# 1976 Chicago Bears season

The 1976 Chicago Bears season was their 57th regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 7–7 record, in their second season under Jack Pardee. The .500 record and second-place finish were the team's best since 1968. This was also the first season for the Chicago Honey Bears, the team's official cheerleading squad.

## Offseason
### 1976 Expansion Draft

Chicago Bears selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Bubba Broussard | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 0 | 0 | Earl Douthitt | Safety | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 0 | 0 | Larry Ely | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |

### NFL Draft

1976 Chicago Bears draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 8 | Dennis Lick | Offensive tackle | Wisconsin |
| 3 | 66 | Brian Baschnagel | Wide receiver | Ohio State |
| 4 | 103 | John Sciarra | Safety | UCLA |
| 4 | 108 | Wayne Rhodes | Defensive back | Alabama |
| 6 | 161 | Dan Jiggetts | Offensive tackle | Harvard |
| 7 | 190 | Jerry Muckensturm | Linebacker | Arkansas State |
| 11 | 299 | Norman Anderson | Wide receiver | UCLA |
| 12 | 330 | John O'Leary | Running back | Nebraska |
| 13 | 357 | Dale Kasowski | Running back | North Dakota |
| 14 | 384 | Ron Cuie | Running back | Oregon State |
| 15 | 411 | Jerry Meyers | Defensive tackle | Northern Illinois |
| 16 | 442 | Ronald Parker | Tight end | TCU |
| 17 | 469 | Mike Malham | Linebacker | Arkansas State |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | Detroit Lions | W 10–3 | 1–0 | Soldier Field | 54,125 |
| 2 | September 19 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 19–12 | 2–0 | Candlestick Park | 44,158 |
| 3 | September 26 | Atlanta Falcons | L 0–10 | 2–1 | Soldier Field | 41,029 |
| 4 | October 3 | Washington Redskins | W 33–7 | 3–1 | Soldier Field | 52,105 |
| 5 | October 10 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 19–20 | 3–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,614 |
| 6 | October 17 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 12–20 | 3–3 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 71,751 |
| 7 | October 24 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 21–31 | 3–4 | Texas Stadium | 61,346 |
| 8 | October 31 | Minnesota Vikings | W 14–13 | 4–4 | Soldier Field | 53,602 |
| 9 | November 7 | Oakland Raiders | L 27–28 | 4–5 | Soldier Field | 53,585 |
| 10 | November 14 | Green Bay Packers | W 24–13 | 5–5 | Soldier Field | 52,907 |
| 11 | November 21 | at Detroit Lions | L 10–14 | 5–6 | Pontiac Municipal Stadium | 78,042 |
| 12 | November 28 | at Green Bay Packers | W 16–10 | 6–6 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 13 | December 5 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 34–7 | 7–6 | Kingdome | 60,510 |
| 14 | December 12 | Denver Broncos | L 14–28 | 7–7 | Soldier Field | 44,459 |
| 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 1 vs Lions

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
* Date: September 12, 1976
* Game time: 2:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C)
* Game attendance: 54,125
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Second quarter
DET – Errol Mann 27-yard field goal. Lions 3–0. Drive:
Third quarter
CHI – Johnny Musso 3-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 7–3. Drive:
Fourth quarter
CHI – Bob Thomas 27-yard field goal. Bears 10–3. Drive:
Top passers
DET – Joe Reed – 11/23, 91 yards
CHI – Bob Avellini – 7/16, 120 yards
Top rushers
DET – Horace King – 15 rushes, 57 yards
CHI – Walter Payton – 25 rushes, 70 yards
Top receivers
DET – Ray Jarvis – 4 receptions, 85 yards
CHI – Greg Latta – 2 receptions, 87 yards :

#### Week 9 vs Raiders

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Bears | 7 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 27 |
at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
* Date: November 7, 1976
* Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Sunny, 36 °F (2 °C)
* Game attendance: 53,585
* Referee: Chuck Heberling
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
CHI – Walter Payton 5-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 7–0. Drive:
Second quarter
OAK – Dave Casper 17-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Tie 7–7. Drive:
OAK – Cliff Branch 75-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 14–7. Drive:
Third quarter
OAK – Clarence Davis 2-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 21–7. Drive:
CHI – James Scott 36-yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick). Raiders 21–14. Drive:
CHI – Walter Payton 12-yard run (kick failed). Raiders 21–20. Drive:
CHI – Walter Payton 2-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 27–21. Drive:
Fourth quarter
OAK – Cliff Branch 49-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 28–27. Drive:
Top passers
OAK – Ken Stabler – 11/17, 234 yards, 3 TD
CHI – Bob Avellini – 10/18, 204 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
OAK – Mark van Eeghen – 12 rushes, 62 yards
CHI – Walter Payton – 36 rushes, 97 yards, 3 TD
Top receivers
OAK – Cliff Branch – 5 receptions, 163 yards, 2 TD
CHI – James Scott – 3 receptions, 76 yards, TD :

## Awards and honors

* UPI Coach of the Year – Jack Pardee