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| 1996 Yards per Game (NFL rank) - 1996 Record: 6-10 (fourth) |
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Rushing | Passing | Total |
| OFFENSE | 99.3 (22) | 170.4 (29) | 269.8 (28) |
| DEFENSE | 118.1 (22) | 182.8 (4) | 300.9 (11) |
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A Losing Streak with a Silver Lining |
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When Tony Dungy began his NFL head coaching career with five consecutive losses, including a 34-3 defeat by Green Bay in the 1996 regular-season opener, he joined some prestigious company. In 1954 Baltimore's Weeb Ewbank, the only head coach to win league championships in both the NFL and the AFL, began his career with an even more lopsided loss: His Colts fell 48-0 to the Los Angeles Rams. Six future Super Bowl coaches began their careers with losing streaks comparable to or longer than Dungy's.
Super Bowl Coaches Whose Careers
Began with Long Losing Streaks |
| Coach | Team | Streak | Streak breaker | First Super Bowl season |
| Tom Landry | 1960 Cowboys | 0-10 | Giants, 31-31 | 1970 |
| Jimmy Johnson | 1989 Cowboys | 0-8 | Redskins,13-3 | 1992 |
| Bill Walsh | 1979 49ers | 0-7 | Falcons, 20-15 | 1981 |
| Joe Gibbs | 1981 Redskins | 0-5 | Bears, 24-7 | 1982 |
| Bud Grant | 1967 Vikings | 0-4 | Packers, 10-7 | 1969 |
| Bobby Ross | 1992 Chargers | 0-4 | Seahawks,17-6 | 1994 |
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