# 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 44th in the National Football League. The team attempted to win their third consecutive Super Bowl championship but ultimately lost to their bitter rivals, the Oakland Raiders 24–7 in the AFC Championship Game. Despite failing to reach the Super Bowl, the 1976 Steelers are fondly remembered as one of the franchise's most dominant teams, thanks to a record-setting defense and running game. The Steelers' strong defense finished the season with just 9.9 points allowed per game, the fewest in the NFL, and a franchise record that still stands.

## Offseason
### 1976 expansion draft

Pittsburgh Steelers selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Ed Bradley | Linebacker | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Dave Brown | Cornerback | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Dave Reavis | Offensive tackle | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |

### NFL draft

1976 Pittsburgh Steelers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 28 | Bennie Cunningham | Tight end | Clemson |
| 2 | 37 | Ray Pinney | Guard | Washington |
| 2 | 47 | Mike Kruczek | Quarterback | Boston College |
| 3 | 70 | Ron Coder | Defensive tackle | Penn State |
| 3 | 88 | Ernie Pough | Wide receiver | Texas Southern |
| 4 | 112 | Wonder Monds | Safety | Nebraska |
| 4 | 120 | Theo Bell | Wide receiver | Arizona |
| Made roster ||||||

## Season summary

The Steelers started the season looking to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three-straight league championships (and first since the 1929–1931 and 1965–1967 Green Bay Packers). However, many thought that would be in doubt after the team started 1–4 and saw quarterback Terry Bradshaw injured in the week 5 loss to the Cleveland Browns after a vicious sack by Joe "Turkey" Jones that has since become immortalized in NFL Films as part of the Browns-Steelers rivalry.
Despite the setbacks, behind the strength of the Steel Curtain defense and the dual threat of Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier at running back, the Steelers ended the season on a nine-game winning streak to finish 10-4 and win the AFC Central. Harris rushed for 1,128 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Bleier had the best season of his career with 1,036 rushing yards and five touchdowns. With both running backs rushing for over 1,000 yards, the Steelers became the second team in NFL history to have a 1,000 yard rushing duo (the first being the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, the 1976 Steelers and the 1972 Dolphins are the only teams to accomplish this in a 14-game schedule).
Meanwhile, led by linebacker Jack Lambert, the 1976 Defensive Player of the Year, the Steel Curtain had its most dominant season. The defense posted five shutouts, the most in a single season in the Super Bowl era; all five shutouts came during the team's nine-game winning streak. This included three consecutive shutouts (from Weeks 7-9), a 15-quarter shutout streak, and five consecutive games where the team did not allow a touchdown (Weeks 6-10). During the winning streak, the team did not allow a touchdown in eight games. Overall, the defense allowed just 138 points (including only 28 during the winning streak), forced 46 turnovers, and sent eight starting defensive players to the Pro Bowl, including the entire starting secondary.
Rookie quarterback Mike Kruczek wound up going 6–0 starting in place of Bradshaw, largely due to the strength of the ground game and defense. This would also stand as an NFL record for best start for a rookie quarterback until 2004—when the Steelers' own Ben Roethlisberger more than doubled that record and went 13–0 as a starter his rookie season.
However, injuries to both Bleier and Harris in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Baltimore Colts sidelined them both for the following week's AFC Championship game against the Oakland Raiders. Without both of their 1,000-yard rushers, the Steelers lost to the Raiders by a score of 24–7. Even with Pittsburgh coming up short, many Steelers fans—including the Rooney family themselves—consider the 1976 Steelers the best team in franchise history, even better than all six world championship teams. Jack Lambert, who won 4 Super Bowls with the Steelers between 1974 and 1979, claimed that the 1976 Steelers team was the best team that he ever played for, and subsequently, the loss to the Raiders in the AFC Championship game was the most painful loss of his career. He (Lambert) is convinced that they would have beaten the Raiders and gone on to win that season's Super Bowl had Harris and Bleier both been healthy and available for said AFC Championship game. Despite their opinions, the 1976 Steelers were not on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary.
In 2007, ESPN.com named the 1976 Steelers the greatest defense in NFL history, noting, "the 1976 unit was the best (slightly better than the '75 squad). Here's why: 28. That's how many points the Steel Curtain surrendered in the last nine games of the season. That's a total. As a result, Pittsburgh, which started the season 1–4, made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. Only one of the seven teams the Steelers played during the streak finished the season with a winning record (Cincinnati) and none made the playoffs. However the defensive dominance did extend to the Divisional playoff with a resounding 40–14 defeat of the AFC East Champion Baltimore Colts. The Steelers' defense had Hall of Famers Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham and Mel Blount. And eight Steelers defensive players made the 1976 Pro Bowl team: cornerback J.T. Thomas, defensive end L. C. Greenwood, Greene, Ham, Lambert, defensive back Glen Edwards, safety Mike Wagner, and Blount."

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Time $_{(ET)}$ | TV |
| 1 | September 12 | at Oakland Raiders | L 28–31 | 0–1 | 4:00 pm | NBC |
| 2 | September 19 | Cleveland Browns | W 31–14 | 1–1 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 3 | September 26 | New England Patriots | L 27–30 | 1–2 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 4 | October 4 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 6–17 | 1–3 | 9:00 pm | ABC |
| 5 | October 10 | at Cleveland Browns | L 16–18 | 1–4 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 6 | October 17 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 23–6 | 2–4 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 7 | October 24 | at New York Giants | W 27–0 | 3–4 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 8 | October 31 | San Diego Chargers | W 23–0 | 4–4 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 9 | November 7 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 45–0 | 5–4 | 2:00 pm | NBC |
| 10 | November 14 | Miami Dolphins | W 14–3 | 6–4 | 4:00 pm | NBC |
| 11 | November 21 | Houston Oilers | W 32–16 | 7–4 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 12 | November 28 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 7–3 | 8–4 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 13 | December 5 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 42–0 | 9–4 | 1:00 pm | NBC |
| 14 | December 11 | at Houston Oilers | W 21–0 | 10–4 | 4:00 pm | NBC |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1: at Oakland Raiders

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Raiders | 7 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 31 |
at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
* Date: September 12, 1976
* Game time: 4:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 62 °F or 16.7 °C, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
* Game attendance: 51,371
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy & Don Meredith

#### Week 2: vs. Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 17 | 14 | 31 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: Sunday, September 19, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 63 °F or 17.2 °C, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
* Game attendance: 49,169
* Referee: Tommy Bell
* TV announcers (NBC): Jack Buck & Paul Maguire

#### Week 3: vs. New England Patriots

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Patriots | 6 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 30 |
| Steelers | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: Sunday, September 26, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 56 °F or 13.3 °C, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
* Game attendance: 47,379
* Referee: Dick Jorgensen
* TV: NBC

#### Week 4: at Minnesota Vikings

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Vikings | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota
* Date: Monday, October 4, 1976
* Game time: 9:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 65 °F or 18.3 °C, wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)
* Game attendance: 47,809
* Referee: Pat Haggerty
* TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford (play by play) Alex Karras and Howard Cosell (color commentators)

#### Week 5: at Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| Browns | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 18 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: Sunday, October 10, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 48 °F or 8.9 °C, wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)
* Game attendance: 76,411
* Referee: Bernie Ulman
* TV: NBC
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
CLE — Don Cockroft 43-yard field goal. Browns 3–0
PIT — Franco Harris 1-yard-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 7–3
Second quarter
CLE — Don Cockroft 28-yard field goal .Steelers 7–6
PIT — Roy Gerela 30-yard field goal. Steelers 10–6
Third quarter
CLE — Cleo Miller 1-yard-yard run (kick failed) .Browns 12–10
CLE — Don Cockroft 50-yard field goal. Browns 15–10
Fourth quarter
CLE — Don Cockroft 40-yard field goal. Browns 18–10
PIT — Mike Kruczek 22-yard-yard run (kick blocked). Browns 18–16
Top-yard passers
PIT — Terry Bradshaw — 10/18, 75 yards, INT
CLE — Brian Sipe — 4/14, 80 yards
Top rushers
PIT — Franco Harris — 13 rushes, 39 yards, TD
CLE — Greg Pruitt — 22 rushes, 76 yards
Top receivers
PIT — Lynn Swann — 3 receptions, 74 yards
CLE — Reggie Rucker — 3 receptions, 77 yards :
Terry Bradshaw was injured on a sack by Turkey Jones and missed six weeks.

#### Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Steelers | 0 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 23 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: Sunday, October 17, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 41 °F or 5 °C, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
* Game attendance: 48,311
* Referee: Cal Lepore
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and John Brodie

#### Week 7: at New York Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 27 |
| Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
* Date: Sunday, October 24, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
* Game weather: 51 °F or 10.6 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
* Game attendance: 69,783
* Referee: Gordon McCarter
* TV: NBC
This was the first of five shoutout victories, and the second of a sequence of nine games conceding just two touchdowns.

#### Week 8: vs. San Diego Chargers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chargers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steelers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 23 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: Sunday, October 31, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 44 °F or 6.7 °C, wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
* Game attendance: 45,484
* Referee: Tommy Bell
* TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Len Dawson

#### Week 9: at Kansas City Chiefs

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 7 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 45 |
| Chiefs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
* Date: Sunday, November 7, 1976
* Game time: 2:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 41 °F or 5 °C, wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
* Game attendance: 71,516
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers (NBC): Ross Porter and Lionel Aldridge

#### Week 10: vs. Miami Dolphins

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: Sunday, November 14, 1976
* Game time: 4:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 29 °F or −1.7 °C, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
* Game attendance: 48,945
* Referee: Bob Frederic
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Don Meredith

#### Week 11: vs. Houston Oilers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| Steelers | 10 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 32 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: Sunday, November 21, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 32 °F or 0 °C, wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn)
* Game attendance: 47,947
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and John Brodie

#### Week 12: at Cincinnati Bengals

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Bengals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
* Date: Sunday, November 28, 1976
* Game time: 4:00 pm EST
* Game weather: 32 °F or 0 °C, wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
* Game attendance: 55,142
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Don Meredith

#### Week 13: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steelers | 7 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 42 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: Sunday, December 5, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 23 °F or −5 °C, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h; 4.3 kn)
* Game attendance: 43,385
* Referee: Cal Lepore
* TV: NBC
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
PIT – Rocky Bleier 7-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 7–0
Second quarter
PIT – Rocky Bleier 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 14–0
PIT – Mike Kruczek 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 21–0
PIT – Rocky Bleier 3-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 28–0
Third quarter
PIT – Lynn Swann 35-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 35–0
PIT – Lynn Swann 23-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 42–0
Fourth quarter
No scoring plays
Top passers
PIT – Mike Kruczek – 6/7, 84 yards
TAM – Steve Spurrier – 4/10, 58 yards, INT
Top rushers
PIT – Rocky Bleier – 29 rushes, 118 yards, 3 TD
TAM – Jimmy DuBose – 5 rushes, 32 yards
Top receivers
PIT – Lynn Swann – 5 receptions, 92 yards, 2 TD
TAM – Jack Novak – 2 receptions, 30 yards :

#### Week 14: at Houston Oilers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Oilers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Astrodome, Houston, Texas
* Date: Saturday, December 11, 1976
* Game time: 4:00 pm EST
* Game weather: Played indoors (domed stadium)
* Game attendance: 44,743
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and John Brodie
With this win the Steelers record the most NFL shutouts in a season in 50 years with their fifth and set a new NFL record forcing 71 punts in a season.

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Pittsburgh Steelers$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 342 | 138 | W9 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 335 | 210 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 267 | 287 | L1 |
| Houston Oilers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 0–6 | 3–9 | 222 | 273 | L2 |
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 |
AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Oakland Raiders$^{(1)}$ | 13 | 1 | 0 | .929 | 7–0 | 10–1 | 350 | 237 | W10 |
| Denver Broncos | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 5–2 | 7–5 | 315 | 206 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2–5 | 4–8 | 248 | 285 | L1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 2–5 | 4–8 | 290 | 376 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0 | 14 | 0 | .000 | 0–4 | 0–13 | 125 | 412 | L14 |

## Postseason
### Schedule

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Divisional | December 19 | at Baltimore Colts (2) | W 40–14 | 1–0 | Memorial Stadium | 59,296 |
| AFC Championship | December 26 | at Oakland Raiders (1) | L 7–24 | 1–1 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,821 |

#### Game summaries
##### AFC Divisional Playoffs: at (2) Baltimore Colts

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 9 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 40 |
| Colts | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
* Date: December 19
* Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C), wind 6 MPH
* Game attendance: 59,296
* Referee: Pat Haggerty
* TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson & John Brodie
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
PIT – Frank Lewis 76-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (kick failed). Steelers 6–0.
PIT – Roy Gerela 45-yard field goal. Steelers 9–0.
BAL – Roger Carr 17-yard pass from Bert Jones (Toni Linhart kick). Steelers 9–7.
Second quarter
PIT – Reggie Harrison 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 16–7.
PIT – Lynn Swann 29-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 23–7.
PIT – Roy Gerela 25-yard field goal. Steelers 26–7.
Third quarter
No scoring plays
Fourth quarter
PIT – Lynn Swann 11-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 33–7.
BAL – Roosevelt Leaks 1-yard run (Toni Linhart kick). Steelers 33–14.
PIT – Reggie Harrison 10-yard run (Ray Mansfield kick). Steelers 40–14.
Top passers
PIT – Terry Bradshaw – 14/18, 264 yards, 3 TD
BAL – Bert Jones – 11/25, 144 yards, TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
PIT – Franco Harris – 18 rushes, 132 yards
BAL – Lydell Mitchell – 16 rushes, 55 yards
Top receivers
PIT – Frank Lewis – 2 receptions, 103 yards, TD
BAL – Raymond Chester – 3 receptions, 42 yards :
Pittsburgh gained a then-NFL record 524 total yards, but Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier were lost to injuries.

##### AFC Championship: at (1) Oakland Raiders

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Raiders | 3 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
* Date: December 26
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST / 1:00 p.m. PST
* Game weather: 47 °F (8 °C), wind 7 MPH
* Game attendance: 53,821
* Referee: Tommy Bell
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy & Don Meredith
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
OAK – Errol Mann 39-yard field goal. Raiders 3–0.
Second quarter
OAK – Clarence Davis 1-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 10–0.
PIT – Reggie Harrison 3-yard run (Ray Mansfield kick). Raiders 10–7.
OAK – Warren Bankston 4-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 17–7.
Third quarter
OAK – Pete Banaszak 5-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 24–7.
Fourth quarter
No scoring plays
Top passers
PIT – Terry Bradshaw – 14/35, 176 yards, INT
OAK – Ken Stabler – 10/16, 88 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
PIT – Reggie Harrison – 11 rushes, 44 yards, TD
OAK – Mark van Eeghen – 22 rushes, 66 yards
Top receivers
PIT – Lynn Swann – 3 receptions, 58 yards
OAK – Cliff Branch – 3 receptions, 46 yards :