# 1976 Washington Redskins season

The 1976 Washington Redskins season was the franchise’s 45th overall and 40th in Washington, D.C. The season began with the team trying to improve on their 8–6 record from 1975, which they did, finishing 10–4, second in the NFC East behind the Dallas Cowboys. They would be eliminated from the NFL playoffs by the Minnesota Vikings by the score of 35–20. This was the first season as a Redskin for Hall of Fame running back John Riggins, signed as a free agent after spending the first five seasons of his career with the New York Jets. This was also the last season in which the Redskins would make the playoffs under Hall of Fame head coach George Allen.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1976 Washington Redskins draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 5 | 148 | Mike Hughes | Guard | Baylor |
| 6 | 179 | Tommy Marvaso | Safety | Cincinnati |
| 7 | 234 | Brian Fryer | Wide receiver | Alberta |
| 8 | 254 | Curtis Akins | Guard | Hawaii |
| 10 | 272 | Paul Strohmeier | Linebacker | Washington |
| 11 | 308 | Dean Gissler | Defensive end | Nebraska |
| 12 | 342 | Walter Tullis | Defensive back | Delaware State |
| 13 | 364 | Wayman Britt | Defensive back | Michigan |
| 14 | 393 | Quinn Buckner | Defensive back | Indiana |
| 15 | 426 | John Monroe | Running back | Bluefield State |
| 17 | 476 | Chuck Wills | Defensive back | Oregon |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 12 | New York Giants | W 19–17 | 1–0 | RFK Stadium | 54,245 | Recap |
| 2 | September 19 | Seattle Seahawks | W 31–7 | 2–0 | RFK Stadium | 53,174 | Recap |
| 3 | September 27 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 20–17 | 3–0 | Veterans Stadium | 66,005 | Recap |
| 4 | October 3 | at Chicago Bears | L 7–33 | 3–1 | Soldier Field | 52,105 | Recap |
| 5 | October 10 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 30–33 | 3–2 | RFK Stadium | 53,060 | Recap |
| 6 | October 17 | Detroit Lions | W 20–7 | 4–2 | RFK Stadium | 45,908 | Recap |
| 7 | October 25 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 20–10 | 5–2 | RFK Stadium | 48,325 | Recap |
| 8 | October 31 | Dallas Cowboys | L 7–20 | 5–3 | RFK Stadium | 55,004 | Recap |
| 9 | November 7 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 24–21 | 6–3 | Candlestick Park | 56,134 | Recap |
| 10 | November 14 | at New York Giants | L 9–12 | 6–4 | Giants Stadium | 72,975 | Recap |
| 11 | November 21 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 16–10 | 7–4 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 49,833 | Recap |
| 12 | November 28 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 24–0 | 8–4 | RFK Stadium | 54,292 | Recap |
| 13 | December 5 | at New York Jets | W 37–16 | 9–4 | Shea Stadium | 46,638 | Recap |
| 14 | December 12 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 27–14 | 10–4 | Texas Stadium | 59,916 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Week 1 (Sunday, September 12, 1976): vs. New York Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants (0–1) | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Redskins (1–0) | 0 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 19 |
at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.
* Date: September 12, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
* Game attendance: 54,245
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui (play-by-play) and Sonny Jurgenson (color commentator)
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| NYG | Passing | Craig Morton | 13/26, 228 YDS, 2 TDs, 4 INTs |
| NYG | Rushing | Larry Csonka | 23 CAR, 78 YDS |
| NYG | Receiving | Walker Gillette | 5 REC, 105 YDS, 1 TD |
| WAS | Passing | Billy Kilmer | 17/35, 257 YDS, 2 TDs, 1 INT |
| WAS | Rushing | Mike Thomas | 17 CAR, 56 YDS |
| WAS | Receiving | Mike Thomas | 5 REC, 54 YDS, 1 TD |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | NYG | WAS |
| 1 | | | | | Giants | 20-yard field goal by Danelo | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | | | | | Redskins | 22-yard field goal by Moseley | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | | | | | Giants | Rhodes 63-yard touchdown reception from Morton, Danelo kick good | 10 | 3 |
| 3 | | | | | Redskins | Morton tackled in end zone for a safety by McDole | 10 | 5 |
| 3 | | | | | Redskins | Grant 53-yard touchdown reception from Kilmer, Moseley kick good | 10 | 12 |
| 4 | | | | | Giants | Gillette 62-yard touchdown reception from Morton, Danelo kick good | 17 | 12 |
| 4 | | | | | Redskins | Thomas 5-yard touchdown reception from Kilmer, Moseley kick good | 17 | 19 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 17 | 19 |
* Point spread: Redskins –4½
* Time of Game:
| Giants | Game Statistics | Redskins |
| 14 | First downs | 17 |
| 40–96 | Rushes–yards | 31–89 |
| 228 | Passing yards | 257 |
| 13–26–4 | Passes | 17–36–1 |
| 2–7 | Sacked–yards | 3–24 |
| 221 | Net passing yards | 233 |
| 317 | Total yards | 322 |
| 52 | Return yards | 208 |
| 7–48.9 | Punts | 10–39.6 |
| 1–0 | Fumbles–lost | 3–2 |
| 6–55 | Penalties–yards | 13–120 |

### Week 14
## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Venue | Attendance | Game recap |
| Divisional | December 18 | at Minnesota Vikings (1) | L 20–35 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,221 | Recap |

### Divisional
## 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 |