# 1976 Baltimore Colts season

The 1976 Baltimore Colts season was the 24th season for the team in the National Football League. Led by second-year head coach Ted Marchibroda, the Colts finished with a record of 11 wins and 3 losses, tied for first in the AFC East division with the New England Patriots. Baltimore won the AFC East title based on a better division record (7–1 to Patriots' 6–2).
Marchibroda, the reigning NFL coach of the year, resigned a week before the regular season opener, due to a power struggle with general manager Joe Thomas and owner Robert Irsay. Baltimore had won its first two preseason games, then dropped the final four. Several Colts assistant coaches threatened to leave the team, and quarterback Bert Jones publicly came to his coach's defense. Thomas and Irsay quickly made amends with the coach before the season started. (Thomas would be fired by the team shortly after the season.)
The Colts’ offense was dominant in 1976: they led the league in scoring with 417 points (29.7 per game). Jones was named league MVP after passing for a league-best 3,104 yards, 9.27 yards-per-attempt, and a passer rating of 102.5, second best in the NFL. Running back Lydell Mitchell also had a spectacular year, rushing for 1,200 yards, and catching 60 passes. Wide receiver Roger Carr proved to be a valuable deep threat in the passing game, leading the league with 1,112 receiving yards and 25.9 yards per reception. All three offensive players made the Pro Bowl team.

## Offseason
### 1976 Expansion Draft

Baltimore Colts selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Mike Curtis | Linebacker | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Bill Olds | Fullback | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Dave Pear | Defensive tackle | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |

### Draft

1976 Baltimore Colts draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 20 | Ken Novak | Defensive tackle | Purdue | |
| 3 | 81 | Ed Simonini | Linebacker | Texas A&M | |
| 3 | 90 | Ron Lee | Running back | West Virginia | |
| 5 | 134 | Sanders Shiver | Linebacker | Carson–Newman | |
| 5 | 143 | Mike Kirkland | Quarterback | Arkansas | Played for Colts in 1978 |
| 8 | 228 | Ricky Thompson | Wide receiver | Baylor | |
| 9 | 258 | Stu Levenick | Tackle | Illinois | |
| 10 | 283 | Tim Baylor | Defensive back | Morgan State | |
| 11 | 310 | Rick Gibney | Defensive tackle | Georgia Tech | |
| 12 | 340 | Frank Stavroff | Placekicker | Indiana | |
| 14 | 394 | Jeremiah Cummings | Defensive end | Albany State | |
| 15 | 424 | Gary Alexander | Tackle | Clemson | |
| 16 | 449 | Mike Fuhrman | Tight end | Memphis State | |
| 16 | 451 | Steve Ludwig | Center | Miami (FL) | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | July 31 | at Cleveland Browns | W 21–0 | Lincoln, Nebraska | 20,304 |
| 2 | August 6 | Washington Redskins | W 20–3 | Memorial Stadium | 35,575 |
| 3 | August 14 | at Chicago Bears | L 14–25 | Soldier Field | 54,338 |
| 4 | August 20 | New Orleans Saints | L 20–26 (OT) | Memorial Stadium | 38,879 |
| 5 | August 28 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 7–21 | Atlanta Stadium | 24,986 |
| 6 | September 2 | at Detroit Lions | L 9–24 | Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium | 54,217 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 12 | at New England Patriots | W 27–13 | 1–0 | Schaefer Stadium | 43,512 | Link |
| 2 | September 19 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 28–27 | 2–0 | Memorial Stadium | 50,374 | Link |
| 3 | September 26 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 27–30 | 2–1 | Texas Stadium | 64,237 | Link |
| 4 | October 3 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 42–17 | 3–1 | Memorial Stadium | 40,053 | Link |
| 5 | October 10 | Miami Dolphins | W 28–14 | 4–1 | Memorial Stadium | 58,832 | Link |
| 6 | October 17 | at Buffalo Bills | W 31–13 | 5–1 | Rich Stadium | 71,009 | Link |
| 7 | October 24 | at New York Jets | W 20–0 | 6–1 | Shea Stadium | 59,576 | Link |
| 8 | November 1 | Houston Oilers | W 38–14 | 7–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,020 | Link |
| 9 | November 7 | at San Diego Chargers | W 37–21 | 8–1 | San Diego Stadium | 42,827 | Link |
| 10 | November 14 | New England Patriots | L 14–21 | 8–2 | Memorial Stadium | 58,226 | Link |
| 11 | November 22 | at Miami Dolphins | W 17–16 | 9–2 | Miami Orange Bowl | 62,104 | Link |
| 12 | November 28 | New York Jets | W 33–16 | 10–2 | Memorial Stadium | 44,023 | Link |
| 13 | December 4 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 17–24 | 10–3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48,282 | Link |
| 14 | December 12 | Buffalo Bills | W 58–20 | 11–3 | Memorial Stadium | 50,451 | Link |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Baltimore Colts$^{(2)}$ | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 7–1 | 11–1 | 417 | 246 | W1 |
| New England Patriots$^{(4)}$ | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 6–2 | 10–2 | 376 | 236 | W6 |
| Miami Dolphins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 5–3 | 6–6 | 263 | 264 | L1 |
| New York Jets | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 2–6 | 3–9 | 169 | 383 | L4 |
| Buffalo Bills | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 0–8 | 2–10 | 245 | 363 | L10 |

## Postseason

The team returned to the playoffs as a No. 2 seed and hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round. The Colts fell behind 26–7 at the half, and lost 40–14. This game is better remembered for the post-game crash of a private plane into an unoccupied section of Memorial Stadium.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| Divisional | December 19 | Pittsburgh Steelers (3) | L 14–40 | 0–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,020 | Link |