1976 Washington Redskins season

1976 Washington Redskins season
1976 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Edward Bennett Williams
President	Edward Bennett Williams
General manager	George Allen
Head coach	George Allen
Offensive coordinator	Charlie Waller
Defensive coordinator	LaVern Torgeson
Home stadium	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	2nd NFC East
Playoffs	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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1976 Washington Redskins draft
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

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Roster

**1976 Washington Redskins roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Billy Kilmer 7 Joe Theismann Running backs (RB) 43 Larry Brown 26 Bob Brunet 35 Calvin Hill 44 John Riggins 22 Mike Thomas Wide receivers (WR) 88 Danny Buggs 46 Frank Grant 80 Roy Jefferson 24 Bill Malinchak Tight ends (TE) 84 Jean Fugett 87 Jerry Smith		Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Ted Fritsch C 56 Len Hauss C 75 Terry Hermeling G 54 Bob Kuziel T 62 Dan Nugent G 64 Ron Saul G 74 George Starke T 76 Tim Stokes T Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Bill Brundige DT/DE 65 Dave Butz DT 82 Dallas Hickman DE 61 Dennis Johnson DE 71 Karl Lorch DT 79 Ron McDole DE 72 Diron Talbert DT		Linebackers (LB) 59 Brad Dusek OLB 55 Chris Hanburger OLB 53 Harold McLinton MLB 57 Stu O'Dell OLB 67 Rusty Tillman MLB 50 Pete Wysocki OLB Defensive backs (DB) 25 Eddie Brown SS 37 Pat Fischer CB 27 Ken Houston SS 20 Joe Lavender CB 23 Brig Owens FS 13 Jake Scott FS 45 Gerard Williams CB Special teams (ST) 4 Mike Bragg P 3 Mark Moseley K		Reserve -- Curtis Akins DE (IR) 85 Brian Fryer WR (IR) -- Ernie Janet G (IR) 21 Larry Jones WR (IR) 73 Paul Laaveg G (IR) -- Pete Solverson T (IR) 78 Walt Sweeney G (IR) 42 Charley Taylor WR (IR) -- David Thomas CB (IR) -- James Thompson WR (IR) 81 Doug Winslow 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

^[2]

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)
^[3]

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
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	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

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

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

Divisional

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
⁽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

Awards, records, and honors

References

[1] "1976 Washington Redskins Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

[2] "1976 Washington Redskins Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

[3] Pro Football Reference; New York Giants at Washington Redskins – September 12, 1976

[1]

[2]

[3]

Washington Commanders
Formerly the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933–1936), Washington Redskins (1937–2019), and Washington Football Team (2020–2021) Based in Landover, Maryland Headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia
Affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: East Division
Franchise	History Seasons All-time roster (A–Ke, Kh–Z) Head coaches Draft history first-round picks Starting quarterbacks Records Broadcasters
Stadiums	Braves Field Fenway Park Griffith Stadium RFK Stadium Northwest Stadium New Commanders Stadium (proposed)
Key personnel	Managing partner: Josh Harris Limited partners: Mitchell Rales, Magic Johnson, Mark Ein President: Mark Clouse General manager: Adam Peters Head coach: Dan Quinn
Culture and lore	"Hail to the Commanders" Marching Band Major Tuddy Hogettes Chief Zee Redskins name controversy Name change advocates Opinion polls Trademark dispute Original Americans Foundation "Go Fund Yourself" The Replacements Everybody's All-American Redskins Rule Operation Flagship Ricky Williams trade The Hogs The Fun Bunch The Over-the-Hill Gang Bears 73, Redskins 0 Body Bag Game Hail Maryland
Rivalries	Dallas Cowboys New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles
Retired numbers	9 21 28 33 49
Hall of Famers	Cliff Battles Sammy Baugh Bill Dudley Turk Edwards Joe Gibbs Darrell Green Russ Grimm Chris Hanburger Ken Houston Sam Huff Deacon Jones Stan Jones Sonny Jurgensen Paul Krause Vince Lombardi Wayne Millner Bobby Mitchell Art Monk John Riggins Bruce Smith Charley Taylor
League championships (5)	1937 1942 1982 1987 1991
Division championships (15)	1936 1937 1940 1942 1943 1945 1972 1983 1984 1987 1991 1999 2012 2015 2020
Wild Card playoff berths (10)	1971 1973 1974 1986 1990 1992 2005 2007 2024
Category Commons

Washington Commanders seasons
Formerly the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933–1936), Washington Redskins (1937–2019), and Washington Football Team (2020–2021)
1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance