1976 Houston Oilers

1976 Houston Oilers season
Head Coach	Bum Phillips
Home Field	Astrodome
Results
Record	5–9
Place	4th AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1975	1977

The 1976 Houston Oilers season was the 17th season overall and seventh with the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 10–4, winning only five games, They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. Finishing one game ahead of the upstart Cleveland Browns, they came in third, in what became the NFL's toughest division that year. So they lost out on an opportunity to win the division title or secure a wild-card spot based upon a tie-breaker situation where both the Steelers and Bengals had better division and/or conference records.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 12, 1976	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 20–0	42,228
2	September 19, 1976	at Buffalo Bills	W 13–3	61,364
3	September 26, 1976	Oakland Raiders	L 14-13	42,338
4	October 3, 1976	at New Orleans Saints	W 31–26	51,973
5	October 10, 1976	Denver Broncos	W 17–3	45,928
6	October 17, 1976	at San Diego Chargers	L 30–27	31,565
7	October 24, 1976	Cincinnati Bengals	L 27–7	45,499
8	November 1, 1976	at Baltimore Colts	L 38–14	60,020
9	November 7, 1976	Cleveland Browns	L 21–7	39,828
10	November 14, 1976	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 31–27	53,243
11	November 21, 1976	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 32–16	47,947
12	November 28, 1976	Atlanta Falcons	W 20–14	25,838
13	December 5, 1976	at Cleveland Browns	L 13–10	56,025
14	December 11, 1976	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 21–0	44,743

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers	10	4	0	.714	342	138	W-9
Cincinnati Bengals	10	4	0	.714	335	210	W-1
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	267	287	L-1
Houston Oilers	5	9	0	.357	222	273	L-2