1976 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1976 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 11th year in the National Football League (NFL). The season saw the Falcons attempting to improve on their 4–10 record from 1975. However, they were only able to match the record, as they finished the 1976 season at 4–10 and missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season. After a 1–4 start to the season, head coach Marion Campbell was fired by general manager Pat Peppler, who himself would close out the season as the interim head coach and finish the season with a 3–6 record. The Falcons also suffered the ignominy of being the only established NFL team to lose to one of the league's two expansion teams when they lost 30–13 to the Seattle Seahawks on November 7.

1976 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager	Pat Peppler
Head coach	Marion Campbell (1–4) Pat Peppler (3–6)
Home field	Atlanta Stadium
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1975 Falcons seasons 1977 →

Draft

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Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1976 Atlanta Falcons draft
1	9	Bubba Bean	RB	Texas A&M
2	36	Sonny Collins	RB	Kentucky
3	71	Dave Scott	OG	Kansas
4	102	Walt Brett	DE	Montana
6	169	Stan Varner	DT	BYU
7	193	Karl Farmer	WR	Pittsburgh
8	219	Frank Reed	DB	Washington
9	246	Phil McKinnely	OT	UCLA
11	302	Chuck Brislin	OT	Mississippi St
12	329	Phil Bolton	K	Montana St
13	356	Mike Williams	OT	Florida
14	383	Mark Husfloen	DE	Washington St
15	414	Ron Olson	DB	Washington
16	441	Pat Curto	LB	Ohio St
17	468	Tony Green	DB	Texas Tech
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Staff

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**1976 Atlanta Falcons staff**
	Front office Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Frank E. Wall General manager – Pat Peppler Head coaches Head coach – Marion Campbell Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Bill Nelsen Receivers – Jimmy Orr Offensive line – Bill Walsh			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Fred Bruney Defensive line – Eddie Khayat Linebackers – Marv Matuszak Defensive backfield – Al Lavan

Roster

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**1976 Atlanta Falcons final roster**

	Quarterbacks 16 Scott Hunter 11 Kim McQuilken Running backs 44 Bubba Bean 41 Sonny Collins 47 Brad Davis 26 Mike Esposito 43 Dave Hampton 48 Woody ThompsonFB Wide receivers 80 Karl Farmer 89 Wallace Francis 42 John Gilliam 84 Alfred Jenkins 82 Scott Piper Tight ends 81 Bob Adams 86 Jim Mitchell		Offensive linemen 62 Brent AdamsT 65 Len GotshalkT 63 Greg KindleG 68 Larron JacksonG 73 Phil McKinnelyT 70 Dave ScottG 64 Royce SmithG 57 Jeff Van NoteC 58 Jim WeatherlyC Defensive linemen 72 Jim BaileyDT 87 Claude HumphreyDE 69 Mike LewisDT 71 Greg MarderianDT 75 Jeff MerrowDE -- Wally PesuitDE 78 Bill WindauerDT 79 Jeff YeatesDE		Linebackers 50 Greg Brezina 51 Jim Cope 52 Dewey McClain 55 Ralph Ortega 56 Guy Roberts Defensive backs 34 Ray BrownS 38 Rick ByasCB 32 Ray EasterlingFS 40 Bob JonesS 22 Rolland LawrenceCB 29 Ron Mabra 28 Frank ReedCB Special teams 6 John JamesP 12 Nick Mike-MayerK		Reserve lists 10 Steve BartkowskiQB(IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Walt Brett T/G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 88 Greg McCraryTE(IRTooltip Injured reserve) Rookies in italics , 5 practice squad

Schedule

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Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	Los Angeles Rams	L 14–30	0–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	53,607
2	September 19	atDetroit Lions	L 10–24	0–2	Pontiac Metropolitan Stadium	50,840
3	September 26	atChicago Bears	W 10–0	1–2	Soldier Field	41,029
4	October 3	Philadelphia Eagles	L 13–14	1–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	45,535
5	October 10	atNew Orleans Saints	L 0–30	1–4	Louisiana Superdome	51,521
6	October 17	Cleveland Browns	L 17–20	1–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	33,364
7	October 23	atSan Francisco 49ers	L 0–15	1–6	Candlestick Park	50,240
8	October 31	New Orleans Saints	W 23–20	2–6	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	34,127
9	November 7	atSeattle Seahawks	L 13–30	2–7	Kingdome	57,985
10	November 14	San Francisco 49ers	W 21–16	3–7	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	20,058
11	November 21	Dallas Cowboys	W 17–10	4–7	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	54,992
12	November 28	atHouston Oilers	L 14–20	4–8	Astrodome	25,838
13	December 4	atLos Angeles Rams	L 0–59	4–9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	57,366
14	December 12	Green Bay Packers	L 20–24	4–10	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	23,436
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams⁽³⁾	10	3	1	.750	7–0	9–2–1	351	190	W4
San Francisco 49ers	8	6	0	.571	5–2	7–5	270	190	W1
New Orleans Saints	4	10	0	.286	2–5	3–8	253	346	L3
Atlanta Falcons	4	10	0	.286	2–5	4–8	172	312	L3
Seattle Seahawks	2	12	0	.143	1–3	1–12	229	429	L5

Season summary

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Week 2 at Lions

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Week Two: Atlanta Falcons (0–1) at Detroit Lions (0–1)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	7	3	0	10
Lions	0	0	0	24	24

atPontiac Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan

Date: September 19, 1976
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: Indoors (dome)
Game attendance: 50,840
Box Score

Game information

Second quarter

ATL – Bubba Bean 5-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Falcons 7–0. Drive:

Third quarter

ATL – Nick Mike-Mayer 41-yard field goal. Falcons 10–0. Drive:

Fourth quarter

DET – Greg Landry 5-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Falcons 10–7. Drive:
DET – Errol Mann 32-yard field goal. Tie 10–10. Drive:
DET – Ed O'Neil 32-yard pass from Joe Reed (Errol Mann kick). Lions 17–10. Drive:
DET – James Hunter 39-yard interception return (Errol Mann kick). Lions 24–10.

Top passers

ATL – Steve Bartkowski – 5/16, 59 yards, 3 INT
DET – Joe Reed – 5/11, 78 yards, TD

Top rushers

ATL – Bubba Bean – 22 rushes, 98 yards, TD
DET – Dexter Bussey – 15 rushes, 79 yards

Top receivers

ATL – Alfred Jenkins – 3 receptions, 47 yards
DET – Horace King – 3 receptions, 33 yards

1976 Atlanta Falcons season

Contents

Offseason

Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Standings

Season summary

Week 2 at Lions

References

External links

Languages