1976 Washington Redskins season

1976 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Edward Bennett Williams
General manager	George Allen
President	Edward Bennett Williams
Head coach	George Allen
Offensive coordinator	Charlie Waller
Defensive coordinator	LaVern Torgeson
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	2nd NFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Vikings) 20–35

The 1976 Washington Redskins season was the franchise’s 45th overall and 40th in Washington, D.C. The season began with the team trying to improve on their 8–6 record from 1975, which they did, finishing 10-4, second in the NFC East behind the Dallas Cowboys. They would be eliminated from the NFL playoffs by the Minnesota Vikings by the score of 35-20. This was the first season as a Redskin for Hall of Fame running back John Riggins, signed as a free agent after spending the first five seasons of his career with the New York Jets. This was also the last season in which the Redskins would make the playoffs under Hall of Fame head coach George Allen.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL Draft

1976 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
5	148	Mike Hughes	Guard	Baylor
6	179	Tommy Marvaso	Safety	Cincinnati
7	234	Brian Fryer	Wide receiver	Alberta
8	254	Curtis Akins	Guard	Hawaii
10	272	Paul Strohmeier	Linebacker	Washington
11	308	Dean Gissler	Defensive end	Nebraska
12	342	Walter Tullis	Defensive back	Delaware State
13	364	Wayman Britt	Defensive back	Michigan
14	393	Quinn Buckner	Defensive back	Indiana
15	426	John Monroe	Running back	Bluefield State
17	476	Chuck Wills	Defensive back	Oregon
Made roster

Roster

1976 Washington Redskins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Billy Kilmer  7 Joe Theismann Running backs (RB) 43 Larry Brown 35 Calvin Hill 44 John Riggins FB 22 Mike Thomas Wide receivers (WR) 88 Danny Buggs 85 Brian Fryer 46 Frank Grant 80 Roy Jefferson 81 Doug Winslow Tight ends (TE) 84 Jean Fugett 87 Jerry Smith

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Ted Fritsch G 56 Len Hauss C 75 Terry Hermeling G 54 Bob Kuziel C 62 Dan Nugent G 62 Ray Schoenke T 74 George Starke T Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Bill Brundige DT 65 Dave Butz DT 61 Dennis Johnson DE 79 Ron McDole DE 72 Diron Talbert DT

Linebackers (LB) 59 Brad Dusek 55 Chris Hanburger 53 Harold McLinton 57 Stu O'Dell 67 Rusty Tillman Defensive backs (DB) 37 Pat Fischer CB 27 Ken Houston SS 20 Joe Lavender CB 23 Brig Owens SS 30 Bryant Salter FS 13 Jake Scott FS 45 Gerard Williams CB Special teams  4 Mike Bragg P  3 Mark Moseley K

Reserve 54 Curtis Akins DE (IR) -- Ernie Janet G (IR) 21 Larry Jones WR (IR) 73 Paul Laaveg G (IR) -- Pete Solverson T (IR) -- David Thomas DB (IR) -- James Thompson WR (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 12	New York Giants	W 19–17	1–0	RFK Stadium	54,245	Recap
2	September 19	Seattle Seahawks	W 31–7	2–0	RFK Stadium	53,174	Recap
3	September 27	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 20–17	3–0	Veterans Stadium	66,005	Recap
4	October 3	at Chicago Bears	L 7–33	3–1	Soldier Field	52,105	Recap
5	October 10	Kansas City Chiefs	L 30–33	3–2	RFK Stadium	53,060	Recap
6	October 17	Detroit Lions	W 20–7	4–2	RFK Stadium	45,908	Recap
7	October 25	St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–10	5–2	RFK Stadium	48,325	Recap
8	October 31	Dallas Cowboys	L 7–20	5–3	RFK Stadium	55,004	Recap
9	November 7	at San Francisco 49ers	W 24–21	6–3	Candlestick Park	56,134	Recap
10	November 14	at New York Giants	L 9–12	6–4	Giants Stadium	72,975	Recap
11	November 21	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 16–10	7–4	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,833	Recap
12	November 28	Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–0	8–4	RFK Stadium	54,292	Recap
13	December 5	at New York Jets	W 37–16	9–4	Shea Stadium	46,638	Recap
14	December 12	at Dallas Cowboys	W 27–14	10–4	Texas Stadium	59,916	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 12, 1976): vs. New York Giants

Week 1: New York Giants 17 at Washington Redskins 19 – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Giants (0–1)	3	7	0	7	17
Redskins (1–0)	0	3	9	7	19

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

• Date: September 12, 1976
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game attendance: 54,245
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui (play-by-play) and Sonny Jurgenson (color commentator)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
NYG	Passing	Craig Morton	13/26, 228 YDS, 2 TDs, 4 INTs
	Rushing	Larry Csonka	23 CAR, 78 YDS
	Receiving	Walker Gillette	5 REC, 105 YDS, 1 TD
WAS	Passing	Billy Kilmer	17/35, 257 YDS, 2 TDs, 1 INT
	Rushing	Mike Thomas	17 CAR, 56 YDS
	Receiving	Mike Thomas	5 REC, 54 YDS, 1 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NYG WAS 1 Giants 20-yard field goal by Danelo 3 0 2 Redskins 22-yard field goal by Moseley 3 3 2 Giants Rhodes 63-yard touchdown reception from Morton, Danelo kick good 10 3 3 Redskins Morton tackled in end zone for a safety by McDole 10 5 3 Redskins Grant 53-yard touchdown reception from Kilmer, Moseley kick good 10 12 4 Giants Gillette 62-yard touchdown reception from Morton, Danelo kick good 17 12 4 Redskins Thomas 5-yard touchdown reception from Kilmer, Moseley kick good 17 19 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 17 19

• Point spread: Redskins –4½
• Time of Game:

Giants	Game Statistics	Redskins
14	First downs	17
40–96	Rushes–yards	31–89
228	Passing yards	257
13–26–4	Passes	17–36–1
2–7	Sacked–yards	3–24
221	Net passing yards	233
317	Total yards	322
52	Return yards	208
7–48.9	Punts	10–39.6
1–0	Fumbles–lost	3–2
6–55	Penalties–yards	13–120

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Venue	Attendance	Game recap
Divisional	December 18	at Minnesota Vikings (1)	L 20–35	Metropolitan Stadium	47,221	Recap

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys(2)	11	3	0	.786	6–2	9–3	296	194	L1
Washington Redskins(4)	10	4	0	.714	6–2	9–3	291	217	W4
St. Louis Cardinals	10	4	0	.714	5–3	9–3	309	267	W2
Philadelphia Eagles	4	10	0	.286	2–6	4–8	165	286	W1
New York Giants	3	11	0	.214	1–7	3–9	170	250	L1