# 1976 Green Bay Packers season

The 1976 Green Bay Packers season was their 58th season overall and their 56th season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 5–9 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a fourth-place finish in the NFC Central division. The Packers struggled, including starting three different quarterbacks during the season, and finished in last place in the NFC Central with a 5–9 record. After this season, guard Gale Gillingham, the lone remaining player from the Vince Lombardi-era Packers still with the team, retired.

## Offseason
### 1976 Expansion Draft

Green Bay Packers selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Ken Hutcherson | Linebacker | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Al Matthews | Safety | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Barry Smith | Wide Receiver | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |

### NFL draft

1976 Green Bay Packers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 23 | Mark Koncar | Offensive tackle | Colorado |
| 3 | 72 | Mike McCoy | Cornerback | Colorado |
| 4 | 101 | Tom Perko | Linebacker | Pittsburgh |
| 5 | 132 | Aundra Thompson | Running back | East Texas State |
| 8 | 218 | Jim Burrow | Safety | Nebraska |
| 9 | 245 | Jim Gueno | Linebacker | Tulane |
| 10 | 274 | Jessie Green | Wide receiver | Tulsa |
| 11 | 301 | Curtis Leak | Wide receiver | Johnson C. Smith |
| 12 | 328 | Melvin Jackson | Guard | USC |
| 13 | 355 | Bradley Bowman | Defensive back | Southern Miss |
| 14 | 386 | John Henson | Running back | Cal Poly |
| 15 | 413 | Jerry Dandridge | Linebacker | Memphis State |
| 16 | 440 | Mike Timmermans | Guard | Northern Iowa |
| 17 | 467 | Ray Hall | Tight end | Cal Poly |
| Made roster ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1976 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Dan Brunner | Tight end | Wisconsin–Whitewater |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | San Francisco 49ers | L 14–26 | 0–1 | Lambeau Field | 54,628 |
| 2 | September 19 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 0–29 | 0–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48,842 |
| 3 | September 26 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 7–28 | 0–3 | Riverfront Stadium | 44,103 |
| 4 | October 3 | Detroit Lions | W 24–14 | 1–3 | Lambeau Field | 55,041 |
| 5 | October 10 | Seattle Seahawks | W 27–20 | 2–3 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,983 |
| 6 | October 17 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 28–13 | 3–3 | Lambeau Field | 55,398 |
| 7 | October 24 | at Oakland Raiders | L 14–18 | 3–4 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 52,232 |
| 8 | October 31 | at Detroit Lions | L 6–27 | 3–5 | Pontiac Silverdome | 74,992 |
| 9 | November 7 | New Orleans Saints | W 32–27 | 4–5 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 52,936 |
| 10 | November 14 | at Chicago Bears | L 13–24 | 4–6 | Soldier Field | 52,907 |
| 11 | November 21 | Minnesota Vikings | L 10–17 | 4–7 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 53,104 |
| 12 | November 28 | Chicago Bears | L 10–16 | 4–8 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 13 | December 5 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 9–20 | 4–9 | Metropolitan Stadium | 43,700 |
| 14 | December 12 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 24–20 | 5–9 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 23,436 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### 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 |

### Season summary
#### Week 4 vs Lions

| 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 (16 °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 :