francisco 49ers	W 23–20	6–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,365
9	November 7	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–14	7–2	Veterans Stadium	65,505
10	November 14	at Los Angeles Rams	W 30–28	8–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	64,698
11	November 21	Washington Redskins	L 10–16	8–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,833
12	November 25	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14–19	8–4	Texas Stadium	62,498
13	December 4	Baltimore Colts	W 24–17	9–4	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,282
14	December 12	at New York Giants	W 17–14	10–4	Giants Stadium	60,553
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: @ Seattle Seahawks

Week One: St. Louis Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	3	10	10	7	30
Seahawks	3	0	7	14	24

at Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

Date: September 12
Game time: 1:09 pm local
Game weather: indoors
Game attendance: 58,441
Referee: Tom Bell
TV announcers (CBS): Jim Thacker and Alex Hawkins
Gamebook

Game information

First quarter

STL – Jim Bakken 28-yard field goal, 6:22 (STL 3–0)
SEA – Don Bitterlich 27-yard field goal, 1:15 (Tied 3–3)

Second quarter

STL – Ike Harris 12-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick), 13:05 (STL 10–3)
STL – Jim Bakken 22-yard field goal, 0:21 (STL 13–3)

Third quarter

STL – Pat Tilley 27-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick), 12:51 (STL 20–3)
STL – Jim Bakken 26-yard field goal, 5:47 (STL 23–3)
SEA – Sam McCullum 15-yard pass from Jim Zorn 3:52 (Don Bitterlich kick), (STL 23–10)

Fourth quarter

STL – Jim Otis 1-yard run (Jim Bakken kick), 14:10 (STL 30–10)
SEA – Sam McCullum 72-yard pass from Jim Zorn 13:50 (Don Bitterlich kick), (STL 30–17)
SEA – Jim Zorn 8-yard run (Don Bitterlich kick), 5:09 (STL 30–24)

Top passers

STL – Jim Hart: 15/23, 180 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
SEA – Jim Zorn: 17/37, 292 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT

Top rushers

STL – Jim Otis: 27 car, 140 yds, 1 TD
SEA – Andy Bolton: 12 car, 37 yds

Top receivers

STL – Steve Jones: 3 rec, 59 yds
SEA – Sam McCullum: 4 rec, 112 yds, 2 TD

Team – pass – rush – total – to

STL – 175 – 281 – 456 – 2
SEA – 279 – 73 – 352 – 3

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys⁽²⁾	11	3	0	.786	6–2	9–3	296	194	L1
Washington Redskins⁽⁴⁾	10	4	0	.714	6–2	9–3	291	217	W4
St. Louis Cardinals	10	4	0	.714	5–3	9–3	309	267	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	4	10	0	.286	2–6	4–8	165	286	W1
New York Giants	3	11	0	.214	1–7	3–9	170	250	L1