1976 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

1976 St. Louis Cardinals season
OwnerBill Bidwill
Head coachDon Coryell
Results
Record10–4
Division place3rd NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersC Tom Banks
G Conrad Dobler
T Dan Dierdorf
QB Jim Hart
WR Mel Gray
CB Roger Wehrli
K Jim Bakken

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

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1976 Expansion Draft

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St. Louis Cardinals selected during the Expansion Draft
Round Overall Name Position Expansion Team
0 0 Dwayne Crump Cornerback Seattle Seahawks
0 0 Gary Keithley Quarterback Seattle Seahawks
0 0 Council Rudolph Defensive end Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Draft

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1976 St. Louis Cardinals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
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

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St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks


Running backs


Wide receivers


Tight ends


Offensive linemen


Defensive linemen


Linebackers


Defensive backs


Special teams


Reserve lists


Practice squad

rookies in italics

Schedule

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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

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Week 1: @ Seattle Seahawks

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Week One: St. Louis Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 3 10 10730
Seahawks 3 0 71424

at Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

Game information

Standings

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NFC East
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

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