The 1976 New York Jets season was the seventeenth season for the team and the seventh in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 3–11 record from 1975 under new head coach Lou Holtz. The Jets again finished with a record of 3–11, which combined with the resignation of Holtz with one game left in the season to become coach at the University of Arkansas, prompted John Facenda to say about the Jets during the NFL Films highlight film for that season “Perhaps the best thing to say about the 1976 New York Jets season is that it’s over”.
The only teams that the Jets defeated in 1976 were the 2–12 Buffalo Bills (twice) and the 0–14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Jets were 0–9 vs. teams with a winning record.
The 1976 season was also the twelfth and final year with the Jets for quarterback Joe Namath.Namath would play one final season with the 1977 L.A. Rams
Offseason
1976 expansion draft
+ New York Jets selected during the expansion draft Round Overall Name Position Expansion team00Anthony DavisRunning backTampa Bay Buccaneers00Jerry DavisDefensive backSeattle Seahawks00Larry WoodsDefensive tackleSeattle Seahawks
Draft
Personnel Staff
Roster
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 12 at Cleveland Browns L 17–38 0–1 Cleveland Stadium 67,496 2 September 19 at Denver Broncos L 3–46 0–2 Mile High Stadium 62,669 3 September 26 at Miami Dolphins L 0–16 0–3 Miami Orange Bowl 49,754 4 October 3 at San Francisco 49ers L 6–17 0–4 Candlestick Park 42,961 5 October 10 Buffalo Bills W 17–14 1–4 Shea Stadium 59,110 6 October 18 at New England Patriots L 7–41 1–5 Schaefer Stadium 50,883 7 October 24 Baltimore Colts L 0–20 1–6 Shea Stadium 59,576 8 October 31 at Buffalo Bills W 19–14 2–6 Rich Stadium 41,285 9 November 7 Miami Dolphins L 7–27 2–7 Shea Stadium 53,344 10 November 14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34–0 3–7 Shea Stadium 46,426 11 November 21 New England Patriots L 24–38 3–8 Shea Stadium 49,983 12 November 28 at Baltimore Colts L 16–33 3–9 Memorial Stadium 44,023 13 December 5 Washington Redskins L 16–37 3–10 Shea Stadium 46,638 14 December 12 Cincinnati Bengals L 3–42 3–11 Shea Stadium 31,067 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
In popular culture The television series Barney Miller referenced the game between the Buccaneers playing in New York versus the Jets, in the third-season episode “The Recluse”, in which Yemana (Jack Soo) had tickets to the Jets/Tampa Bay game. When asked “Why?’, his response, “They were on sale”. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished 0–14 the same season.
Notes
References
External links 1976 statistics