1977 Baltimore Colts season

The 1977 Baltimore Colts season was the 25th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coach Ted Marchibroda, the Colts finished with 10 wins and 4 losses, tied for first in the AFC East division with the Miami Dolphins. The Colts had the tiebreaker over Miami based on better conference record (9–3 to 8–4), and the Dolphins missed the playoffs.[1][2]

1977 Baltimore Colts season
OwnerRobert Irsay
Head coachTed Marchibroda
General managerDick Szymanski
Home fieldMemorial Stadium
Results
Record10–4
Division placeT-1st AFC East
Playoff finishLost AFC Divisional
(Raiders) 31–37, 2OT
Pro BowlersT George Kunz
RB Lydell Mitchell
DT Mike Barnes
DE John Dutton
K Toni Linhart

This was the final playoff appearance for the Colts as a Baltimore-based franchise (their next came ten years later in 1987, by which time the team moved to Indianapolis). Baltimore's next playoff team was the Ravens in 2000, winners of Super Bowl XXXV.

Offseason

Colts' owner Robert Irsay fired general manager Joe Thomas in January 1977, due to a power struggle he was having with head coach Ted Marchibroda.[3][4][5] The new general manager was former Colts center Dick Szymanski, who was the personnel director and a former scout.[6][7][8]

NFL draft

1977 Baltimore Colts draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 26 Randy Burke  Wide Receiver Kentucky
2 53 Mike Ozdowski  Defensive end Virginia
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1977 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – George Boutselis

Roster

1977 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Source:[9]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance
1 September 18 at Seattle Seahawks W 29–14 1–0 Kingdome
58,991
2 September 25 at New York Jets W 20–12 2–0 Giants Stadium
43,439
3 October 2 Buffalo Bills W 17–14 3–0 Memorial Stadium
49,247
4 October 9 Miami Dolphins W 45–28 4–0 Memorial Stadium
57,829
5 October 16 at Kansas City Chiefs W 17–6 5–0 Arrowhead Stadium
63,076
6 October 23 at New England Patriots L 3–17 5–1 Schaefer Stadium
60,958
7 October 30 Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–21 6–1 Memorial Stadium
60,225
8 November 7 Washington Redskins W 10–3 7–1 Memorial Stadium
57,740
9 November 13 at Buffalo Bills W 31–13 8–1 Rich Stadium
39,444
10 November 20 New York Jets W 33–12 9–1 Memorial Stadium
50,957
11 November 27 at Denver Broncos L 13–27 9–2 Mile High Stadium
74,939
12 December 5 at Miami Dolphins L 6–17 9–3 Orange Bowl
68,977
13 December 11 Detroit Lions L 10–13 9–4 Memorial Stadium
45,124
14 December 18 New England Patriots W 30–24 10–4   Memorial Stadium
42,250

This was the seventeenth and last NFL regular season with 14 games: it was expanded to 16 games in 1978.

Week 1

1 234Total
Colts 7 7510 29
Seahawks 0 707 14
  • Date: September 18
  • Location: Kingdome, Seattle
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)

[10]

Week 2 at Jets

Week Two: Baltimore Colts (1–0) at New York Jets (0–1)
1 2 34Total
Colts 7 7 6020
Jets 0 3 0912

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: September 25
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C)
  • Game attendance: 43,439
  • Box Score

Week 3

1 234Total
Bills 0 707 14
Colts 0 1007 17
  • Date: October 2
  • Location: Memorial Stadium

Week 4

1 234Total
Dolphins 14 1400 28
Colts 10 14147 45
  • Date: October 9
  • Location: Memorial Stadium

Week 5

1 234Total
Colts 14 030 17
Chiefs 0 600 6

Week 6

1 234Total
Colts 0 030 3
Patriots 7 0100 17

Week 7

1 234Total
Steelers 0 0714 21
Colts 3 1477 31
  • Date: October 30
  • Location: Memorial Stadium

Week 8

1 234Total
Redskins 0 300 3
Colts 3 007 10
  • Date: November 7
  • Location: Memorial Stadium
  • Television network: ABC

Week 9

1 234Total
Colts 10 1470 31
Bills 7 330 13

Week 10

1 234Total
Jets 3 036 12
Colts 6 1377 33
  • Date: November 20
  • Location: Memorial Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 43 °F (6 °C) • Wind 6 mph (10 km/h; 5 kn)

[11]

Week 11

1 234Total
Colts 0 3100 13
Broncos 7 7013 27

Week 12

1 234Total
Colts 6 000 6
Dolphins 3 707 17
  • Date: December 5
  • Location: Orange Bowl
  • Television network: ABC

Week 13

1 234Total
Lions 0 3010 13
Colts 0 037 10

Week 14

1 234Total
Patriots 0 14100 24
Colts 0 31314 30
  • Date: December 18
  • Location: Memorial Stadium

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts(2) 10 4 0 .714 6–2 9–3 295 221 W1
Miami Dolphins 10 4 0 .714 6–2 8–4 313 197 W1
New England Patriots 9 5 0 .643 4–4 7–5 278 217 L1
New York Jets 3 11 0 .214 2–6 2–10 191 300 L2
Buffalo Bills 3 11 0 .214 2–6 2–10 160 313 L1

Playoffs

Baltimore made it to the AFC playoffs as a No. 2 seed and hosted the defending Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders in the divisional round. The Colts held a 31–28 lead with time running out, when the famous “Ghost to the Post” play to tight end Dave Casper advanced the Raiders to the Baltimore 14-yard line, where Errol Mann kicked the tying field goal to send the contest into overtime.[12] After the first overtime went scoreless, Casper caught a 10-yard touchdown pass 43 seconds into the period to win the game for the Raiders.[13][14]

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Venue Attendance
Divisional December 24 Oakland Raiders (4) L 31–372OT Memorial Stadium
60,763

Divisional

1 234OTTotal
Raiders 7 014106 37
Colts 0 107140 31

References

  1. "Colts win a berth in playoffs". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1977. p. 1B.
  2. "Dolphins irate over blown call". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. December 19, 1977. p. 2B.
  3. "Colt GM Thomas fired". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 21, 1977. p. C1.
  4. "Internal problems get Thomas fired". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 22, 1977. p. 7.
  5. "Colts dumping Joe Thomas". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 22, 1977. p. 13.
  6. "Colts realign front office". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 24, 1977. p. C6.
  7. "Shakeup underway in Baltimore". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 25, 1977. p. 12.
  8. "Baltimore shakeup continues". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. January 25, 1977. p. 2B.
  9. "1977 Baltimore Colts starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  10. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-24.
  11. Pro-Football-Reference.com
  12. Reid, Ron (January 2, 1978). "The Ghost to the Post". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
  13. Livingston, Pat (December 25, 1977). "Oakland stops Baltimore, 37-31". Pittsburgh Press. p. D1.
  14. "Suddenly, the Raiders win a 37-31 decision". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. December 25, 1977. p. 3C.

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.