The 1976 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints’ tenth year in the National Football League (NFL). Hoping past success could influence the franchise, the Saints hired Hank Stram as the new head coach. However, in Stram's first season at the helm, the Saints continued to struggle finishing with a 4–10 record.
The Saints made a uniform change before the year, going from a dark gold to old gold, and have retained the color albeit with minor shading changes since. It was also the team's first season wearing black pants, a move which was not unexpected, since Stram outfitted the Kansas City Chiefs in red pants beginning in 1968.Uniform Databases: New Orleans Saints
New Orleans' hopes for success was severely diminished before the season began when Stram learned star quarterback Archie Manning would not be able to play at all due to offseason elbow surgery. This forced Stram to alternate between longtime backup Bobby Scott and Chicago Bears castoff Bobby Douglass.
The high point of the season was in week three, when Stram’s Saints traveled to Kansas City and defeated the Chiefs 27–17. Stram rubbed salt in the wounds of the team he coached for 15 seasons (1960 to 1974) and led to the Super Bowl IV championship when Scott threw a touchdown pass on the game's final play to Tinker Owens. Chiefs coach Paul Wiggin refused to shake hands with Stram, who was carried off the Arrowhead Stadium turf by his players upon orders by the coach.
Offseason 1976 expansion draft
+ New Orleans Saints selected during the expansion draft Round Overall Name Position Expansion team00Morris LaGrandRunning backTampa Bay Buccaneers00Joe OwensDefensive endSeattle Seahawks00Dave ThompsonOffensive tackleTampa Bay Buccaneers
NFL draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 12 Minnesota Vikings L 9–40 0—1 Louisiana Superdome 58,156 2 September 19 Dallas Cowboys L 6–24 0—2 Louisiana Superdome 61,413 3 September 26 at Kansas City Chiefs W 27–17 1—2 Arrowhead Stadium 53,918 4 October 3 Houston Oilers L 26–31 1—3 Louisiana Superdome 51,973 5 October 10 Atlanta Falcons W 30–0 2—3 Louisiana Superdome 51,521 6 October 17 at San Francisco 49ers L 3–33 2—4 Candlestick Park 43,160 7 October 24 Los Angeles Rams L 10–16 2—5 Louisiana Superdome 51,984 8 October 31 at Atlanta Falcons L 20–23 2—6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 34,127 9 November 7 at Green Bay Packers L 32–27 2—7 Milwaukee County Stadium 52,936 10 November 14 Detroit Lions W 17–16 3—7 Louisiana Superdome 42,048 11 November 21 at Seattle Seahawks W 51–27 4—7 Kingdome 61,865 12 November 28 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–33 4—8 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 54,906 13 December 5 at New England Patriots L 6–27 4—9 Schaefer Stadium 53,592 14 December 12 San Francisco 49ers L 7–27 4—10 Louisiana Superdome 42,536 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
References
External links 1976 New Orleans Saints at Pro-Football-Reference.com