# 1976 Denver Broncos season

The 1976 Denver Broncos season was the team's 17th year in professional football and its seventh with the National Football League (NFL). The team finished the season with a winning record for the third time in the last four seasons. It was John Ralston's fifth and final season as the Broncos' head coach and general manager.
Denver was looking to improve on its 6–8 record from 1975 and finished 9–5, second in the AFC West; despite the winning record, the team again missed the playoffs, which included only eight teams. Oakland won the division at 13–1 and New England was the sole wild card team in the AFC at 11–3. Since their inception as an original AFL team in 1960, the Broncos had yet to play in the postseason.
Ralston was relieved of his duties as general manager in mid-December, succeeded by assistant GM Fred Gehrke. After several weeks in the restructured organization, Ralston resigned as head coach in late January 1977. Red Miller, the offensive line coach at New England under Chuck Fairbanks, was hired as head coach in early February. Miller had a previous stint with the Broncos as offensive line coach for three seasons (1963–65).

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1976 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 15 | Tom Glassic | G | Virginia |
| 2 | 43 | Kurt Knoff | S | Kansas |
| 4 | 107 | Craig Penrose | QB | San Diego State |
| 5 | 139 | Lonnie Perrin | RB | Illinois |
| 8 | 224 | James Betterson | RB | North Carolina |
| 9 | 252 | Jim Czirr | C | Michigan |
| 9 | 260 | Jim Lisko | LB | Arkansas State |
| 10 | 278 | Art Gilliam | DE | Grambling State |
| 11 | 306 | Greg Pittman | LB | Iowa State |
| 12 | 334 | Randy Moore | DT | Arizona State |
| 13 | 362 | Donnie McGraw | DB | Houston |
| 14 | 390 | Larry Evans | LB | Mississippi College |
| 15 | 418 | Wilbur Summers | P | Louisville |
| 16 | 446 | John Huddleston | LB | Utah |
| 17 | 474 | Randy Cozens | DE | Pittsburgh |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 7–17 | 0–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,464 |
| 2 | September 19 | New York Jets | W 46–3 | 1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 62,669 |
| 3 | September 26 | Cleveland Browns | W 44–13 | 2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 62,975 |
| 4 | October 3 | San Diego Chargers | W 26–0 | 3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 63,369 |
| 5 | October 10 | at Houston Oilers | L 3–17 | 3–2 | Astrodome | 45,298 |
| 6 | October 17 | Oakland Raiders | L 10–17 | 3–3 | Mile High Stadium | 63,431 |
| 7 | October 24 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 35–26 | 4–3 | Arrowhead Stadium | 57,961 |
| 8 | October 31 | at Oakland Raiders | L 6–19 | 4–4 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 52,169 |
| 9 | November 7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 48–13 | 5–4 | Mile High Stadium | 62,703 |
| 10 | November 14 | at San Diego Chargers | W 17–0 | 6–4 | San Diego Stadium | 32,017 |
| 11 | November 21 | New York Giants | W 14–13 | 7–4 | Mile High Stadium | 63,151 |
| 12 | November 28 | at New England Patriots | L 14–38 | 7–5 | Schaefer Stadium | 61,128 |
| 13 | December 5 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 17–16 | 8–5 | Mile High Stadium | 58,170 |
| 14 | December 12 | at Chicago Bears | W 28–14 | 9–5 | Soldier Field | 44,459 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Standings

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 |