1976 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

1976 St. Louis Cardinals season
1976 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner	Bill Bidwill
Head coach	Don Coryell
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	C Tom Banks; G Conrad Dobler; T Dan Dierdorf; QB Jim Hart; WR Mel Gray; CB Roger Wehrli; K Jim Bakken
	← 1975; Cardinals seasons; 1977 →;

The 1976 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 57th season the franchise was in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous output of 11–3, instead regressing by one win.^[1] This was the first time in three seasons the team did not qualify for the playoffs. The Cardinals finished tied with the Washington Redskins for 2nd place in the NFC East, but they lost the tiebreaker due to Washington winning both matchups during the season.

Ultimately, the Cardinals became the only NFC team to win ten games without making the playoffs under a 14-game schedule.

Notably, they took on the San Diego Chargers in a preseason game in the first NFL game to take place in Japan.

Offseason

1976 Expansion Draft

St. Louis Cardinals selected during the Expansion Draft
Name	Position	Expansion Team
Dwayne Crump	Cornerback	Seattle Seahawks
Gary Keithley	Quarterback	Seattle Seahawks
Council Rudolph	Defensive end	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1976 St. Louis Cardinals draft
1	22	Mike Dawson	Defensive tackle	Arizona
3	65	Brad Oates	Offensive tackle	BYU
4	114	Pat Tilley *	Wide receiver	Louisiana Tech
5	141	Wayne Morris	Running back	SMU
7	203	Phil Rogers	Running back	Virginia Tech
8	233	Randall Burks	Wide receiver	Southeastern Oklahoma State
10	285	Randy Walker	Linebacker	Bethune–Cookman
11	315	Marty Akins	Defensive back	Texas
13	369	Greg Brewton	Defensive tackle	Michigan State
14	399	Raymond Crosier	Defensive end	Abilene Christian
15	420	Lee Nelson	Safety	Florida State
16	453	Cecil Beaird	Wide receiver	Fisk
17	483	Dan Myers	Defensive back	Georgia Tech
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

St. Louis Cardinals roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

88 J. V. Cain
81 Jackie Smith

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

79 Bob Bell DE
70 Leo Brooks DT
76 Charlie Davis DT
73 Mike Dawson DT
71 Steve Okoniewski DT
78 Ron Yankowski DE
63 John Zook DE

Linebackers

Defensive backs

26 Dwayne Crump CB
41 Clarence Duren FS
38 Lee Nelson FS
36 Ken Reaves SS
43 Norm Thompson CB
22 Roger Wehrli CB

Special teams

25 Jim Bakken K
87 Terry Joyce P/TE

Reserve lists

50 Greg Hartle LB (IR)
74 Walt Patulski DE (IR)

Practice squad

rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	at Seattle Seahawks	W 30–24	1–0	Kingdome	58,441
2	September 19	Green Bay Packers	W 29–0	2–0	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,842
3	September 26	at San Diego Chargers	L 24–43	2–1	San Diego Stadium	40,212
4	October 3	New York Giants	W 27–21	3–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,039
5	October 10	Philadelphia Eagles	W 33–14	4–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	44,933
6	October 17	Dallas Cowboys	W 21–17	5–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,317
7	October 25	at Washington Redskins	L 10–20	5–2	RFK Stadium	48,325
8	October 31	San Francisco 49ers	W 23–20	6–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,365
9	November 7	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–14	7–2	Veterans Stadium	65,505
10	November 14	at Los Angeles Rams	W 30–28	8–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	64,698
11	November 21	Washington Redskins	L 10–16	8–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,833
12	November 25	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14–19	8–4	Texas Stadium	62,498
13	December 4	Baltimore Colts	W 24–17	9–4	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,282
14	December 12	at New York Giants	W 17–14	10–4	Giants Stadium	60,553
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: @ Seattle Seahawks

Week One: St. Louis Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	3	10	10	7	30
Seahawks	3	0	7	14	24

at Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

Date: September 12
Game time: 1:09 pm local
Game weather: indoors
Game attendance: 58,441
Referee: Tom Bell
TV announcers (CBS): Jim Thacker and Alex Hawkins
Gamebook

Game information

First quarter

STL – Jim Bakken 28-yard field goal, 6:22 (STL 3–0)
SEA – Don Bitterlich 27-yard field goal, 1:15 (Tied 3–3)

Second quarter

STL – Ike Harris 12-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick), 13:05 (STL 10–3)
STL – Jim Bakken 22-yard field goal, 0:21 (STL 13–3)

Third quarter

STL – Pat Tilley 27-yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick), 12:51 (STL 20–3)
STL – Jim Bakken 26-yard field goal, 5:47 (STL 23–3)
SEA – Sam McCullum 15-yard pass from Jim Zorn 3:52 (Don Bitterlich kick), (STL 23–10)

Fourth quarter

STL – Jim Otis 1-yard run (Jim Bakken kick), 14:10 (STL 30–10)
SEA – Sam McCullum 72-yard pass from Jim Zorn 13:50 (Don Bitterlich kick), (STL 30–17)
SEA – Jim Zorn 8-yard run (Don Bitterlich kick), 5:09 (STL 30–24)

Top passers

STL – Jim Hart: 15/23, 180 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
SEA – Jim Zorn: 17/37, 292 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT

Top rushers

STL – Jim Otis: 27 car, 140 yds, 1 TD
SEA – Andy Bolton: 12 car, 37 yds

Top receivers

STL – Steve Jones: 3 rec, 59 yds
SEA – Sam McCullum: 4 rec, 112 yds, 2 TD

Team – pass – rush – total – to

STL – 175 – 281 – 456 – 2
SEA – 279 – 73 – 352 – 3

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	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

References

^ 1976 St. Louis Cardinals

[1] 1976 St. Louis Cardinals

[1]

v t e Arizona Cardinals
Founded in 1898 Played in Chicago (1920–1959), St. Louis (1960–1987), and formerly the Phoenix Cardinals (1988–1993) Based in Glendale, Arizona Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona
Franchise	History in Chicago in St. Louis Seasons Head coaches Players Quarterbacks First-round draft picks
Stadiums	Normal Park Comiskey Park Wrigley Field Forbes Field Soldier Field Busch Stadium Busch Memorial Stadium Mountain America Stadium State Farm Stadium
Culture	Chris O'Brien Charles Bidwill Bill Bidwill Red Sea Big Red (mascot) Jerry Maguire
Lore	1925 Chicago Cardinals–Milwaukee Badgers scandal 1925 NFL Championship controversy Card-Pitt Million Dollar Backfield Chicago Cardinals–Toronto Argonauts exhibition game Fútbol Americano "They are who we thought they were!" Hail Murray
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Kansas City Chiefs (former) Los Angeles Rams San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks
Division championships (7)	1947 1948 1974 1975 2008 2009 2015
Conference championships (1)	2008
League championships (2)	1925 1947
Retired numbers	8 40 77 88 99
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: West Division
Category

v t e Arizona Cardinals seasons
Played in Chicago (1920–1959), St. Louis (1960–1987), and formerly the Phoenix Cardinals (1988–1993)
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance