# 1976 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1976 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 11th year in the National Football League (NFL). The season saw the Falcons attempting to improve on their 4–10 record from 1975. However, they were only able to match the record, as they finished the 1976 season at 4–10 and missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season. After a 1–4 start to the season, head coach Marion Campbell was fired by general manager Pat Peppler, who himself would close out the season as the interim head coach and finish the season with a 3–6 record. The Falcons also suffered the ignominy of being the only established NFL team to lose to one of the league's two expansion teams when they lost 30–13 to the Seattle Seahawks on November 7.
For the season, the Falcons converted from gray facemasks to white facemasks.

## Offseason
### 1976 Expansion Draft

Atlanta Falcons selected during the Expansion Draft :
| Round | Overall | Name | Position | Expansion Team |
| 0 | 0 | Nick Bebout | Offensive tackle | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Don Hansen | Linebacker | Seattle Seahawks |
| 0 | 0 | Vince Kendrick | Running back | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |

### Draft

1976 Atlanta Falcons draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 9 | Bubba Bean | Running back | Texas A&M |
| 2 | 36 | Sonny Collins | Running back | Kentucky |
| 3 | 71 | Dave Scott | Guard | Kansas |
| 4 | 102 | Walt Brett | Defensive end | Montana |
| 6 | 169 | Stan Varner | Defensive tackle | BYU |
| 7 | 193 | Karl Farmer | Wide receiver | Pittsburgh |
| 8 | 219 | Frank Reed | Cornerback | Washington |
| 9 | 246 | Phil McKinnely | Offensive tackle | UCLA |
| 11 | 302 | Chuck Brislin | Offensive tackle | Mississippi St |
| 12 | 329 | Phil Bolton | Kicker | Montana St |
| 13 | 356 | Mike Williams | Offensive tackle | Florida |
| 14 | 383 | Mark Husfloen | Defensive end | Washington St |
| 15 | 414 | Ron Olson | Defensive back | Washington |
| 16 | 441 | Pat Curto | Linebacker | Ohio St |
| 17 | 468 | Tony Green | Defensive back | Texas Tech |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | Los Angeles Rams | L 14–30 | 0–1 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 53,607 |
| 2 | September 19 | at Detroit Lions | L 10–24 | 0–2 | Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium | 50,840 |
| 3 | September 26 | at Chicago Bears | W 10–0 | 1–2 | Soldier Field | 41,029 |
| 4 | October 3 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 13–14 | 1–3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 45,535 |
| 5 | October 10 | at New Orleans Saints | L 0–30 | 1–4 | Louisiana Superdome | 51,521 |
| 6 | October 17 | Cleveland Browns | L 17–20 | 1–5 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 33,364 |
| 7 | October 23 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 0–15 | 1–6 | Candlestick Park | 50,240 |
| 8 | October 31 | New Orleans Saints | W 23–20 | 2–6 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 34,127 |
| 9 | November 7 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 13–30 | 2–7 | Kingdome | 57,985 |
| 10 | November 14 | San Francisco 49ers | W 21–16 | 3–7 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 20,058 |
| 11 | November 21 | Dallas Cowboys | W 17–10 | 4–7 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 54,992 |
| 12 | November 28 | at Houston Oilers | L 14–20 | 4–8 | Astrodome | 25,838 |
| 13 | December 4 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 0–59 | 4–9 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 57,366 |
| 14 | December 12 | Green Bay Packers | L 20–24 | 4–10 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 23,436 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 7–0 | 9–2–1 | 351 | 190 | W4 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 5–2 | 7–5 | 270 | 190 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–5 | 3–8 | 253 | 346 | L3 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–5 | 4–8 | 172 | 312 | L3 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 1–3 | 1–12 | 229 | 429 | L5 |

### Season summary
#### Week 2 at Lions

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
at Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan
* Date: September 19, 1976
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 50,840
* Box Score
Game information :
Second quarter
ATL – Bubba Bean 5-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Falcons 7–0. Drive:
Third quarter
ATL – Nick Mike-Mayer 41-yard field goal. Falcons 10–0. Drive:
Fourth quarter
DET – Greg Landry 5-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Falcons 10–7. Drive:
DET – Errol Mann 32-yard field goal. Tie 10–10. Drive:
DET – Ed O'Neil 32-yard pass from Joe Reed (Errol Mann kick). Lions 17–10. Drive:
DET – James Hunter 39-yard interception return (Errol Mann kick). Lions 24–10.
Top passers
ATL – Steve Bartkowski – 5/16, 59 yards, 3 INT
DET – Joe Reed – 5/11, 78 yards, TD
Top rushers
ATL – Bubba Bean – 22 rushes, 98 yards, TD
DET – Dexter Bussey – 15 rushes, 79 yards
Top receivers
ATL – Alfred Jenkins – 3 receptions, 47 yards
DET – Horace King – 3 receptions, 33 yards :