For this season only, the Seahawks played in the NFC West while the Buccaneers played in the AFC West. (The Seahawks would return to the NFC West with the realignment prior to the 2002 NFL season.)
In addition, the Buccaneers would set a record of futility, finishing the season 0-14. As of 2008[update], this is the most recent winless season in the NFL (except for Baltimore's 0-8-1 record in the strike-shortened 1982 season). It still stands as the only winless and tie-less season since the 1970 merger. (There were various winless seasons in the NFL before that, at that point the most recent being a 0-11-1 showing by the then-expansion Dallas Cowboys in 1960.) The Buccaneers would go on to lose their first 26 games as a franchise before finally winning against the New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Cardinals to finish the 1977 season.
Two 30-seconds clocks, one on each end of the field, will be used for all games. They will be visible to both players and fans to note the official time between the ready-for-play signal and the snap of the ball.
If the defensive team commits a foul during a failed extra point attempt, the try is replayed and the offensive team has the option to either have the distance penalty assessed on the next try or the ensuing kickoff.
If the defensive team commits a foul during a successful extra point attempt, the penalty will be assessed on the ensuing kickoff.
Players cannot grasp the facemask of an opponent. The penalty for an incidental grasp of the facemask is 5 yards. The penalty for twisting, turning, or pulling the facemask is 15 yards. A player can be ejected from the game if the foul is judged to be vicious and/or flagrant.
A defender is prohibited from running or diving into, or throwing his body against or on a ballcarrier who falls or slips to the ground untouched and makes no attempt to advance, before or after the ball is dead. This is sometimes called as the "Ben Davidson Rule" after the Raiders defender who almost seriously injured quarterback Len Dawson after the Chiefs passer fell to the ground and made no attempt to advance.
Division races
The two expansion clubs, Tampa Bay and Seattle, were "swing" teams that didn't participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14 game schedule against other conference teams. As a member of the AFC in 1976, Tampa Bay played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the NFC. The 14th game, played in Week Six, was Seattle's 13–10 win at Tampa.
Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebraker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
Week
Eastern
Central
Western
Wild Card
1
3 teams
1-0-0
(Chi, Min)
1-0-0
(LA, SF)
1-0-0
4 teams
1-0-0
2
3 teams
2-0-0
CHICAGO
2-0-0
LOS ANGELES
1-0-1
2 teams
2-0-0
3
(Dal, Was)
3-0-0
MINNESOTA
2-0-1
LOS ANGELES
2-0-1
(Dal Was)
3-0-0
4
DALLAS
4-0-0
MINNESOTA
3-0-1
LOS ANGELES
3-0-1
ST. LOUIS*
3-1-0
5
DALLAS
5-0-0
MINNESOTA
4-0-1
SAN FRANCISC0
4-1-0
ST. LOUIS
4-1-0
6
ST. LOUIS*
5-1-0
MINNESOTA
5-0-1
SAN FRANCISCO
5-1-0
DALLAS
5-1-0
7
DALLAS
6-1-0
MINNESOTA
6-0-1
SAN FRANCISCO
6-1-0
LOS ANGELES
5-1-1
8
DALLAS
7-1-0
MINNESOTA
6-1-1
LOS ANGELES
6-1-1
ST. LOUIS*
6-2-0
9
DALLAS
8-1-0
MINNESOTA
7-1-1
LOS ANGELES
6-2-1
ST. LOUIS
7-2-0
10
DALLAS
9-1-0
MINNESOTA
8-1-1
LOS ANGELES
6-3-1
ST. LOUIS
8-2-0
11
DALLAS
9-2-0
MINNESOTA
9-1-1
LOS ANGELES
7-3-1
ST. LOUIS
8-3-0
12
DALLAS
10-2-0
MINNESOTA
9-2-1
LOS ANGELES
8-3-1
WASHINGTON*
8-4-0
13
DALLAS
11-2-0
MINNESOTA
10-2-1
LOS ANGELES
9-3-1
WASHINGTON*
9-4-0
14
DALLAS
11-3-0
MINNESOTA
11-2-1
LOS ANGELES
10-3-1
WASHINGTON*
10-4-0
American Football Conference
Week
Eastern
Central
Western
Wild Card
1
(Bal, Mia)
1-0-0
3 teams
1-0-0
(Oak, SD)
1-0-0
4 teams
1-0-0
2
BALTIMORE
2-0-0
HOUSTON
2-0-0
(Den, Oak)
2-0-0
2 teams
2-0-0
3
MIAMI*
2-1-0
HOUSTON*
2-1-0
(Oak, SD)
3-0-0
5 teams
2-1-0
4
BALTIMORE*
3-1-0
CINCINNATI*
3-1-0
(Den, Oak)
3-1-0
3 teams*
3-1-0
5
BALTIMORE
4-1-0
CINCINNATI*
4-1-0
OAKLAND
4-1-0
HOUSTON
4-1-0
6
BALTIMORE
5-1-0
CINCINNATI*
4-2-0
OAKLAND
5-1-0
NEW ENGLAND*
4-2-0
7
BALTIMORE
6-1-0
CINCINNATI
5-2-0
OAKLAND
6-1-0
NEW ENGLAND
5-2-0
8
BALTIMORE
7-1-0
CINCINNATI
6-2-0
OAKLAND
7-1-0
NEW ENGLAND
5-3-0
9
BALTIMORE
8-1-0
CINCINNATI
7-2-0
OAKLAND
8-1-0
NEW ENGLAND
6-3-0
10
BALTIMORE
8-2-0
CINCINNATI
8-2-0
OAKLAND
9-1-0
NEW ENGLAND
7-3-0
11
BALTIMORE
9-2-0
CINCINNATI
9-2-0
OAKLAND
10-1-0
NEW ENGLAND
8-3-0
12
BALTIMORE
10-2-0
CINCINNATI
9-3-0
OAKLAND
11-1-0
NEW ENGLAND
9-3-0
13
BALTIMORE*
10-3-0
CINCINNATI*
9-4-0
OAKLAND
12-1-0
NEW ENGLAND*
10-3-0
14
BALTIMORE*
11-3-0
PITTSBURGH*
10-4-0
OAKLAND
13-1-0
NEW ENGLAND
11-3-0
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
Green-shaded teams clinched playoff berths x - clinched wild card berth, y - clinched division title
