1977 Chicago Bears season

The 1977 Chicago Bears season was their 58th regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 9–5 record, which was their first winning season since 1967 and earned them a wild card spot against the Dallas Cowboys, who eventually beat the Bears en route to a Super Bowl victory. This was their first postseason appearance since winning the 1963 championship. They secured this by winning their last six games, including among others the last of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ record run of twenty-six losses.

1977 Chicago Bears season
OwnerGeorge Halas
Head coachJack Pardee
General managerJim Finks
Home fieldSoldier Field
Results
Record9–5
Division place2nd NFC Central
Playoff finishLost Divisional playoffs (Cowboys) 7–37

Walter Payton was the star of the team as he led the entire NFL in rushing (1,852 yards), 275 of those 1,852 came on a November 20 game against their division rivals the Minnesota Vikings and he did it despite coming down with the flu and a dark rainy day at Soldier Field.

A week after the Dallas playoff loss, Coach Pardee stunned the team by resigning to take the head coaching position of the Washington Redskins (George Allen having been fired after the Redskins were eliminated from the playoffs by a Bears overtime victory over the New York Giants in the last game of the regular season).

Offseason

Roster
1977 Chicago Bears final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists



Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 18, 1977 Detroit Lions W 30–20
51,530
2 September 25, 1977 at St. Louis Cardinals L 13–16
49,878
3 October 2, 1977 New Orleans Saints L 24–42
51,488
4 October 10, 1977 Los Angeles Rams W 24–23
51,412
5 October 16, 1977 at Minnesota Vikings L 16–22
47,708
6 October 23, 1977 Atlanta Falcons L 10–16
49,407
7 October 30, 1977 at Green Bay Packers W 26–0
56,002
8 November 6, 1977 at Houston Oilers L 0–47
47,226
9 November 13, 1977 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–27
49,543
10 November 20, 1977 Minnesota Vikings W 10–7
49,563
11 November 24, 1977 at Detroit Lions W 31–14
71,373
12 December 4, 1977 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 10–0
48,948
13 December 11, 1977 Green Bay Packers W 21–10
33,557
14 December 18, 1977 at New York Giants W 12–9 (OT)
50,152

Playoffs
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Divisional December 26, 1977 at Dallas Cowboys L 7–37
62,920

Week 1
1 234Total
Lions 7 337 20
• Bears 7 2003 30

[1]

Week 4
1 234Total
Rams 13 307 23
• Bears 7 7010 24

[2]

Week 10
1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 0 707
Bears 0 10 0010

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Game information

Week 11
1 234Total
• Bears 0 01714 31
Lions 0 707 14

[3]

Standings
NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings(3) 9 5 0 .643 6–1 8–4 231 227 W1
Chicago Bears(4) 9 5 0 .643 6–1 8–4 255 253 W6
Detroit Lions 6 8 0 .429 2–5 4–8 183 252 L1
Green Bay Packers 4 10 0 .286 2–5 4–7 134 219 W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2 12 0 .143 0–4 2–11 103 223 W2

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff
Dallas Cowboys 37, Chicago Bears 7
1 2 34Total
Bears 0 0 077
Cowboys 7 10 17337

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

Safety Charlie Waters led the Cowboys to a 37–7 victory by setting an NFL playoff record of 3 interceptions. Dallas built a 17–0 halftime lead, with the aid of running back Doug Dennison’s 2-yard touchdown run and quarterback Roger Staubach’s 28-yard scoring pass to tight end Billy Joe Dupree. In the second half, running back Tony Dorsett recorded two rushing touchdowns and Efren Herrera added two more field goals. The Bears were limited to 224 total yards and did not score until the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.

Awards and records
  • Walter Payton, NFL MVP
  • Walter Payton, led NFL in rushing (1,852 yards)
  • Walter Payton, Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player
  • Walter Payton, Led NFL in Total Yards, (2,216)

References
  1. Pro-Football-Reference.com
  2. Pro-Football-Reference.com
  3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-27.
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