# 1976 Dallas Cowboys season

The 1976 Dallas Cowboys season was their 17th in the National Football League. The team improved on their previous output of 10–4, winning eleven games. They qualified for the playoffs, but were stunned by the Los Angeles Rams 14–12 in the divisional round.

## Offseason
### 1976 Expansion Draft

Dallas Cowboys selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Ron Howard | Tight end | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Cal Peterson | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 0 | 0 | Rolly Woolsey | Cornerback | Seattle Seahawks |

### NFL Draft

1976 Dallas Cowboys draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 27 | Aaron Kyle | CB | Wyoming |
| 2 | 40 | Jim Jensen | RB | Iowa |
| 2 | 55 | Jim Eidson | OG | Mississippi State |
| 3 | 73 | Duke Fergerson | WR | San Diego State |
| 3 | 75 | John Smith | RB | Boise State |
| 3 | 87 | Butch Johnson | WR | California-Riverside |
| 4 | 119 | Tom Rafferty | OG | Penn State |
| 5 | 151 | Wally Pesuit | OT | Kentucky |
| 6 | 181 | Greg McGuire | OT | Indiana |
| 7 | 186 | Greg Schaum | DT | Michigan State |
| 7 | 208 | David Williams | RB | Colorado |
| 8 | 236 | Henry Laws | DB | South Carolina |
| 9 | 264 | Beasley Reece | DB | North Texas State |
| 10 | 290 | Leroy Cook | DE | Alabama |
| 11 | 308 | Cornelius Greene | QB | Ohio State |
| 12 | 346 | Charles McShane | LB | California Lutheran |
| 13 | 374 | Mark Driscoll | QB | Colorado State |
| 14 | 402 | Larry Mushinskie | TE | Nebraska |
| 15 | 430 | Dale Curry | LB | UCLA |
| 16 | 458 | Rick Costanzo | OT | Nebraska |
| 17 | 486 | Stan Woodfill | K | Oregon |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Site | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 12 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–7 | 1–0 | Texas Stadium | 54,052 | Recap |
| 2 | September 19 | at New Orleans Saints | W 24–6 | 2–0 | Louisiana Superdome | 61,413 | Recap |
| 3 | September 26 | Baltimore Colts | W 30–27 | 3–0 | Texas Stadium | 64,237 | Recap |
| 4 | October 3 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 28–13 | 4–0 | Kingdome | 62,027 | Recap |
| 5 | October 10 | at New York Giants | W 24–14 | 5–0 | Giants Stadium | 76,042 | Recap |
| 6 | October 17 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 17–21 | 5–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,317 | Recap |
| 7 | October 24 | Chicago Bears | W 31–21 | 6–1 | Texas Stadium | 61,346 | Recap |
| 8 | October 31 | at Washington Redskins | W 20–7 | 7–1 | RFK Stadium | 55,004 | Recap |
| 9 | November 7 | New York Giants | W 9–3 | 8–1 | Texas Stadium | 58,870 | Recap |
| 10 | November 15 | Buffalo Bills | W 17–10 | 9–1 | Texas Stadium | 51,799 | Recap |
| 11 | November 21 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 10–17 | 9–2 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 54,992 | Recap |
| 12 | November 25 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 19–14 | 10–2 | Texas Stadium | 62,498 | Recap |
| 13 | December 5 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 26–7 | 11–2 | Veterans Stadium | 55,072 | Recap |
| 14 | December 12 | Washington Redskins | L 14–27 | 11–3 | Texas Stadium | 59,916 | Recap |
Division opponents are in bold text

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Game Site | Attendance | Recap |
| Divisional | December 19, 1976 | Los Angeles Rams (3) | L 12–14 | Texas Stadium | 62,436 | Recap |

## 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 |

## Season recap

The Cowboys entered the year with high expectations, dominating the regular season by finishing with an 11-3 record, while capturing the NFC East title. But they came up short in the first round of the divisional playoffs, after being heavily favored at home against the Los Angeles Rams, but still losing 14–12.

## Publications

The Football Encyclopedia ISBN 0-312-11435-4 Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3 Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2