# 1976 Detroit Lions season

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. 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.

## Offseason
### 1976 Expansion Draft

Detroit Lions selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Larry Ball | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 0 | 0 | Gordon Jolley | Offensive tackle | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | John McMakin | Tight end | Seattle Seahawks |

### NFL Draft

1976 Detroit Lions draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 10 | James Hunter | CB | Grambling State | from Chicago |
| 1 | 16 | Lawrence Gaines | RB | Wyoming | |
| 2 | 44 | Ken Long | G | Purdue | |
| 2 | 46 | David Hill * | TE | Texas A&I | from San Diego |
| 3 | 68 | Russ Bolinger | OT | Long Beach State | from Chicago |
| 3 | 76 | John Woodcock | DT | Hawaii | |
| 5 | 145 | Steadman Scavella | LB | Miami (FL) | from Miami |
| 7 | 198 | Garth TenNapel | LB | Texas A&M | |
| 8 | 217 | Rich Sorenson | K | Chico State | from New England |
| 8 | 225 | Charles Braswell | DB | West Virginia | |
| 9 | 253 | Leanell Jones | TE | Long Beach State | |
| 10 | 279 | Bill Bowerman | DB | New Mexico State | |
| 11 | 307 | Gary Shugrue | DE | Villanova | |
| 12 | 335 | Mike McCabe | C | South Carolina | |
| 13 | 363 | Mel Jacobs | WR | San Diego State | |
| 14 | 391 | Leonard Elston | WR | Kentucky State | |
| 15 | 419 | Trent Smock | WR | Indiana | |
| 16 | 447 | Craig McCurdy | LB | William & Mary | |
| 17 | 475 | Jim Meeks | DB | Boise State | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||
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.

## 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.
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.

### 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 | 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 | 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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
* Date: September 12, 1976
* Game time: 2:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 69 °F or 20.6 °C • Wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
* Game attendance: 54,125
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
at Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan
* Date: September 19, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 50,840
* Box Score
Game information :
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

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Packers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: October 3
* Game time: 2:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 60 °F or 15.6 °C
* Game attendance: 55,041
* Box Score
Game information :
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

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 |