# 1976 New York Giants season

The 1976 New York Giants season was the franchise's 52nd season in the National Football League. The Giants had a 3–11 record in 1976 and finished last in the five-team NFC East.
The season was highlighted by the opening of the new Giants Stadium at the New Jersey Meadowlands in East Rutherford on October 10. In the first game at the stadium, after four road games to open the season, the defending NFC champion Dallas Cowboys handed New York a 24–14 loss. The Giants then suffered defeats against the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers, falling to 0–7. At this time, they fired third-year head coach Bill Arnsparger, whose Giants teams had lost 28 times in 35 games. John McVay was named the team's interim coach, although director of operations Andy Robustelli said the appointment was "not strictly" on a temporary basis.
New York lost its first two games under McVay, against the Philadelphia Eagles and Cowboys. The Giants' first win at Giants Stadium came on November 14, when they defeated the Washington Redskins 12–9; it was their first victory of the season after nine consecutive losses and the first over a George Allen-coached team in 15 tries. In their final four games, they won twice. Linebacker Brad Van Pelt became the first Giant to receive a Pro Bowl invitation since 1972. Following the season, McVay was retained as head coach, signing a two-year contract.
For the 1976 season and now based in New Jersey, the Giants debuted their new helmet design, changing from a stylized “NY” to the word “GIANTS”, underlined in block letters. They wore these exact helmets through the 1979 season; in 1980, the helmet's white stripes were eliminated. These helmets remained unchanged through 1999.

## Offseason
### 1976 Expansion Draft

New York Giants selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Don Clune | Wide receiver | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Rondy Colbert | Cornerback | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Jimmy Gunn | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |

### NFL Draft

1976 New York Giants draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 13 | Troy Archer | Defensive tackle | Colorado |
| 4 | 104 | Gordon Bell | Running back | Michigan |
| 4 | 105 | Harry Carson * $^†$ | Linebacker | South Carolina State |
| 5 | 136 | Melvin Wilson | Defensive back | Cal State Northridge |
| 6 | 162 | Dan Lloyd | Linebacker | Washington |
| 8 | 221 | John Jordan | Defensive tackle | Indiana |
| 10 | 276 | John Thomas | Running back | Valley City State |
| 11 | 303 | Craig Brantley | Wide receiver | Clemson |
| 12 | 333 | Jerry Golsteyn | Quarterback | Northern Illinois |
| 13 | 360 | Rick Caswell | Wide receiver | Western Kentucky |
| 14 | 387 | Jerry Mullane | Linebacker | Lehigh |
| 15 | 417 | Eddie Morgan | Defensive tackle | Arkansas State |
| 16 | 444 | Dave Lawson | Kicker | Air Force |
| 17 | 471 | Steve Curnutte | Defensive back | Vanderbilt |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | at Washington Redskins | L 17–19 | 0–1 | 54,245 |
| 2 | September 19 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 7–20 | 0–2 | 66,005 |
| 3 | September 26 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 10–24 | 0–3 | 60,698 |
| 4 | October 3 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 21–27 | 0–4 | 48,039 |
| 5 | October 10 | Dallas Cowboys | L 14–24 | 0–5 | 76,042 |
| 6 | October 17 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 7–24 | 0–6 | 46,508 |
| 7 | October 24 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 0–27 | 0–7 | 69,783 |
| 8 | October 31 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 0–10 | 0–8 | 68,690 |
| 9 | November 7 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 3–9 | 0–9 | 58,870 |
| 10 | November 14 | Washington Redskins | W 12–9 | 1–9 | 72,975 |
| 11 | November 21 | at Denver Broncos | L 13–14 | 1–10 | 63,151 |
| 12 | November 28 | Seattle Seahawks | W 28–16 | 2–10 | 65,111 |
| 13 | December 5 | Detroit Lions | W 24–10 | 3–10 | 66,069 |
| 14 | December 12 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 14–17 | 3–11 | 60,553 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |
NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |
NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 7–0 | 9–2–1 | 351 | 190 | W4 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 5–2 | 7–5 | 270 | 190 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–5 | 3–8 | 253 | 346 | L3 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–5 | 4–8 | 172 | 312 | L3 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 1–3 | 1–12 | 229 | 429 | L5 |