# 1976 Buffalo Bills season

The 1976 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 7th season in the National Football League, and the 17th overall.
Buffalo's season was troubled from the start, as the team was in a contract dispute with star running back O. J. Simpson. Simpson had been demanding a trade, before finally agreeing to a three-year, $2.5 million contract.
The Bills started the season 2–2, before losing their final ten games of the season. Quarterback Joe Ferguson only started the first seven games before being sidelined for the season with a back injury. Backup quarterback Gary Marangi started Buffalo's final seven games, all losses.
Fullback Jim Braxton injured his knee in the Bills' season opener and was lost for the season. Simpson still led the NFL in rushing in 1976, even without Braxton's blocking.
Bills head coach Lou Saban resigned after the fifth game of the season, with the Bills struggling at 2–3. Offensive line coach Jim Ringo took over, but would not win a game for the rest of the year.
The lowest point of the season was when O. J. Simpson was ejected from a game for getting into a fight with New England Patriots defensive end Mel Lunsford. Lunsford was also ejected from the game as well. Neither player was fined or suspended by the league.

## Offseason

Before the 1976 season, Buffalo lost some key players, notably wide receivers Ahmad Rashad and J. D. Hill, and defensive linemen Earl Edwards, Walt Patulski and Pat Toomay.

### 1976 Expansion Draft

Buffalo Bills selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Gary Hayman | Running back | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Frank Oliver | Defensive back | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 0 | 0 | Pat Toomay | Defensive end | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |

### NFL draft

Note: 1976 was the final year in which the NFL draft was seventeen rounds; it would be reduced to twelve rounds in 1977.
The Bills' 1976 draft produced four long-time starters with their first four picks. First round pick Mario Clark played for seven seasons with the Bills. Offensive guard Ken Jones played for the Bills for eleven years. Offensive tackle Joe Devlin played every game of his 14-year career with the Bills, playing in all 191 regular-season games until his retirement after the 1989 season. Defensive end Ben Williams played for the Bills for 10 years; he was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro for the 1982 season.
1976 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 18 | Mario Clark | Cornerback | Oregon |
| 2 | 42 | Ken Jones | Guard | Arkansas State |
| 2 | 52 | Joe Devlin | Offensive tackle | Iowa |
| 3 | 78 | Ben Williams * | Defensive end | Ole Miss |
| 4 | 109 | Dan Jilek | Linebacker | Michigan |
| 5 | 142 | Fred Coleman | Tight end | Northeast Louisiana |
| 6 | 164 | Leslie Benson | Defensive end | Baylor |
| 6 | 171 | Scott Piper | Wide receiver | Arizona |
| 6 | 175 | Darnell Powell | Running back | Tennessee-Chattanooga |
| 7 | 195 | Jackie Williams | Defensive back | Texas A&M |
| 8 | 215 | Scott Gardner | Quarterback | Virginia |
| 8 | 226 | Bobby Joe Easter | Running back | Middle Tennessee State |
| 8 | 227 | Art Meadowcroft | Guard | Minnesota |
| 9 | 241 | Jeff Turner | Linebacker | Kansas |
| 9 | 255 | Bob Kotzur | Defensive tackle | Southwest Texas State |
| 10 | 280 | Keith Moody | Cornerback | Syracuse |
| 11 | 309 | Forry Smith | Wide receiver | Iowa State |
| 12 | 336 | Joe Lowery | Running back | Jackson State |
| 13 | 365 | Will Wilcox | Guard | Texas |
| 14 | 392 | Tony Williams | Wide receiver | Middle Tennessee State |
| 15 | 421 | Arnold Robinson | Linebacker | Bethune-Cookman |
| 16 | 448 | Gary Gorrell | Linebacker | Boise State |
| 17 | 477 | Bob Berg | Kicker | New Mexico |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 13 | Miami Dolphins | L 21–30 | 0—1 | Rich Stadium | 77,683 |
| 2 | September 19 | Houston Oilers | L 3–13 | 0—2 | Rich Stadium | 61,384 |
| 3 | September 26 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 14–9 | 1—2 | Tampa Stadium | 44,505 |
| 4 | October 3 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 50–17 | 2—2 | Rich Stadium | 51,909 |
| 5 | October 10 | at New York Jets | L 14–17 | 2—3 | Shea Stadium | 59,110 |
| 6 | October 17 | Baltimore Colts | L 13–31 | 2—4 | Rich Stadium | 71,009 |
| 7 | October 24 | New England Patriots | L 22–26 | 2—5 | Rich Stadium | 45,144 |
| 8 | October 31 | New York Jets | L 14–19 | 2—6 | Rich Stadium | 41,285 |
| 9 | November 7 | at New England Patriots | L 10–20 | 2—7 | Schaefer Stadium | 61,157 |
| 10 | November 15 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 10–17 | 2—8 | Cotton Bowl | 51,799 |
| 11 | November 21 | San Diego Chargers | L 13–34 | 2—9 | Rich Stadium | 36,539 |
| 12 | November 25 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–27 | 2—10 | Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium | 66,875 |
| 13 | December 5 | at Miami Dolphins | L 45–27 | 2—11 | Miami Orange Bowl | 43,475 |
| 14 | December 12 | at Baltimore Colts | L 20–58 | 2—12 | Memorial Stadium | 50,451 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Season summary
#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Buccaneers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chiefs | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| • Bills | 16 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 50 |

#### Week 12

O. J. Simpson rushed for 273 yards, setting a Thanksgiving Day record that still holds as of the end of the 2016 season.

### 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 |

## Awards and honors

* O. J. Simpson, Thanksgiving Day Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 273 yards vs. Detroit Lions, November 25