All NFL game summaries for 11/28/1976:

Bert Jones threw three second-quarter touchdown passes and Toni Linhart booted four field goals to sweep the season series from the Jets. Steve Davis scored on a three-yard run after John Ebersole recovered a Colts' fumble on the first play from scrimmage, and New York took a 9-3 lead at the end of the first quarter on a Pat Leahy field goal. Jones put Baltimore back on top with TD passes to Don McCauley, Lydell Mitchell and Roger Carr while Linhart added the final Colts' points on 41 and 31-yard field goals.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Colts by 18

                     NYJ             BAL
First Downs:         14              19
Rushes-yards:        32-159          41-198
Yards/rush:          5.0             4.8
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     9-23-111-1      23-35-189-0
Sacked-yards:        3-15            0-0
Net pass yards:      96              189
Net yards/pass:      3.7             5.4
Total net yards:     255             387
Total plays:         58 (55% run)    76 (53% run)  
Yards/play:          4.4             5.1
Fumbles-lost:        3-3             2-1
Turnovers:           4               1
Penalties-yards:     2-10            5-30

Attendance: 43,823

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Franco Harris ran four yards through a driving snowstorm in the third quarter for his 13th and the club's 44th touchdown of the season, both records, and a win that also cut Cincinnati's lead over the Steelers and Browns in the AFC Central to one game. Chris Bahr gave the Bengals a 3-0 lead on a 40-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Two stiff defenses plus snow and 20-degree temperatures froze up both teams' scoring attacks until Dwight White recovered a Boobie Clark fumble at the Cincinnati 24-yard line and Pittsburgh drove for Harris's score.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Steelers by 2

                     PIT             CIN
First Downs:         20              9
Rushes-yards:        49-204          30-110
Yards/rush:          4.2             3.7
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     10-15-163-1     10-26-145-1
Sacked-yards:        2-20            4-30
Net pass yards:      143             115
Net yards/pass:      8.4             3.8
Total net yards:     347             225
Total plays:         66 (74% run)    60 (50% run)  
Yards/play:          5.3             3.8
Fumbles-lost:        3-1             3-1
Turnovers:           2               2
Penalties-yards:     6-40            4-25

Attendance: 55,142

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Cleveland's only possession of the third quarter, a five-play, 72-yard scoring drive, provided the winning margin for the Browns. Brian Sipe hit Reggie Rucker on an 18-yard scoring pass with 6:07 gone in the third period after Miami had pulled within one point of Cleveland. Don Cockroft added a field goal with 1:56 left in the game after the Dolphins had again pulled to within one on Bob Griese's second TD pass. Miami again moved toward a score, but time ran out on the Dolphins at the Browns' 3-yard line.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Browns by 2

                     MIA             CLE
First Downs:         23              18
Rushes-yards:        33-134          30-133
Yards/rush:          4.1             4.4
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     22-33-209-0     15-23-191-3
Sacked-yards:        2-19            1-13
Net pass yards:      190             178
Net yards/pass:      5.4             7.4
Total net yards:     324             311
Total plays:         68 (48% run)    54 (55% run)  
Yards/play:          4.8             5.8
Fumbles-lost:        3-0             4-2
Turnovers:           0               5
Penalties-yards:     8-70            3-49

Attendance: 74,715

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Three Bob Thomas field goals and a Bob Avellini to James Scott touchdown pass gave the Bears their first season sweep over the Packers since 1963. Walter Payton, with 110 yards for his sixth century game of the season, set up Thomas's first field goal with a 23-yard gain to the Green Bay 30, and the Avellini-Scott combination made it 10-0 at the end of the first half with their 49-yard connection. Green Bay tied the game in the third period before Thomas added the winning points with 31 seconds left in the quarter.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Bears by 5

                     CHI             GB
First Downs:         16              11
Rushes-yards:        53-201          31-82
Yards/rush:          3.8             2.6
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     7-12-97-0       9-25-189-2
Sacked-yards:        3-25            1-12
Net pass yards:      72              177
Net yards/pass:      4.8             6.8
Total net yards:     273             259
Total plays:         68 (77% run)    57 (54% run)  
Yards/play:          4.0             4.5
Fumbles-lost:        4-3             5-2
Turnovers:           3               4
Penalties-yards:     4-40            5-40

Attendance: 56,267

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John Hadl's third quarter 40-yard touchdown pass to Billy Johnson plus a fourth quarter defensive stand by the Oilers gave them their first win over the Falcons and snapped a six-game losing streak. The Falcons started a 74-yard drive with 9:07 left in the game, but Houston stopped them on downs at the Oilers' four-yard line with 1:18 left and ran out the clock for the win.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Oilers by 5

                     ATL             HOU
First Downs:         15              17
Rushes-yards:        36-118          40-159
Yards/rush:          3.3             4.0
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     10-19-181-2     18-26-212-1
Sacked-yards:        2-16            3-12
Net pass yards:      165             200
Net yards/pass:      7.9             6.9
Total net yards:     283             359
Total plays:         57 (63% run)    69 (57% run)  
Yards/play:          5.0             5.2
Fumbles-lost:        1-1             1-1
Turnovers:           3               2
Penalties-yards:     7-53            8-94

Attendance: 25,838

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Pat Haden passed for two touchdowns and scored another and Lawrence McCutcheon scored twice and picked up 119 yards rushing for his third 1,000-yard season in four years. Trailing 7-6, Los Angeles exploded for 20 second quarter points on a one-yard run by McCutcheon and Haden's touchdown passes of two yards to McCutcheon and four yards to Bob Klein. Chuck Muncie, who had 106 yards in the first quarter and 109 for the game, added to New Orleans' total with a third quarter touchdown, and Haden finished the scoring with a seven-yard run.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Rams by 14

                     NO              LA
First Downs:         18              25
Rushes-yards:        23-116          49-323
Yards/rush:          5.0             6.6
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     11-30-169-2     17-27-160-1
Sacked-yards:        3-23            2-10
Net pass yards:      146             150
Net yards/pass:      4.4             5.2
Total net yards:     262             473
Total plays:         56 (41% run)    78 (62% run)  
Yards/play:          4.7             6.1
Fumbles-lost:        3-2             2-2
Turnovers:           4               3
Penalties-yards:     7-65            12-107

Attendance: 54,906

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Don Calhoun rushed for 177 yards, his third 100-yard game of the season, and Mike Haynes returned one punt for a touchdown and set up a score with another return as the Patriots picked up their first victory over the Broncos since 1968. Steve Grogan accounted for the first two New England touchdowns on a one-yard run and a three-yard pass to Al Chandler while Haynes returned a punt 62 yards for the next TD and set up Andy Johnson's one-yard scoring run for a 31-0 halftime lead with a 36-yard punt return. The Patriots' defense sacked Steve Ramsey nine times and picked off three of his passes.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Patriots by 4

                     DEN             NE
First Downs:         12              25
Rushes-yards:        13-44           62-332
Yards/rush:          3.4             5.4
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     15-34-204-3     8-14-84-1
Sacked-yards:        9-59            1-2
Net pass yards:      145             82
Net yards/pass:      3.4             5.5
Total net yards:     189             414
Total plays:         56 (23% run)    77 (80% run)  
Yards/play:          3.4             5.4
Fumbles-lost:        0-0             1-1
Turnovers:           3               2
Penalties-yards:     6-52            3-25

Attendance: 61,128

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Gordon Bell sandwiched second and third quarter touchdown runs between a pair of Craig Morton TD passes as the Giants picked up their second win in the last three starts. New York spotted the Seahawks a 9-0 lead before Morton ignited the Giants' offense with a 71-yard scoring drive climaxed with a three-yard touchdown pass to Gary Shirk. Bell got his first score five plays after John Mendenhall picked off a Seattle pass at the Seahawks' 20, and the rookie later scored the winning touchdown with a 21-yard run as New York drove downfield with the second half kickoff.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Giants by 10

                     SEA             NYG
First Downs:         15              20
Rushes-yards:        35-128          45-164
Yards/rush:          3.7             3.6
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     14-32-137-3     15-21-169-2
Sacked-yards:        3-21            5-54
Net pass yards:      116             115
Net yards/pass:      3.3             4.4
Total net yards:     244             279
Total plays:         70 (50% run)    71 (63% run)  
Yards/play:          3.5             3.9
Fumbles-lost:        1-0             2-2
Turnovers:           3               4
Penalties-yards:     9-60            6-57

Attendance: 65,111

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Ken Stabler passed for 245 yards and two third quarter touchdowns while Mark van Eeghen scored two touchdowns in the first half in leading the Raiders to their highest point total since 1969. Ed Williams scored on a two-yard run as the Buccaneers tied the game 7-7 after Curtis Jordan recovered Neal Colzie's fumble, but Oakland picked up two scores on van Eeghen's second TD and a two-yard run by Pete Banaszak for a 21-10 halftime lead. Stabler opened the second half with touchdown passes to Warren Bankston and Cliff Branch, then gave way to Mike Rae who combined with Mike Siani for a 37-yard touchdown for the final score.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Raiders by 23

                     TB              OAK
First Downs:         16              28
Rushes-yards:        29-111          42-179
Yards/rush:          3.8             4.3
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     13-30-151-2     19-31-317-1
Sacked-yards:        5-44            1-10
Net pass yards:      107             307
Net yards/pass:      3.1             9.6
Total net yards:     218             486
Total plays:         64 (45% run)    74 (56% run)  
Yards/play:          3.4             6.6
Fumbles-lost:        1-1             3-2
Turnovers:           3               3
Penalties-yards:     3-18            10-55

Attendance: 49,990

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Ed Podolak's 127-yard, two-touchdown performance plus Jan Stenerud's three field goals overcame three TD passes by Dan Fouts as the Chiefs took their sixth straight win over the Chargers in San Diego. Podolak tied the game in the first quarter on a five-yard run after Fouts opened the scoring with a three-yard pass to Don Woods. Stenerud chipped in for the next three Kansas City scores and a 16-13 lead. Podolak gave the Chiefs their final points with 5:14 left in the game on another five-yard burst up the middle to cap a five-play, 84-yard drive, wiping out the Chargers' 20-16 lead.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Chargers by 4

                     KC              SD
First Downs:         20              24
Rushes-yards:        38-177          37-210
Yards/rush:          4.7             5.7
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     14-27-195-1     18-32-218-3
Sacked-yards:        2-4             3-28
Net pass yards:      191             190
Net yards/pass:      6.6             5.4
Total net yards:     368             400
Total plays:         67 (56% run)    72 (51% run)  
Yards/play:          5.5             5.6
Fumbles-lost:        1-1             1-1
Turnovers:           2               4
Penalties-yards:     3-15            4-27

Attendance: 29,272

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Billy Kilmer threw touchdown passes in each of the first three quarters and the Redskins' defense picked up its first shutout in 26 games as Washington moved into a second place tie with St. Louis, two games behind Dallas in the NFC East. A 43-yard punt return by Eddie Brown set up Kilmer's 41-yard touchdown pass to Frank Grant and Kilmer's second and third quarter TDs to Mike Thomas both came as a result of Eagles' fumbles recovered by Dennis Johnson. Thomas's 49 yards rushing gave him 1,003 for the season.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Redskins by 11

                     PHI             WAS
First Downs:         13              8
Rushes-yards:        32-88           38-87
Yards/rush:          2.8             2.3
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     14-35-143-2     10-18-119-0
Sacked-yards:        5-37            0-0
Net pass yards:      106             119
Net yards/pass:      2.6             6.6
Total net yards:     194             206
Total plays:         72 (44% run)    56 (67% run)  
Yards/play:          2.7             3.7
Fumbles-lost:        4-2             0-0
Turnovers:           4               0
Penalties-yards:     4-19            6-55

Attendance: 54,292

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