1976 Dallas Cowboys season

NFL team season

1976 Dallas Cowboys season

Owner| Clint Murchison Jr.
General manager| Tex Schramm
Head coach| Tom Landry
Home field| Texas Stadium
Results
Record| 11–3
Division place| 1st NFC East
Playoff finish| Lost Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Rams) 12–14

* <- 1975
* Cowboys seasons
* 1977 ->

The 1976 Dallas Cowboys season was their 17th in the National Football League. The team improved on their previous output of 10–4, winning eleven games.[1] They qualified for the playoffs, but were stunned by the Los Angeles Rams 14–12 in the divisional round.

## Offseason

[edit]

### 1976 Expansion Draft

[edit]

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

Dallas Cowboys selected during the Expansion Draft  Round  | Overall  | Name  | Position  | Expansion Team

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0 | 0 | Ron Howard | Tight end | Seattle Seahawks
0 | 0 | Cal Peterson | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
0 | 0 | Rolly Woolsey | Cornerback | Seattle Seahawks

### NFL Draft

[edit]

Main article: 1976 NFL draft

1976 Dallas Cowboys draft

Round  | Pick  | Player  | Position  | College  | Notes
1  | 27  | Aaron Kyle | CB | Wyoming |
2  | 40  | Jim Jensen | RB | Iowa |
2  | 55  | Jim Eidson | OG | Mississippi State |
3  | 73  | Duke Fergerson | WR | San Diego State |
3  | 75  | John Smith | RB | Boise State |
3  | 87  | Butch Johnson | WR | California-Riverside |
4  | 119  | Tom Rafferty | OG | Penn State |
5  | 151  | Wally Pesuit | OT | Kentucky |
6  | 181  | Greg McGuire | OT | Indiana |
7  | 186  | Greg Schaum | DT | Michigan State |
7  | 208  | David Williams | RB | Colorado |
8  | 236  | Henry Laws | DB | South Carolina |
9  | 264  | Beasley Reece | DB | North Texas State |
10  | 290  | Leroy Cook | DE | Alabama |
11  | 308  | Cornelius Greene | QB | Ohio State |
12  | 346  | Charles McShane | LB | California Lutheran |
13  | 374  | Mark Driscoll | QB | Colorado State |
14  | 402  | Larry Mushinskie | TE | Nebraska |
15  | 430  | Dale Curry | LB | UCLA |
16  | 458  | Rick Costanzo | OT | Nebraska |
17  | 486  | Stan Woodfill | K | Oregon |
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

## Schedule

[edit]

Week  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Record  | Game Site  | Attendance  | Recap

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1  | September 12  | Philadelphia Eagles | W 27–7  | 1–0  | Texas Stadium | 54,052  | Recap
2  | September 19  | at New Orleans Saints | W 24–6  | 2–0  | Louisiana Superdome | 61,413  | Recap
3  | September 26  | Baltimore Colts | W 30–27  | 3–0  | Texas Stadium  | 64,237  | Recap
4  | October 3  | at Seattle Seahawks | W 28–13  | 4–0  | Kingdome | 62,027  | Recap
5  | October 10  | at New York Giants | W 24–14  | 5–0  | Giants Stadium | 76,042  | Recap
6  | October 17  | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 17–21  | 5–1  | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,317  | Recap
7  | October 24  | Chicago Bears | W 31–21  | 6–1  | Texas Stadium  | 61,346  | Recap
8  | October 31  | at Washington Redskins | W 20–7  | 7–1  | RFK Stadium | 55,004  | Recap
9  | November 7  | New York Giants | W 9–3  | 8–1  | Texas Stadium  | 58,870  | Recap
10  | November 15 | Buffalo Bills | W 17–10  | 9–1  | Texas Stadium  | 51,799  | Recap
11  | November 21  | at Atlanta Falcons | L 10–17  | 9–2  | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 54,992  | Recap
12  | November 25 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 19–14  | 10–2  | Texas Stadium  | 62,498  | Recap
13  | December 5  | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 26–7  | 11–2  | Veterans Stadium | 55,072  | Recap
14  | December 12  | Washington Redskins | L 14–27  | 11–3  | Texas Stadium  | 59,916  | Recap

Division opponents are in bold text

## Playoffs

[edit]

Main article: 1976–77 NFL playoffs

Round  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Game Site  | Attendance  | Recap

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Divisional | December 19, 1976  | Los Angeles Rams (3)  | L 12–14  | Texas Stadium | 62,436  | Recap

## Standings

[edit]

NFC East

* view
* talk
* edit

| 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

## Roster

[edit]

Dallas Cowboys 1976 roster

Quarterbacks

*   * 12 Roger Staubach
*   * 11 Danny White P

Running backs

*   * 21 Doug Dennison
*   * 37 Jim Jensen
*   * 35 Scott Laidlaw FB
*   * 44 Robert Newhouse FB
*   * 26 Preston Pearson
*   * 30 Charley Young

Wide receivers

*   * 86 Butch Johnson RS
*   * 88 Drew Pearson
*   * 82 Beasley Reece
*   * 83 Golden Richards

Tight ends

*   * 89 Billy Joe DuPree
*   * 87 Jay Saldi

|  | Offensive linemen

*   * 67 Pat Donovan T
*   * 52 Jim Eidson C/G
*   * 62 John Fitzgerald C
*   * 66 Burton Lawless G
*   * 73 Ralph Neely T
*   * 61 Blaine Nye G
*   * 64 Tom Rafferty G
*   * 68 Herbert Scott G
*   * 70 Rayfield Wright T

Defensive linemen

*   * 63 Larry Cole DT
*   * 77 Bill Gregory DT
*   * 72 Ed Jones DE
*   * 79 Harvey Martin DE
*   * 75 Jethro Pugh DT
*   * 78 Greg Schaum DE

|  | Linebackers

*   * 53 Bob Breunig OLB/MLB
*   * 58 Mike Hegman OLB
*   * 56 Thomas Henderson OLB
*   * 55 Lee Roy Jordan MLB
*   * 50 D. D. Lewis OLB
*   * 54 Randy White MLB

Defensive backs

*   * 31 Benny Barnes CB
*   * 43 Cliff Harris FS
*   * 42 Randy Hughes SS
*   * 25 Aaron Kyle CB
*   * 20 Mel Renfro CB
*   * 46 Mark Washington CB
*   * 41 Charlie Waters SS

Special teams

*   * 1 Efrén Herrera K

|  | Reserve lists

*   * 57 Kyle Davis C (IR)
*   * \-- Duke Fergerson WR (IR)
*   * 81 Percy Howard WR (IR)
*   * 40 John Smith RB (IR)

Rookies in italics
43 active, 4 inactive

## Season recap

[edit]

The Cowboys entered the year with high expectations, dominating the regular season by finishing with an 11-3 record, while capturing the NFC East title. But they came up short in the first round of the divisional playoffs, after being heavily favored at home against the Los Angeles Rams, but still losing 14–12.

## Publications

[edit]

The Football Encyclopedia ISBN 0-312-11435-4
Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3
Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 1976 Dallas Cowboys

* v
* t
* e

Dallas Cowboys

* Founded in 1960
* Based in Arlington, Texas
* Headquartered in Frisco, Texas

Franchise|

* Franchise
* History
* Coaches
* All-time roster
* Seasons
* Expansion draft
* Draft history
* Starting quarterbacks
* First-round draft picks
* Ring of Honor
* Ford Center at The Star

Stadiums|

* Cotton Bowl
* Texas Stadium
* AT&T Stadium

Culture|

* NFL on Thanksgiving Day
* America's Team
* Cheerleaders
* Making the Team
* America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
* Doomsday Defense
* Dirty Dozen
* The Triplets (Aikman, Irvin, and Smith)
* Crazy Ray
* Rowdy
* Jerry Jones
* Tom Landry
* Tex Schramm
* Roger Staubach
* Black Sunday
* Little Giants
* Jerry Maguire
* "Get Up (A Cowboys Anthem)"
* "We Dem Boyz"
* King of the Hill
* "You Only Move Twice" (The Simpsons episode)
* Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
* book

Lore|

* Ice Bowl
* The Catch
* Herschel Walker trade
* Bounty Bowl series
* Pickle Juice Game
* Dez Caught It

Rivalries|

* Green Bay Packers
* Houston Oilers/Texans
* Los Angeles Rams
* Minnesota Vikings
* New York Giants
* Philadelphia Eagles
* Pittsburgh Steelers
* San Francisco 49ers
* Washington Commanders

Division championships (25)|

* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1973
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1981
* 1985
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1998
* 2007
* 2009
* 2014
* 2016
* 2018
* 2021
* 2023

Conference championships (10)|

* 1966
* 1967
* 1970
* 1971
* 1975
* 1977
* 1978
* 1992
* 1993
* 1995

League championships (5)|

* 1971 (VI)
* 1977 (XII)
* 1992 (XXVII)
* 1993 (XXVIII)
* 1995 (XXX)

Media|

* Broadcasters
* Radio network
* KRLD-FM
* Brad Sham
* Babe Laufenberg

Current league affiliations|

* League: National Football League
* Conference: National Football Conference
* Division: East Division

* v
* t
* e

Dallas Cowboys seasons

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 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 Super Bowl victory
Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

* v
* t
* e

1976 NFL season

| AFC| East | Central| West| East| Central| West | NFC

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Baltimore | Cincinnati| Denver| Dallas| Chicago| Atlanta
Buffalo | Cleveland| Kansas City| NY Giants| Detroit| Los Angeles
Miami | Houston| Oakland| Philadelphia| Green Bay| New Orleans
New England | Pittsburgh| San Diego| St. Louis| Minnesota| San Francisco
NY Jets | | Tampa Bay| Washington| | Seattle

* 1976 NFL draft
* Expansion draft
* NFL playoffs
* Pro Bowl
* Super Bowl XI

*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[PCT]: Winning percentage
*[DIV]: Win–Loss record within their division
*[CONF]: Win–Loss record within their conference
*[PF]: Points For (Total points scored)
*[PA]: Points Against (Total points allowed)
*[STK]: Current Winning or Losing Streak
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template