23rd season in franchise history; final playoff appearance in Baltimore
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]
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 [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] Personnel [ edit ] 1977 Baltimore Colts staff Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Defensive coaches Special teams coaches
Special Teams – George Boutselis
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 [ edit ] Schedule [ edit ] Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue 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 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 at Miami Dolphins L 6–17 9–3 Miami 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 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 7 7 5 10 29 Seahawks 0 7 0 7 14
Date: September 18Location: Kingdome , Seattle Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: Indoors (dome) Scoring summary Q1 BAL McCauley 6 yard run (Linhart kick)BAL 7–0 Q2 SEA Testerman 1 yard pass from Zorn (Leypoldt kick)Tie 7–7 Q2 BAL Leaks 10 yard run (Linhart kick)BAL 14–7 Q3 BAL Safety, Nettles blocked punt out of end zone BAL 16–7 Q3 BAL Linhart 38 yard field goal BAL 19–7 Q4 BAL Linhart 42 yard field goal BAL 22–7 Q4 SEA Beamon 17 yard blocked punt return (Leypoldt kick)BAL 22–14 Q4 BAL Carr 21 yard pass from Jones (Linhart kick)BAL 29–14
[10]
Week 2 at Jets [ edit ] Week Two: Baltimore Colts (1–0) at New York Jets (0–1)
Period 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 7 7 6 0 20 Jets 0 3 0 9 12
at Giants Stadium , East Rutherford, New Jersey
Date : September 25Game time : 1:00 p.m. ESTGame weather : 55 °F or 12.8 °CGame attendance : 43,439[11]
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
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)
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
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)
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)
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
1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 3 0 0 3 • Colts 3 0 0 7 10
Date: 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
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
Week 10 [ edit ] 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) Scoring summary 1 NYJ Pat Leahy 24-yard field goalJets 3–0 1 BAL Raymond Chester 53-yard pass from Bert Jones (kick failed)Colts 6–3 2 BAL Toni Linhart 30-yard field goalColts 9–3 2 BAL Toni Linhart 31-yard field goal Colts 12–3 2 BAL Glenn Doughty 33-yard pass from Bert Jones (Toni Linhart kick)Colts 19–3 3 NYJ Pat Leahy 22-yard field goal Colts 19–6 3 BAL Lydell Mitchell 28-yard pass from Bert Jones (Toni Linhart kick)Colts 26–6 4 NYJ Jerome Barkum 18-yard pass from Matt Robinson (Pat Leahy kick)Colts 26–12 4 BAL Robert Pratt 21-yard fumble return (Toni Linhart kick)Colts 33–12
[12]
Week 11 [ edit ] 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
Week 12 [ edit ] 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
Week 13 [ edit ] 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
Week 14 [ edit ] 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
Standings [ edit ] Playoffs [ edit ] 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.[13] 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.[14] [15]
Divisional [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 OT Total • Raiders 7 0 14 10 6 37 Colts 0 10 7 14 0 31
Date: December 24Location: 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
See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] ^ "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 . Retrieved November 20, 2014 . ^ "Baltimore Colts at Seattle Seahawks — September 18th, 1977" . Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 24, 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. External links [ edit ]
Franchise Stadiums Culture Lore Rivalries Division championships (16) Conference championships (7) League championships (5) Retired numbers Media Current league affiliations
Played in Baltimore (1953–1983)