1977 NFL season

The Cowboys playing against the Broncos in Super Bowl XII
Regular season
Duration	September 18 – December 18, 1977
Playoffs
Start date	December 24, 1977
AFC Champions	Denver Broncos
NFC Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl XII
Date	January 15, 1978
Site	Louisiana Superdome,New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Dallas Cowboys
Pro Bowl
Date	January 23, 1978
Site	Tampa Stadium,Tampa, Florida
←1976 NFL seasons 1978 →

Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Browns

Oilers

Steelers

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

Seahawks

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AFC teams: West, Central, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Cardinals

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Buccaneers

Falcons

Rams

Saints

49ers

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NFC teams: West, Central, East

The1977 NFL season was the 58thregular season of theNational Football League. The two second-year expansion teams switched conferences, with theSeattle Seahawks moving from theNFC West to theAFC West, and theTampa Bay Buccaneers transferring from theAFC West to theNFC Central.

Instead of atraditional Thanksgiving Day game hosted by theDallas Cowboys, the league scheduled aMiami Dolphins atSt. Louis Cardinals contest. This would be only the second season since 1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday. It marked the last time that the Cowboys did not play on Thanksgiving.

This was the last NFL regular season with 14 games. The regular season was expanded to 16 games in1978, with the preseason reduced from six games to four. It was also the final season of the eight-team playoff field in the NFL, before going to ten the following season.

The 1977 season is considered the last season of the "Dead Ball Era" of professional football (1970 to 1977). The 17.2 average points scored per team per game was the lowest since1942, and it was the only post-merger NFL season where no player surpassed 1,000 receiving yards. For 1978, the league made significant changes to allow greater offensive production.^[1]

The season ended withSuper Bowl XII when the Cowboys defeated theDenver Broncos 27-10.

• May 2, 1977:Earl Morrall, the oldest player on the1972 Miami Dolphins championship roster announced his retirement from professional football.^[2]

The1977 NFL draft was held from May 3 to 4, 1977, atNew York City'sRoosevelt Hotel. With the first pick, theTampa Bay Buccaneers selected running backRicky Bell from theUniversity of Southern California.

Tommy Bell retired after the1976 season. His line judge,Jerry Markbreit (an NFL rookie in 1976), was named his successor. Bell worked twoSuper Bowls,III andVII. Markbreit would work four Super Bowls, and is (as of 2025) the only referee to achieve this.

• The head slap is outlawed.^[3] This change is referred to as the "Deacon Jones Rule"; theLos Angeles Rams'defensive end frequently used this technique.
• Any shoe worn by a player with an artificial limb must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe.^[3] Informally referred to as the "Tom Dempsey Rule". Dempsey was a record-breaking placekicker whose modified shoe (having a flattened and enlarged toe area) on his deformed kicking foot generated controversy during his career.
• Defenders are only permitted to make contact with receivers once.
• Defenders are not allowed to make contact with an opponent above the shoulders with the palms of their hands, except to ward him off the line.
• Offensive linemen are not allowed to thrust their hands to a defender's neck, face, or head.
• Wide receivers are not allowed to clip defenders.
• This was the first season in which time of possession was recorded.

• October 17 -Cal Hubbard, age 76. Former Offensive and Defensive Tackle for theNew York Giants,Green Bay Packers andPittsburgh Steelers. Elected to the hall of fame in 1963. Also an umpire in theAmerican League from 1936-51, and an AL supervisor from 1952-69.
• November 18 -Davey O'Brien, age 60. Played tailback and quarterback for thePhiladelphia Eagles from 1939-1940. 1938 Heisman Trophy winner. Award for best college quarterback is named for him.

Tampa Bay and Seattle continued as "swing" teams that did not participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, two or three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14-game schedule against other conference teams. Tampa Bay switched to the NFC and played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the AFC. The teams met inWeek Five, with Seattle winning 30–23.

Starting in1970, and through2001, except for thestrike-shortened1982 season, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. This was the final season in which the winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.

National Football Conference

* other teams with same W-L record

American Football Conference

* other teams with same W-L record

Highlights of the 1977 season included:

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 24:

1. The first featuredChicago atDetroit. Chicago would prevail by a 31–14 final margin
2. In the second the Miami Dolphins visited St. Louis to play the Cardinals, defeating them by a 55–14 mark. Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese would throw for six touchdown passes,^[4] while the Dolphins would set a franchise record for most points scored in one game with 55(which was broken when they scored 70 points against the Denver Broncos on September 24th, 2023).^[5] Of note, the Dolphins would score eight touchdowns and accumulate 34 first downs.

• Baltimore finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better conference record (9–3 to Dolphins' 8–4).
• N.Y. Jets finished ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (1 point).
• Houston finished ahead of Cincinnati in the AFC Central based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (2 points).
• Minnesota finished ahead of Chicago in the NFC Central based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (3 points).
• Chicago won the NFC Wild Card over Washington based on better net points in conference games (48 to Redskins' 4).
• Philadelphia finished ahead of N.Y. Giants in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).

* The Denver Broncos (the AFC 1 seed) did not play the Oakland Raiders (the 4 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.
** Indicates double overtime victory

• Atlanta Falcons:Leeman Bennett was named permanent head coach.Marion Campbell was fired after a 1-4 start to the 1976 season. General managerPat Peppler served as interim for the rest of that season.
• Buffalo Bills:Jim Ringo was named permanent head coach. He was named interim head coach whenLou Saban resigned after the fifth game of the 1976 season.
• Denver Broncos:John Ralston was replaced byRed Miller.
• Detroit Lions:Tommy Hudspeth began his first full season as head coach. He replacedRick Forzano, who left after the team lost three of its first four games in 1976.
• New York Giants:John McVay began his first season as head coach. He replacedBill Arnsparger, who was fired after the team lost its first seven games in 1976.
• New York Jets:Walt Michaels became the Jets' new head coach.Lou Holtz resigned prior to the last game of the 1976 season, andMike Holovak served as interim for the team's final game.
• San Francisco 49ers:Ken Meyer replaced the firedMonte Clark.

• Cleveland Browns:Forrest Gregg was fired before the last game of the season. Defensive coordinatorDick Modzelewski served as interim during the team's final game.
• Kansas City Chiefs: After an 0–5 start,Paul Wiggin was fired. Defensive backs coachTom Bettis was named interim.

• TheBuffalo Bills changed from gray to blue face masks.
• ThePittsburgh Steelers changed from gray to black facemasks.
• TheTampa Bay Buccaneers changed the color scheme of the numbers on their white jerseys. In 1976, the numbers were orange with red trim; in 1977, they became red with orange trim to increase visibility.

This was the fourth and final year under the league's broadcast contracts withABC,CBS, andNBC to televiseMonday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. All three networks renewed their deals for another four years.Don Meredith returned to ABC after spending three seasons at NBC, whileAlex Karras returned to his acting career.John Brodie was promoted to replace Meredith as NBC's lead color commentator, whileMerlin Olsen replaced Brodie on the network's #2 team. NBC also renamed its pregame show, referring to it asNFL '77 to start and updating the program's title every new season.^[6]

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1971–1980 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
• 1977 Regular season StandingsArchived September 27, 2020, at theWayback Machine (Last accessed April 24, 2014)

• 1977 NFL season
• NFL seasons
• 1977 in American football

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