1976 Dallas Cowboys season

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

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

Offseason

1976 Expansion Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

Dallas Cowboys selected during the Expansion Draft

Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion Team
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

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

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
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

Main article: 1976–77 NFL playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game Site	Attendance	Recap
Divisional	December 19, 1976	Los Angeles Rams (3)	L 12–14	Texas Stadium	62,436	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

Roster

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

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

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