1977 Oakland Raiders season

Last updated

1977 Oakland Raiders season
Owner Al Davis
General managerAl Davis
Head coach John Madden
Home field Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record11–3
Division place2nd AFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(at Colts) 37–31 (2OT)
Lost AFC Championship
(at Broncos) 17–20
The Raiders playing the Broncos in the 1977-78 AFC Championship Game. 1986 Jeno's Pizza - 47 - Randy Gradishar.jpg
The Raiders playing the Broncos in the 1977-78 AFC Championship Game.

The 1977 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 18th season overall, and 8th season since joining the NFL. The Raiders entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champions. The team could not match its 13-1 record from 1976 and finished 11-3, which was only good enough for second place in the AFC West next to the Denver Broncos, who won 12 games (the two split victories over each other in the regular season).

Contents

The Raiders reached the AFC Championship Game for the fifth consecutive season, and their sixth in eight years. They lost the AFC Championship, however, to the division rival Denver Broncos. [1] This marked the seventh time in ten seasons that the Raiders' season ended one game short of the Super Bowl. They did not return to the AFC Championship for the next two seasons.

The 1977 Raiders set a professional football record with 681 rushing attempts. [2] Fullback Mark van Eeghen 324 times for 1273 yards, and running back Clarence Davis ran 194 times for 787 yards. [3]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1977 Oakland Raiders Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollege
235 Mike Davis DB Colorado
256 Ted McKnight RB Minnesota-Duluth
4112 Mickey Marvin OG Tennessee
5126 Lester Hayes DB Texas A&M
5139 Jeff Barnes LB California
7190 Rich Martini WR California-Davis
8223 Terry Robiskie RB Louisiana State
12317 Rod Martin LB Southern California
12334 Rolf Benirschke PKCalifornia-Davis

Roster

1977 Oakland Raiders roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 18 San Diego Chargers W 24–01–0 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 51,022
2September 25at Pittsburgh Steelers W 16–72–0 Three Rivers Stadium 50,398
3October 3at Kansas City Chiefs W 37–283–0 Arrowhead Stadium 60,684
4October 9at Cleveland Browns W 26–104–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,236
5October 16 Denver Broncos L 7–304–1Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum53,616
6October 23at New York Jets W 28–275–1 Shea Stadium 56,734
7October 30at Denver Broncos W 24–146–1 Mile High Stadium 75,007
8November 6 Seattle Seahawks W 44–77–1Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum50,929
9November 13 Houston Oilers W 34–298–1Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum53,667
10November 20at San Diego Chargers L 7–128–2 San Diego Stadium 50,887
11November 28 Buffalo Bills W 34–139–2Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum51,558
12December 4at Los Angeles Rams L 14–209–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 67,075
13December 11 Minnesota Vikings W 35–1310–3Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum52,771
14December 18 Kansas City Chiefs W 21–2011–3Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum50,304
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Results

Week 1

Quarter1234Total
Chargers00000
Raiders7107024

at Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California

  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C) (24.4 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
  • Box Score

Week 2

1234Total
• Raiders090716
Steelers00077
Scoring summary
2OAK Errol Mann 21 yard field goalRaiders 3–0
2OAKErrol Mann 40 yard field goalRaiders 6–0
2OAKErrol Mann 41 yard field goalRaiders 9–0
4OAK Mark van Eeghen 8 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 16–0
4PIT Bennie Cunningham 43 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick)Raiders 16–7

[4]

Week 3

1234Total
• Raiders7621337
Chiefs0210728
Scoring summary
1OAK Fred Biletnikoff 21 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann) kickRaiders 7–0
2OAKErrol Mann 42 yard field goalRaiders 10–0
2KC Walter White 48 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick)Raiders 10–7
2KCWalter White 1 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick)Chiefs 14–10
2KC Henry Marshall 41 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick)Chiefs 21–10
2OAKErrol Mann 34 yard field goalChiefs 21–13
3OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Chiefs 21–20
3OAK Clarence Davis 37 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 27–21
3OAKClarence Davis 2 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 34–21
4KC Lawrence Williams 13 yard run (Jan Stenerud kick)Raiders 34–28
4OAKErrol Mann 22 yard field goalRaiders 37–28

[5]

Week 6

1234Total
• Raiders14001428
Jets13140027
Scoring summary
Q1OAK Mark van Eeghen 3 yard run (Errol Mann kick)OAK 7–0
Q1NYJ Jerome Barkum 18 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick)Tie 7–7
Q1OAK Dave Casper 19 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)OAK 14–7
Q1NYJ Wesley Walker 87 yard pass from Richard Todd (kick failed)OAK 14–13
Q2NYJ Rich Caster 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick)NYJ 20–14
Q2NYJ Clark Gaines 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick)NYJ 27–14
Q4OAK Fred Biletnikoff 7 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)NYJ 27–21
Q4OAK Mike Siani 24 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)OAK 28–27

[6]

Week 11

1234Total
Bills373013
• Raiders13714034
Scoring summary
1OAK Cliff Branch 28 yard pass from Ken Stabler (kick failed)Raiders 6–0
1BUFCarson Long 33 yard field goalRaiders 6–3
1OAK Fred Biletnikoff 44 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 13–3
2BUF John Kimbrough 29 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Carson Long kick)Raiders 13–10
2OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 20–10
3BUFCarson Long 40 yard field goalRaiders 20–13
3OAKCliff Branch 12 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 27–13
3OAKPete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 34–13

[7]

Week 13

Oakland capitalizing on Minnesota mistakes, scored three times in the first 8 minutes and kept their hopes for a playoff berth alive. "We Got Stomped", Vikings coach Bud Grant said after his team had lost a total of five fumbles and had three passes intercepted. Ken Stabler threw three touchdown passes one to Carl Garrett for 2 yards, and two others to Cliff Branch from 32 and 10 yards. Mark Van Eeghan who rushed for 112 yards on 28 yards got the Raiders day going with a 2-yard touchdown run. While Willie Hall of Super Bowl XI fame scored a fumble recovery touchdown off a Tommy Kramer blunder.

Standings

AFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Denver Broncos (1)1220.8576–111–1274148L1
Oakland Raiders (4)1130.7865–210–2351230W2
San Diego Chargers 770.5003–46–6222205L2
Seattle Seahawks 590.3571–34–9282373W2
Kansas City Chiefs 2120.1431–61–11225349L6

Playoffs

Oakland made the playoffs as a wild card and won its divisional round game against the Baltimore Colts when Errol Mann tied the game with a late field goal, set up by a pass to tight end Dave Casper, a play known as the Ghost to the Post. In the second overtime, Casper caught another touchdown pass for the victory. [8] [9] [10] The following week on New Year's Day, they lost the AFC Championship Game 20–17 in Denver. [1] [11] [12] [13]

RoundDateOpponentResultAttendance
DivisionalDecember 24at Baltimore Colts W 37–312OT
60,763
AFC ChampionshipJanuary 1at Denver Broncos L 17–20
74,982

Statistics

Passing

PlayerCompAttYardsTDINT
Ken Stabler16929421762020

[14]

Rushing

PlayerAttYardsTD
Ken Stabler3−3–

[14]

Receiving

PlayerRecYardsTD
Dave Casper485846
Cliff Branch335406
Fred Biletnikoff334465

[14]

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References

  1. 1 2 Jenkins, Dan (January 9, 1978). "Wholly Moses for Denver". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1978 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending Rushing Att
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1977 Oakland Raiders
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  5. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  6. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Mar-10.
  7. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  8. ↑ Reid, Ron (January 2, 1978). "The Ghost to the Post". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
  9. ↑ Livingston, Pat (December 25, 1977). "Oakland stops Baltimore, 37-31". Pittsburgh Press. p. D1.
  10. ↑ "Suddenly, the Raiders win a 37-31 decision". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. December 25, 1977. p. 3C.
  11. ↑ "Broncos turn a dream into Super reality". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. January 2, 1978. p. 1B.
  12. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  13. ↑ Howitt, Bruce (January 2, 1978). "Denver and Dallas in Super shoot-out". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 1B.
  14. 1 2 3 Pro-Football-Reference.com
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