1976 Cincinnati Bengals season

1976 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head Coach	Bill Johnson
Home Field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	10–4
Place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1975	1977

The 1976 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's ninth year in professional football and its seventh with the National Football League.

Paul Brown had announced his retirement after 41 seasons of coaching and named Bill Johnson, one his longtime assistant, as the successor over future San Francisco Head coach Bill Walsh. Brown continued to serve as the club's general manager and vice president. The Bengals acquired defensive end Coy Bacon in a trade with San Diego and drafted halfback Archie Griffin, the two-time Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State. The Bengals won nine of their first 11 games and finished 10–4, but did not make the playoffs.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1976 Cincinnati Bengals Draft
Round	Pick #	Overall	Name	Position	College
1	11	11	Billy Brooks	Wide Receiver	Oklahoma
1	24	24	Archie Griffin	Running Back	Ohio State
2	10	38	Glenn Bujnoch	Guard	Texas A&M
2	23	51	Chris Bahr	Kicker	Penn State
3	9	69	Danny Reece	Defensive Back	USC
3	22	82	Reggie Williams	Linebacker	Dartmouth
4	14	106	Tony Davis	Running Back	Nebraska
4	24	116	Greg Fairchild	Guard	Tulsa
5	14	138	Willie Shelby	Running Back	Alabama
5	23	147	Scott Perry	Defensive Back	Williams
6	20	176	Orlando Nelson	Tight End	Utah State
7	5	187	Bob Bateman	Quarterback	Brown
7	10	192	Carmen Rome	Defensive Back	Miami (OH)
7	23	205	Ken Kuhn	Linebacker	Ohio State
8	23	232	Ron Hunt	Offensive Tackle	Oregon
9	22	259	Lonnie Allgood	Wide Receiver	Syracuse
10	22	287	Tom Klaban	Kicker	Ohio State
11	23	314	Melvin Morgan	Defensive Back	Mississippi Valley State
12	22	341	Joe Dale Harris	Wide Receiver	Alabama
13	24	371	Randy Walker	Running Back	Miami (OH)
14	23	398	Greg Coleman	Punter	Florida A&M
15	22	425	Lynn Hieber	Quarterback	Indiana (PA)
16	24	455	George Demopoulis	Center	Miami (FL)
17	23	482	Scott Dannelley	Guard	Ohio State

Regular season

Schedule

1976 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule
Date	Opponet #	Result	Score	Attn.	Stadium
September 12	Denver Broncos	W	17–7	53,464	Riverfront
September 19	at Baltimore Colts	L	27–28	50,374	Memorial
September 26	Green Bay Packers	W	28–7	44,103	Riverfront
October 3	at Cleveland Browns	W	45–24	75,817	Cleveland
October 10	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W	21–0	49,700	Riverfront
October 17	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L	6–23	48,311	Three Rivers
October 24	at Houston Oilers	W	27–7	45,499	Astrodome
October 31	Cleveland Browns	W	21–6	54,776	Riverfront
November 8	Los Angeles Rams	W	20–12	52,480	Riverfront
November 14	Houston Oilers	W	31–27	53,243	Riverfront
November 21	at Kansas City Chiefs	W	27–24	46,259	Arrowhead
November 28	Pittsburgh Steelers	L	3–7	55,142	Riverfront
December 6	at Oakland Raiders	L	20–35	52,430	Oakland Coliseum
December 12	at New York Jets	W	42–3	31,067	Shea

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers	10	4	0	.714	342	138	W-9
Cincinnati Bengals	10	4	0	.714	335	210	W-1
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	267	287	L-1
Houston Oilers	5	9	0	.357	222	273	L-2

Team stats

1976 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS	Bengals	Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
TOTAL NET YARDS
Avg Per Game
Total Plays
Avg. Per Play
NET YARDS RUSHING
Avg. Per Game
Total Rushes
NET YARDS PASSING
Avg. Per Game
Sacked Yards Lost
Gross Yards
Att. Completions
Completion Pct.
Intercepted
PUNTS-AVERAGE
PENALTIES-YARDS
FUMBLES-BALL LOST
TOUCHDOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Returns

Score by Periods	1	2	3	4	Tot
Bengals
Opponents

Team leaders

• Passing: Ken Anderson (338 Att, 179 Comp, 2367 Yds, 53.0 Pct, 19 TD, 14 Int, 76.9 Rating)
• Rushing: Boobie Clark (151 Att, 671 Yds, 4.4 Avg, 24 Long, 7 TD)
• Receiving: Isaac Curtis (41 Rec, 766 Yds, 18.7 Avg, 85 Long, 6 TD)
• Scoring: Chris Bahr, 81 points (14 FG; 39 PAT)

Roster

Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks 11 John Reaves 14 Ken Anderson Running Backs 30 Willie Shelby 33 Stan Fritts 36 Lenvil Elliott 35 Tony Davis 42 Boobie Clark 45 Archie Griffin Wide Receivers 82 Billy Brooks 25 Chip Myers 85 Isaac Curtis 86 John McDaniel Tight Ends 88 Bruce Coslet 84 Bob Trumpy		Offensive Linemen 54 Bob Johnson C 62 Dave Lapham G 63 Greg Fairchild G 64 John Shinners G 71 Rufus Mayes T 72 Ron Hunt T 74 Glenn Bujnoch G 76 Vernon Holland T Defensive Linemen 67 Gary Burley DE 68 Bill Kollar DT 70 Ron Carpenter DT 78 Bob Brown DT 79 Coy Bacon DE 80 Ken Johnson DE		Linebackers 50 Glenn Cameron 51 Chris Devlin 53 Bo Harris 55 Jim LeClair 57 Reggie Williams 60 Ron Pritchard Defensive Backs 13 Ken Riley CB 20 Lamar Parrish CB 21 Melvin Morgan CB 23 Bernard Jackson S 24 Marvin Cobb S 32 Scott Perry CB 37 Tommy Casanova S Special Teams 10 Chris Bahr K 87 Pat McInally P

Awards and records

• Ken Riley, Franchise Record, Most Interceptions in One Season, (9)

Pro Bowl Selections

• QB Ken Anderson
• DE Coy Bacon
• S Tommy Casanova
• WR Isaac Curtis
• LB Jim LeClair
• CB Lemar Parrish

References

• Bengals on Pro Football Reference
• Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com
• Bengals History on Official Site