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23rd season in franchise history; final playoff appearance in Baltimore
The 1977 Baltimore Colts season 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. They would not make the playoffs again, or have a winning season, until ten years later in 1987 , by which time the team moved to Indianapolis . As well, it would be the franchise's last playoff appearance in a non-strike year until 1995 , and the team's last 10-win season until 1999 , Peyton Manning 's 2nd season. A Baltimore-based NFL team would not make the playoffs until the Ravens in 2000 , winners of Super Bowl XXXV .
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] 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
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 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
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
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]
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
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
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
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 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] [ 14] [ 15]
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 . 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.
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)
