1976 Chicago Bears season

1976 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Jack Pardee
Home stadium	Soldier Field
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify

The 1976 Chicago Bears season was their 57th regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 7–7 record, in their second season under Jack Pardee. The .500 record and second-place finish were the team's best since 1968. This was also the first season for the Chicago Honey Bears, the team's official cheerleading squad.

Offseason

1976 expansion draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

Chicago Bears selected during the expansion draft

Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion team
0	0	Bubba Broussard	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
0	0	Earl Douthitt	Safety	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
0	0	Larry Ely	Linebacker	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL draft

Main article: 1976 NFL draft

1976 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	8	Dennis Lick	Offensive tackle	Wisconsin
3	66	Brian Baschnagel	Wide receiver	Ohio State
4	103	John Sciarra	Safety	UCLA
4	108	Wayne Rhodes	Defensive back	Alabama
6	161	Dan Jiggetts	Offensive tackle	Harvard
7	190	Jerry Muckensturm	Linebacker	Arkansas State
11	299	Norman Anderson	Wide receiver	UCLA
12	330	John O'Leary	Running back	Nebraska
13	357	Dale Kasowski	Running back	North Dakota
14	384	Ron Cuie	Running back	Oregon State
15	411	Jerry Meyers	Defensive tackle	Northern Illinois
16	442	Ronald Parker	Tight end	TCU
17	469	Mike Malham	Linebacker	Arkansas State
Made roster

Undrafted free agents

1976 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Rudy Allen	Wide receiver	Georgia Tech
Gary Evans	Defensive back	Northeast Missouri State
Bill Marek	Running back	Wisconsin
Ivy Moore	Wide receiver	Southern Illinois
Mike Morgan	Defensive back	Washburn
Vernon Perry	Defensive back	Jackson State
Jim Pooler	Running back	Northwestern
Steve Studer	Guard/Center	Bowling Green
Jeff Tryon	Defensive back	Boise State

Roster

1976 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Bob Avellini  9 Virgil Carter 19 Gary Huff Running backs (RB) 20 Mike Adamle 35 Roland Harper 22 Johnny Musso 34 Walter Payton 36 Larry Schreiber Wide receivers (WR) 47 Brian Baschnagel 83 Randall Burks 80 Bo Rather 85 Steve Schubert 89 James Scott Tight ends (TE) 81 Bob Bruer 88 Greg Latta

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Lionel Antoine T 65 Noah Jackson G 62 Dan Jiggetts T 70 Dennis Lick T 52 Dan Neal C 75 Jeff Sevy G/T 69 Revie Sorey G 73 John Ward G/C Defensive linemen (DL) 82 Royce Berry DE 60 Wally Chambers DT 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 74 Jerry Meyers DE/DT 68 Jim Osborne DT 76 Ron Rydalch DT 71 Roger Stillwell DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Waymond Bryant OLB 59 Ross Brupbacher OLB 54 Tom Hicks MLB 57 Don Rives MLB Defensive backs (DB) 45 Craig Clemons SS 48 Allan Ellis CB 45 Gary Fencik SS 31 Bill Knox CB 24 Virgil Livers CB 46 Doug Plank FS 44 Terry Schmidt CB Special teams (ST) 86 Bob Parsons P 16 Bob Thomas K

Reserve 55 Doug Buffone LB (IR) 72 Gary Hrivnak DE/DT (IR) 51 Mickey Malham LB (IR) 58 Jerry Muckensturm LB (IR) 53 Dan Peiffer C (IR) 25 Ronnie Shanklin WR (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	Detroit Lions	W 10–3	1–0	Soldier Field	54,125
2	September 19	at San Francisco 49ers	W 19–12	2–0	Candlestick Park	44,158
3	September 26	Atlanta Falcons	L 0–10	2–1	Soldier Field	41,029
4	October 3	Washington Redskins	W 33–7	3–1	Soldier Field	52,105
5	October 10	at Minnesota Vikings	L 19–20	3–2	Metropolitan Stadium	47,614
6	October 17	at Los Angeles Rams	L 12–20	3–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	71,751
7	October 24	at Dallas Cowboys	L 21–31	3–4	Texas Stadium	61,346
8	October 31	Minnesota Vikings	W 14–13	4–4	Soldier Field	53,602
9	November 7	Oakland Raiders	L 27–28	4–5	Soldier Field	53,585
10	November 14	Green Bay Packers	W 24–13	5–5	Soldier Field	52,907
11	November 21	at Detroit Lions	L 10–14	5–6	Pontiac Municipal Stadium	78,042
12	November 28	at Green Bay Packers	W 16–10	6–6	Lambeau Field	56,267
13	December 5	at Seattle Seahawks	W 34–7	7–6	Kingdome	60,510
14	December 12	Denver Broncos	L 14–28	7–7	Soldier Field	44,459
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings(1)	11	2	1	.821	5–1	9–2–1	305	176	W2
Chicago Bears	7	7	0	.500	4–2	7–5	253	216	L1
Detroit Lions	6	8	0	.429	2–4	4–8	262	220	L2
Green Bay Packers	5	9	0	.357	1–5	5–8	218	299	W1

Season summary

Week 1 vs Lions

See also: 1976 Detroit Lions season and Bears–Lions rivalry

Week One: Detroit Lions (0–0) at Chicago Bears (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	3	0	0	3
Bears	0	0	7	3	10

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: September 12, 1976
• Game time: 2:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C)
• Game attendance: 54,125
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

Second quarter DET – Errol Mann 27-yard field goal. Lions 3–0. Drive: Third quarter CHI – Johnny Musso 3-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 7–3. Drive: Fourth quarter CHI – Bob Thomas 27-yard field goal. Bears 10–3. Drive: Top passers DET – Joe Reed – 11/23, 91 yards CHI – Bob Avellini – 7/16, 120 yards Top rushers DET – Horace King – 15 rushes, 57 yards CHI – Walter Payton – 25 rushes, 70 yards Top receivers DET – Ray Jarvis – 4 receptions, 85 yards CHI – Greg Latta – 2 receptions, 87 yards

Week 9 vs Raiders

See also: 1976 Oakland Raiders season

Week Nine: Oakland Raiders (7–1) at Chicago Bears (4–4)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	14	7	7	28
Bears	7	0	20	0	27

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: November 7, 1976
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Sunny, 36 °F (2 °C)
• Game attendance: 53,585
• Referee: Chuck Heberling
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter CHI – Walter Payton 5-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 7–0. Drive: Second quarter OAK – Dave Casper 17-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Tie 7–7. Drive: OAK – Cliff Branch 75-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 14–7. Drive: Third quarter OAK – Clarence Davis 2-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 21–7. Drive: CHI – James Scott 36-yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick). Raiders 21–14. Drive: CHI – Walter Payton 12-yard run (kick failed). Raiders 21–20. Drive: CHI – Walter Payton 2-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 27–21. Drive: Fourth quarter OAK – Cliff Branch 49-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 28–27. Drive: Top passers OAK – Ken Stabler – 11/17, 234 yards, 3 TD CHI – Bob Avellini – 10/18, 204 yards, TD, INT Top rushers OAK – Mark van Eeghen – 12 rushes, 62 yards CHI – Walter Payton – 36 rushes, 97 yards, 3 TD Top receivers OAK – Cliff Branch – 5 receptions, 163 yards, 2 TD CHI – James Scott – 3 receptions, 76 yards, TD

Awards and honors

• UPI Coach of the Year – Jack Pardee