1976 Houston Oilers season

The 1976 Houston Oilers season was the 17th season overall and seventh with the National Football League (NFL). The team started the season 4–1 with their only loss coming by a single point to the eventual Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders. They won only one more game, finishing the year 5–9, while failing to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

1976 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
General manager	Bum Phillips
Head coach	Bum Phillips
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	WR Ken Burrough PR/KR Billy "White Shoes" Johnson DT Curley Culp LB Robert Brazile
AP All-Pros	LB Robert Brazile (1st team)

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1976 NFL draft

1976 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	48	Mike Barber	Tight end	Louisiana Tech
4	117	Steve Largent * †	Wide receiver	Tulsa
6	173	Todd Simonsen	Offensive tackle	South Dakota State
7	197	Larry Harris	Defensive tackle	Oklahoma State
8	229	Bobby Simon	Offensive tackle	Grambling
9	256	Art Stringer	Linebacker	Ball State
10	284	Steve Kincannon	Quarterback	Humboldt State
11	311	Skip Walker	Running back	Texas A&M
12	324	Larry Bell	Offensive tackle	East Texas State
13	369	Dan O‘Rourke	Wide receiver	Colorado State
14	395	John Reimer	Offensive tackle	Wisconsin
15	422	Bobby Byars	Defensive back	Cheyney (PA)
16	453	Claude Johnson	Linebacker	Florida A&M
17	479	Allen Misher	Wide receiver	LSU
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1976 Houston Oilers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 13 James Foote 21 John Hadl 7 Dan Pastorini Running backs (RB) 47 Ronnie Coleman 33 Joe Dawkins 30 Don Hardeman 42 Altie Taylor 44 Fred Willis FB Wide receivers (WR) 00 Ken Burrough 84 Billy Johnson 89 Earl Thomas Tight ends (TE) 82 Mack Alston 87 Al Darby 81 John Sawyer

Offensive linemen (OL) 75 Elbert Drungo T 60 Ed Fisher G 70 Conway Hayman G 56 Dennis Havig G 72 Kevin Hunt T 53 Ron Lou C 55 Carl Mauck C 73 Greg Sampson T Defensive linemen (DL) 65 Elvin Bethea DE 68 Al Burton DE 78 Curley Culp DT 80 John Little DT 71 Joe Owens DE 77 Bubba Smith DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Duane Benson 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB 57 Steve Kiner OLB 58 Tim Rossovich 51 Ted Thompson ILB Defensive backs (DB) 19 Willie Alexander CB/FS 15 Al Johnson DB 22 Zeke Moore CB 37 Mike Reinfeldt FS 27 Greg Stemrick 38 C. L. Whittington FS 49 Sam Williams CB Special teams 2 Skip Butler K 14 Leroy Clark P

Reserve 12 Melvin Baker WR (IR) 86 Mike Barber TE (IR) 88 Jim Beirne WR (IR) -- Larry Harris DT (IR) -- Bobby Simon T (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 20–0	1–0	Astrodome	42,228
2	September 19	at Buffalo Bills	W 13–3	2–0	Rich Stadium	61,364
3	September 26	Oakland Raiders	L 13–14	2–1	Astrodome	42,338
4	October 3	at New Orleans Saints	W 31–26	3–1	Louisiana Superdome	51,973
5	October 10	Denver Broncos	W 17–3	4–1	Astrodome	45,928
6	October 17	at San Diego Chargers	L 27–30	4–2	San Diego Stadium	31,565
7	October 24	Cincinnati Bengals	L 7–27	4–3	Astrodome	45,499
8	November 1	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–38	4–4	Memorial Stadium	60,020
9	November 7	Cleveland Browns	L 7–21	4–5	Astrodome	39,828
10	November 14	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 27–31	4–6	Riverfront Stadium	53,243
11	November 21	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 16–32	4–7	Three Rivers Stadium	47,947
12	November 28	Atlanta Falcons	W 20–14	5–7	Astrodome	25,838
13	December 5	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–13	5–8	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	56,025
14	December 11	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 0–21	5–9	Astrodome	44,743
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
	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

External links

• 1976 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com