1976 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1976 6–8 3rd NFC Central Rick Forzano and Tommy Hudspeth Russ Thomas William Clay Ford Sr. Pontiac Metropolitan StadiumThe Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1988&dat=19761028&id=jk8iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=S6wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1373,4798352&hl=en 2021-10-10 news.google.com Did not qualify 2 TE Charlie Sanders CB Lem Barney None Lions seasons 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.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing, New York, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 114. 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.April 2020 Offseason 1976 expansion draft 1976 NFL expansion draft + Detroit Lions selected during the expansion draft Round Overall Name Position Expansion team00Larry BallLinebackerTampa Bay Buccaneers00Gordon JolleyOffensive tackleSeattle Seahawks00John McMakinTight endSeattle Seahawks NFL draft 1976 NFL draft 1976 Detroit Lions 1 10 James Hunter CB Grambling State from Chicago yes 1 16 Lawrence Gaines RB Wyoming yes 2 44 Ken Long G Purdue yes 2 46 David Hill TE Texas A&I from San Diego yes yes 3 68 Russ Bolinger OT Long Beach State from Chicago yes 3 76 John Woodcock DT Hawaii yes 5 145 Steadman Scavella LB Miami (FL) from Miami no 7 198 Garth TenNapel LB Texas A&M yes 8 217 Rich Sorenson K Chico State from New England no 8 225 Charles Braswell DB West Virginia no 9 253 Leanell Jones TE Long Beach State no 10 279 Bill Bowerman DB New Mexico State no 11 307 Gary Shugrue DE Villanova no 12 335 Mike McCabe C South Carolina no 13 363 Mel Jacobs WR San Diego State no 14 391 Leonard Elston WR Kentucky State no 15 419 Trent Smock WR Indiana no 16 447 Craig McCurdy LB William & Mary no 17 475 Jim Meeks DB Boise State no no 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. Personnel Staff / Coaches 1976 Detroit Lions Owner / Team President - William Clay Ford, Sr. Senior / Executive Vice President - Edwin J. Anderson Vice President / General manager - Russ Thomas Assistant General Manager - Rogers Lebew Coordinator of Personnel / Scouting - Tommy Hudspeth Treasurer - Newton S. Peters Publicity Director / Business Manager - Lyall Smith Assistant Publicity Director - Elliott Trumbull Equipment manager - Roy Marklem Assistant equipment manager - Dan Jaroschewich Head coach – Rick Forzano Assistant Head Coach - Bruce Beatty Assistant to Coaching Staff - Bill Belichick Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks & Receivers - Ken Shipp Assistant Receivers Coach - Art Zeleznik Offensive Backs - Bob Gibson Offensive Line - Bruce Beatty Interior Offensive Line / Running Game Coordinator - Joe Bugel Defensive Backfield / Secondary - Jim Carr Defensive Line Coach - Fritz Shurmur Linebackers Coach - Jerry Glanville Special Teams Coordinator - Jerry Glanville Assistant Special Teams - Art Zeleznik Strength and Conditioning - Floyd Reese Trainer - Kent Falb Assistant Trainer - Ken Rasche https://archive.org/details/lions-1976/page/3/mode/2up 1976 Detroit Lions official guide July 12, 2026 https://www.profootballarchives.com/1976nfldet.html#gsc.tab=0 1976 Detroit Lions ProFootballArchives.com July 12, 2026 Final roster 1976 Detroit Lions 41 6 0 16 Gary Danielson y 11 Greg Landry 14 Joe Reed quarterback 43 Andy Bolton American football y 24 Dexter Bussey 38 Lawrence Gaines y 33 Bobby Thompson running back 45 Ray Jarvis American football 44 Bob Picard 39 Leonard Thompson American football 49 Larry Walton 81 David Hill tight end y 88 Charlie Sanders 62 Lynn Boden G 73 Russ Bolinger y G 76 Rocky Freitas T 71 Craig Hertwig T 66 Bob Kowalkowski G 65 Ken Long y G 68 Mark Markovich C 63 Jon Morris C 75 Jim Yarbrough T offensive lineman 79 Don Croft DT 70 Billy Howard gridiron football DE 83 Jim Mitchell defensive lineman DE/DT 72 Ernie Price DE 82 Ken Sanders American football DE 77 John Woodcock American football y DT 52 Jim Laslavic MLB 50 Paul Naumoff OLB 55 Ed O'Neil MLB 57 Garth TenNapel y OLB 59 Charlie Weaver OLB 20 Lem Barney CB 29 Ben Davis American football CB 28 James Hunter y American football FS 23 Levi Johnson CB 27 Maurice Tyler SS 40 Charlie West SS American football  1 Benny Ricardo K 18 Herman Weaver P 78 Doug English DT IR 74 Larry Hand DT IR 41 J. D. Hill WR IR 26 Dick Jauron S IR 25 Horace King American football RB IR 88 Herb Orvis DT IR None - N/A 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.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 377 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.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/kerry_byrne/06/23/most.important.stat.passer.rating.differential/index.html Aaron Rodgers shows Passer Rating Differential is important stat - Kerry J. Byrne - SI.com 2011-06-25 2011-06-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20110626164742/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/kerry_byrne/06/23/most.important.stat.passer.rating.differential/index.html dead 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, 1976 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, 1976 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 1976 Chicago Bears season Bears–Lions rivalry Detroit Lions 1976 2; text-align:center collapsed Week One: Detroit Lions (0–0) at Chicago Bears (0–0) September 12, 1976 2:00 p.m. Lions 0 3 0 0 Bears 0 0 7 3 Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois 54,125 69 F C 1 or • Wind 12 mph km/h knot Pro-Football-Reference.com 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 1976 Atlanta Falcons season Detroit Lions 1976 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Two: Atlanta Falcons (0–1) at Detroit Lions (0–1) September 19, 1976 1:00 p.m. Falcons 0 7 3 0 Lions 0 0 0 24 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan 50,840 Indoors (dome) Box Score 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 Detroit Lions 1976 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Four: Detroit Lions (1–2) at Green Bay Packers (0–3) October 3 2:00 p.m. Lions 0 14 0 0 Packers 10 0 0 14 Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin 55,041 60 F C 1 or Box Score 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 References Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com Detroit Lions on The Football Database Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions