1976 Baltimore Colts season

1976 Baltimore Colts season
Head coach	Ted Marchibroda
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	T-1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 40–14

The 1976 Baltimore Colts season was the 24th season for the team in the National Football League. The Baltimore Colts finished the National Football League's 1976 season with a record of 11 wins and 3 losses, and finished tied for first in the AFC East division with the New England Patriots. However, the Colts finished ahead of New England in the AFC East based on a better division record (7–1 to Patriots' 6–2).

The season started with much turmoil when head coach Ted Marchibroda resigned shortly before the season opener due to a power struggle with general manager Joe Thomas. Several Colts assistant coaches threatened to leave the team, and quarterback Bert Jones publicly came to his coach's defense. Thomas and Colts owner Robert Irsay quickly made amends with the coach before the season started.^[1] (Thomas would be fired by the team shortly after the season.)

The Colts offense was dominant in 1976: they led the league in scoring with 417 points (29.7 per game). Quarterback Bert Jones was named league MVP after passing for a league-best 3,104 yards, 9.27 yards-per-attempt, and a passer rating of 102.5, second best in the NFL. Running back Lydell Mitchell also had a spectactular year, rushing for 1,200 yards,^[2] and catching 60 passes. Wide receiver Roger Carr proved to be a valuable deep threat in the passing game, leading the league 1,112 receiving yards and 25.9 yards per reception.^[3] All three offensive players made the 1976 AFC Pro Bowl team.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
1	September 12, 1976	at New England Patriots	W 27–13	1–0	Schaefer Stadium	43,512
2	September 19, 1976	Cincinnati Bengals	W 28–27	2–0	Memorial Stadium	50,374
3	September 26, 1976	at Dallas Cowboys	L 27–30	2–1	Texas Stadium	64,237
4	October 3, 1976	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 42–17	3–1	Memorial Stadium	40,053
5	October 10, 1976	Miami Dolphins	W 28–14	4–1	Memorial Stadium	58,832
6	October 17, 1976	at Buffalo Bills	W 31–13	5–1	Rich Stadium	71,009
7	October 24, 1976	at New York Jets	W 20–0	6–1	Shea Stadium	59,576
8	November 1, 1976	Houston Oilers	W 38–14	7–1	Memorial Stadium	60,020
9	November 7, 1976	at San Diego Chargers	W 37–21	8–1	San Diego Stadium	42,827
10	November 14, 1976	New England Patriots	L 14–21	8–2	Memorial Stadium	58,226
11	November 22, 1976	at Miami Dolphins	W 17–16	9–2	Miami Orange Bowl	62,104
12	November 28, 1976	New York Jets	W 33–16	10–2	Memorial Stadium	44,023
13	December 4, 1976	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 17–24	10–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,282
14	December 12, 1976	Buffalo Bills	W 58–20	11–3	Memorial Stadium	50,451

Game summaries

Week 6

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Colts	3	14	0	14	31
Bills	3	10	0	0	13

Date: October 17
Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 41°F • Wind 8

Scoring summary

1	BUF	George Jakowenko 32 yard field goal	Bills 3–0

1	BAL	Toni Linhart 21 yard field goal	Tie 3–3

2	BAL	Don McCauley 2 yard run (Toni Linhart kick)	Colts 10–3

2	BUF	George Jakowenko 44 yard field goal	Colts 10–6

2	BUF	O.J. Simpson 33 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (George Jakowenko kick)	Bills 13–10

2	BAL	Lydell Mitchell 6 yard run (Toni Linhart kick)	Colts 17–13

4	BAL	Glenn Doughty 9 yard pass from Bert Jones (Toni Linhart kick)	Colts 24–13

4	BAL	Don McCauley 3 yard pass from Bert Jones (Toni Linhart kick)	Colts 31–13

^[4]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts⁽²⁾	11	3	0	.786	7–1	11–1	376	236	W1
New England Patriots⁽⁴⁾	11	3	0	.786	6–2	10–2	246	171	W6
Miami Dolphins	6	8	0	.429	5–3	6–6	263	264	L1
New York Jets	3	11	0	.214	2–6	3–9	169	383	L4
Buffalo Bills	2	12	0	.143	0–8	2–10	245	363	L10

Postseason

The team made it to the playoffs as a No. 2 seed and played host to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round. The Colts fell behind 26–7 at the half and would never recover, ending up losing by a score of 40–14.

Playoff Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
Divisional	December 19, 1976	Pittsburgh Steelers (3)	L 14–40	0–1	Memorial Stadium	60,020

References

↑ Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p.306, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
↑ fourth-best in the NFL, second-best in the NFC behind O.J. Simpson
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1976 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com

Indianapolis Colts

Founded in 1953 Played in Baltimore (1953–1983) Based and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana

Franchise	History in Baltimore relocation to Indianapolis in Indianapolis Players Quarterbacks Coaches Seasons Draft First-round draft picks Ring of Honor

Stadiums	Memorial Stadium RCA Dome Lucas Oil Stadium

Culture	Carroll Rosenbloom Robert Irsay Jim Irsay 12th Man AAFC Colts Baltimore Colts Marching Band The Band That Wouldn't Die Blue Cheerleaders

Lore	The Greatest Game Ever Played Ghost to the Post 1995 AFC Championship Game Deflategate

Rivalries	New England Patriots (Manning vs. Brady)

Division championships (16)	1968 1970 1975 1976 1977 1987 1999 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 2013 2014

Conference championships (7)	1958 1959 1964 1968 1970 2006 2009

League championships (4^†)	1958 1959 1970 (V) 2006 (XLI) ^† does not include 1968 NFL championship

Retired numbers	19 22 24 70 77 82 89

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: American Football Conference Division: South Division

Seasons (63)	1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 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

Championship seasons in bold

Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts seasons

Baltimore 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 Indianapolis 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

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1976 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
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

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