1976 Atlanta Falcons season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Atlanta Falcons 1976 4–10 3rd NFC West Marion Campbell (first 5 games; 1–4 record)Pat Peppler (interim; 3–6 record) Pat Peppler Rankin M. Smith Sr. Atlanta Stadium Did not qualify Falcons seasons The 1976 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 11th year in the National Football League (NFL). The season saw the Falcons attempting to improve on their 4–10 record from 1975. However, they were only able to match the record, as they finished the 1976 season at 4–10 and missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season. After a 1–4 start to the season, head coach Marion Campbell was fired by general manager Pat Peppler, who himself would close out the season as the interim head coach and finish the season with a 3–6 record. The Falcons also suffered the ignominy of being the only established NFL team to lose to one of the league's two expansion teams when they lost 30–13 to the Seattle Seahawks on November 7. For the season, the Falcons converted from gray facemasks to white facemasks. Offseason 1976 expansion draft 1976 NFL expansion draft + Atlanta Falcons selected during the expansion draft Round Overall Name Position Expansion team00Nick BeboutOffensive tackleSeattle Seahawks00Don HansenLinebackerSeattle Seahawks00Vince KendrickRunning backTampa Bay Buccaneers Draft 1976 NFL draft 1976 Atlanta Falcons 1 9 Bubba Bean Running back Texas A&M yes no no 2 36 Sonny Collins Running back Kentucky yes 3 71 Dave Scott Guard Kansas yes 4 102 Walt Brett Defensive end Montana 6 169 Stan Varner Defensive tackle BYU 7 193 Karl Farmer Wide receiver Pittsburgh yes 8 219 Frank Reed Cornerback Washington yes 9 246 Phil McKinnely Offensive tackle UCLA yes no 11 302 Chuck Brislin Offensive tackle Mississippi St 12 329 Phil Bolton Kicker Montana St 13 356 Mike Williams Offensive tackle Florida 14 383 Mark Husfloen Defensive end Washington St 15 414 Ron Olson Defensive back Washington 16 441 Pat Curto Linebacker Ohio St 17 468 Tony Green Defensive back Texas Tech https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/atl/1976_draft.htm 1976 Atlanta Falcons draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com October 24, 2014 Undrafted free agents + 1976 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeAngelo WellsDefensive endMorgan State Personnel Staff / Coaches 1976 Atlanta Falcons Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General manager – Pat Peppler Head coach – Marion Campbell Offensive coordinator – Bill Nelsen Receivers – Jimmy Orr Offensive line – Bill Walsh Defensive coordinator – Fred Bruney Defensive line – Eddie Khayat Linebackers – Marv Matuszak Defensive backfield – Al Lavan Roster 1976 Atlanta Falcons 41 10 0 16 Scott Hunter American football 11 Kim McQuilken 44 Bubba Bean y 41 Sonny Collins y 26 Mike Esposito American football 24 Haskel Stanback 89 Wallace Francis 42 John Gilliam 84 Alfred Jenkins 82 Scott Piper y 81 Bob Adams American football 86 Jim Mitchell tight end 62 Brent Adams American football T 65 Len Gotshalk T 63 Greg Kindle G 68 Larron Jackson G 73 Phil McKinnely y T 53 Paul Ryczek C 70 Dave Scott American football y G 64 Royce Smith G 58 Jim Weatherly American football y C 77 Ron East DE 71 Steve George American football DT 87 Claude Humphrey DE 69 Mike Lewis American football DT 75 Jeff Merrow DE 74 Mike Tilleman DT 79 Jeff Yeates DE 50 Greg Brezina OLB 51 Jim Cope American football y MLB 52 Dewey McClain y OLB 60 Tommy Nobis MLB 55 Ralph Ortega OLB 56 Guy Roberts linebacker OLB 34 Ray Brown safety SS 38 Rick Byas CB 32 Ray Easterling FS 40 Bob Jones American football FS 22 Rolland Lawrence CB 29 Ron Mabra CB 28 Frank Reed American football y CB  6 John James American football P 12 Nick Mike-Mayer K 72 Jim Bailey American football DT IR 10 Steve Bartkowski QB IR -- Walt Brett y T/G IR 46 Monroe Eley RB IR 80 Karl Farmer y WR IR 54 Fulton Kuykendall LB IR 88 Greg McCrary TE IR 48 Woody Thompson RB IR 57 Jeff Van Note C IR 78 Bill Windauer DT IR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 12 Los Angeles Rams L 14–30 0–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 53,607 2 September 19 at Detroit Lions L 10–24 0–2 Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium 50,840 3 September 26 at Chicago Bears W 10–0 1–2 Soldier Field 41,029 4 October 3 Philadelphia Eagles L 13–14 1–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 45,535 5 October 10 at New Orleans Saints L 0–30 1–4 Louisiana Superdome 51,521 6 October 17 Cleveland Browns L 17–20 1–5 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 33,364 7 October 23 at San Francisco 49ers L 0–15 1–6 Candlestick Park 50,240 8 October 31 New Orleans Saints W 23–20 2–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 34,127 9 November 7 at Seattle Seahawks L 13–30 2–7 Kingdome 57,985 10 November 14 San Francisco 49ers W 21–16 3–7 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 20,058 11 November 21 Dallas Cowboys W 17–10 4–7 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 54,992 12 November 28 at Houston Oilers L 14–20 4–8 Astrodome 25,838 13 December 4 at Los Angeles Rams L 0–59 4–9 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 57,366 14 December 12, 1976 Green Bay Packers L 20–24 4–10 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 23,436 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings Season summary Week 2 at Lions 1976 Detroit Lions season Atlanta Falcons 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 References External links 1976 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com Atlanta Falcons Category:Atlanta Falcons seasons Atlanta Category:Long stubs with short prose