23rd season in franchise history; final playoff appearance in Baltimore
The1977 Baltimore Colts season National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coachTed Marchibroda , the Colts finished with 10 wins and 4 losses, tied for first in theAFC East division with theMiami Dolphins . The Colts had the tiebreaker over Miami based on better conference record (9–3 to 8–4), and the Dolphins missed theplayoffs .[ 1] [ 2]
This was the final playoff appearance for the Colts as a Baltimore-based franchise. They would not make the playoffs again, or have a winning season, until ten years later in1987 , by which time the team moved toIndianapolis . As well, it would be the franchise's last playoff appearance in a non-strike year until1995 , and the team's last 10-win season until1999 ,Peyton Manning 's 2nd season. A Baltimore-based NFL team would not make the playoffs until theRavens in2000 , winners ofSuper Bowl XXXV .
Colts' ownerRobert Irsay fired general managerJoe Thomas in January 1977, due to a power struggle he was having with head coachTed Marchibroda .[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] Dick Szymanski , who was the personnel director and a former scout.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8]
1977 Baltimore Colts staff Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Defensive coaches Special teams coaches
Special Teams – George Boutselis
Source: [ 9] Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 18 atSeattle Seahawks W 29–141–0 Kingdome 58,991 2 September 25 atNew York Jets W 20–122–0 Giants Stadium 43,439 3 October 2 Buffalo Bills W 17–143–0 Memorial Stadium 49,247 4 October 9 Miami Dolphins W 45–284–0 Memorial Stadium 57,829 5 October 16 atKansas City Chiefs W 17–65–0 Arrowhead Stadium 63,076 6 October 23 atNew England Patriots L 3–175–1 Schaefer Stadium 60,958 7 October 30 Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–216–1 Memorial Stadium 60,225 8 November 7 Washington Redskins W 10–37–1 Memorial Stadium 57,740 9 November 13 atBuffalo Bills W 31–138–1 Rich Stadium 39,444 10 November 20 New York Jets W 33–129–1 Memorial Stadium 50,957 11 November 27 atDenver Broncos L 13–279–2 Mile High Stadium 74,939 12 December 5 atMiami Dolphins L 6–179–3 Miami Orange Bowl 68,977 13 December 11 Detroit Lions L 10–139–4 Memorial Stadium 45,124 14 December 18 New England Patriots W 30–2410–4 Memorial Stadium 42,250 Note: Intra-division opponents are inbold text.
Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks [ edit ] Week One: Seattle Seahawks vs. Baltimore Colts – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 7 7 5 10 29 Seahawks 0 7 0 7 14
atKingdome ,Seattle
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
BAL –Safety ,Doug Nettles blocked punt out of end zone, 13:37 (BAL 16–7) BAL – Toni Linhart 38-yard field goal, 7:37 (BAL 19–7) Fourth quarter
BAL – Toni Linhart 42-yard field goal, 14:53 (BAL 22–7) SEA –Autry Beamon 17-yard blocked punt return (John Leypoldt kick), 9:32 (BAL 22–14) BAL –Roger Carr 21-yard pass fromBert Jones (Toni Linhart kick), 5:50 (BAL 29–14) Top passers
Top rushers
Top receivers
Team –pass –rush –total –to
BAL – 220 – 206 – 426 – 1 SEA – 151 – 104 – 255 – 4
Week Two: Baltimore Colts (1–0) at New York Jets (0–1)
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 7 7 6 0 20 Jets 0 3 0 9 12
atGiants Stadium ,East Rutherford, New Jersey
Date : September 25Game time : 1:00 p.m. ESTGame weather : 55 °F or 12.8 °CGame attendance : 43,439[ 10]
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
BAL –Don McCauley 2-yard run (Toni Linhart kick).Colts 14–0.Drive: NYJ –Pat Leahy 25-yard field goal.Colts 14–3.Drive: Third quarter
BAL – Don McCauley 1-yard run (Toni Linhart kick).Colts 21–3.Drive: Fourth quarter
NYJ – Safety,David Lee ran out of end zone.Colts 21–5. NYJ – Charlie White 1-yard run (Pat Leahy kick).Colts 21–12.Drive: Top passers Top rushers BAL –Lydell Mitchell – 26 rushes, 68 yards NYJ – Charlie White – 12 rushes, 36 yards, TD Top receivers
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 7 0 7 14 • Colts 0 10 0 7 17
Date: October 2Location: Memorial StadiumGame weather: 72 °F or 22.2 °C, relative humidity 73%, wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 14 14 0 0 28 • Colts 10 14 14 7 45
Date: October 9Location: Memorial StadiumGame weather: 63 °F or 17.2 °C, relative humidity 82%, wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn)Referee: Don Wedge
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 14 0 3 0 17 Chiefs 0 6 0 0 6
Date: October 16Location: Arrowhead Stadium Game weather: 46 °F or 7.8 °C, relative humidity 72%, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 0 3 0 3 • Patriots 7 0 10 0 17
Date: October 23Location: Sullivan Stadium Game weather: 51 °F or 10.6 °C, relative humidity 45%, wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn)
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 7 14 21 • Colts 3 14 7 7 31
Date: October 30Location: Memorial StadiumGame weather: 53 °F or 11.7 °C, relative humidity 54%, wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)Referee: Red Cashion
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 3 0 0 3 • Colts 3 0 0 7 10
Date: November 7 Location: Memorial StadiumGame weather: 61 °F or 16.1 °C, relative humidity 93%, wind 16 miles per hour (26 km/h; 14 kn)Television network: ABC
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 10 14 7 0 31 Bills 7 3 3 0 13
Date: November 13Location: Rich Stadium Game weather: 29 °F or −1.7 °C, relative humidity 82%, wind 13 miles per hour (21 km/h; 11 kn), wind chill 18 °F or −7.8 °CReferee: Gordon McCarter
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Jets 3 0 3 6 12 •Colts 6 13 7 7 33
Date: November 20Location: Memorial StadiumGame start: 1:00 p.m.EST Game weather: 43 °F or 6.1 °C • Wind 6 mph (10 km/h; 5 kn)
[ 11]
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 3 10 0 13 • Broncos 7 7 0 13 27
Date: November 27Location: Mile High Stadium Game weather: 40 °F or 4.4 °C, relative humidity 48%, wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn)Referee: Jim Tunney
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 6 0 0 0 6 • Dolphins 3 7 0 7 17
Date: December 5Location: Orange Bowl Game weather: 79 °F or 26.1 °C, relative humidity 78%, wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)Television network: ABC
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 0 3 0 10 13 Colts 0 0 3 7 10
Date: December 11Location: Memorial StadiumGame weather: 22 °F or −5.6 °C, relative humidity 45%, wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn), wind chill 11 °F or −11.7 °CReferee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS ): Tim Ryan ,Johnny Unitas
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Patriots 0 14 10 0 24 • Colts 0 3 13 14 30
Date: December 18Location: Memorial StadiumGame weather: 41 °F or 5 °C, relative humidity 81%, wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn)Referee: Fred Silva
Baltimore made it to theAFC playoffs as a No. 2 seed and hosted the defendingSuper Bowl championOakland 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 endDave Casper advanced the Raiders to the Baltimore 14-yard line, whereErrol Mann kicked the tying field goal to send the contest into overtime.[ 12] [ 13] [ 14]
Team 1 2 3 4 OT Total • Raiders 7 0 14 10 6 37 Colts 0 10 7 14 0 31
Date: Location: Memorial Stadium Game weather: 41 °F or 5 °C, relative humidity 56%, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)Referee: Dick Jorgensen
^ "Colts win a berth in playoffs" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. Associated Press. December 19, 1977. p. 1B.^ "Dolphins irate over blown call" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. UPI. December 19, 1977. p. 2B.^ "Colt GM Thomas fired" .Pittsburgh Press . UPI. January 21, 1977. p. C1.^ "Internal problems get Thomas fired" .Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . January 22, 1977. p. 7.^ "Colts dumping Joe Thomas" .Spokesman-Review . Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. January 22, 1977. p. 13.^ "Colts realign front office" .Pittsburgh Press . UPI. January 24, 1977. p. C6.^ "Shakeup underway in Baltimore" .Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . January 25, 1977. p. 12.^ "Baltimore shakeup continues" .Lewiston Morning Tribune . Idaho. Associated Press. January 25, 1977. p. 2B.^ "1977 Baltimore Colts starters and roster" .Pro-Football-Reference.com . RetrievedNovember 20, 2014 .^ "Baltimore Colts at New York Jets — September 25th, 1977" . Pro-Football-Reference.com.^ "New York Jets at Baltimore Colts — November 20th, 1977" . Pro-Football-Reference.com.^ Reid, Ron (January 2, 1978)."The Ghost to the Post" .Sports Illustrated . p. 12. ^ Livingston, Pat (December 25, 1977)."Oakland stops Baltimore, 37-31" .Pittsburgh Press . p. D1. ^ "Suddenly, the Raiders win a 37-31 decision" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. wire service reports. December 25, 1977. p. 3C.
Franchise Stadiums Culture Lore Rivalries Division championships (16) Conference championships (7) League championships (5) Retired numbers Media Current league affiliations
