1976 Houston Oilers season

1976 Houston Oilers season
OwnerBud Adams
General managerBum Phillips
Head coachBum Phillips
Home fieldHouston Astrodome
Results
Record5–9
Division place4th AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Ken Burrough
PR/KR Billy "White Shoes" Johnson
DT Curley Culp
LB Robert Brazile
AP All-ProsLB Robert Brazile (1st team)

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.

Offseason

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

[1]

Roster

1976 Houston Oilers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


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

References

  1. ^ "1976 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.