1977 Atlanta Falcons season

1977 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
Head coach	Leeman Bennett
General manager	Eddie LeBaron
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	7–7
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	CB Rolland Lawrence DE Claude Humphrey P John James
← 1976 Falcons seasons 1978 →

The 1977 Atlanta Falcons season was the team's 12th year in the National Football League. The team finished the season 7–7, and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Although the Falcons' offense struggled, the defense – nicknamed "Grits Blitz" – was dominant.^[1] The Falcons' 129 points allowed led the league and established an all-time NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 14-game NFL season.^[2] Atlanta's 3,242 total yards allowed were second-fewest in the league,^[3] and the Falcons' 1,384 passing yards allowed was by far the best in the NFL in 1977.^[4] The defense surrendered only 9.2 points per game; as of the 2020 season, this remains an all-time record.^[5]

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

1977 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	6	Warren Bryant	Offensive tackle	Kentucky
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[6]

Personnel[]

Staff[]

1977 Atlanta Falcons staff

	Front office Chairman of the Board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Rankin M. Smith, Jr. General Manager – Eddie LeBaron Director of Player Personnel – Tom Braatz Head coaches Head Coach – Leeman Bennett Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Ted Plumb Offensive Backs – John North Offensive Line – Bill Walsh			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Jim Champion Linebackers – Doug Shively Defensive Backs – Jerry Glanville

Roster[]

1977 Atlanta Falcons final roster

	Quarterbacks 10 Steve Bartkowski 14 June Jones 11 Kim McQuilken Running backs 46 Monroe Eley 26 Mike Esposito 41 Secdrick McIntyre 24 Haskel Stanback 48 Woody Thompson FB Wide receivers 80 Karl Farmer 89 Wallace Francis 84 Alfred Jenkins 82 Billy Ryckman Tight ends 88 Greg McCrary 86 Jim Mitchell		Offensive linemen 61 Brent Adams T 66 Warren Bryant T 73 Phil McKinnely T 53 Paul Ryczek C 70 Dave Scott G 68 R.C. Thielemann G 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen 72 Jim Bailey DT 74 Wilson Faumuina DT 77 Edgar Fields DT 87 Claude Humphrey DE 69 Mike Lewis DT 75 Jeff Merrow DE 79 Jeff Yeates DE		Linebackers 50 Greg Brezina 56 Ron McCartney 52 Dewey McClain 55 Ralph Ortega 51 Andy Spiva 59 Robert Pennywell Defensive backs 34 Ray Brown S 38 Rick Byas CB 32 Ray Easterling FS 22 Rolland Lawrence CB 45 Tom Moriarty S 28 Frank Reed SS Special teams 6 John James P 12 Nick Mike-Mayer K 1 Fred Steinfort K		Reserve lists 44 Bubba Bean RB (IR) 16 Scott Hunter QB (IR) 54 Fulton Kuykendall LB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 18	Los Angeles Rams	W 17–6	55,956
2	September 25	at Washington Redskins	L 6–10	55,031
3	October 2	New York Giants	W 17–3	46,374
4	October 9	at San Francisco 49ers	W 7–0	38,009
5	October 16	at Buffalo Bills	L 0–3	27,348
6	October 23	at Chicago Bears	W 16–10	49,407
7	October 30	Minnesota Vikings	L 7–14	59,257
8	November 6	San Francisco 49ers	L 3–10	46,577
9	November 13	Detroit Lions	W 17–6	47,461
10	November 20	at New Orleans Saints	L 20–21	43,135
11	November 27	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–0	43,592
12	December 4	New England Patriots	L 10–16	57,911
13	December 11	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–23	52,574
14	December 18	New Orleans Saints	W 35–7	36,895

Game Summaries[]

Week 4[]

• Date: October 9
• Television: CBS
• Announcers: Don Criqui, Tom Matte

The Atlanta Falcons, with the NFL's leading defensive unit, have now allowed just 19 points in four games while climbing to the top of the NFC West with a 3-1 record. A 39-yard touchdown pass from Scott Hunter to Alfred Jenkins was the only score in the game and was set up when Edgar Fields blocked a punt by San Francisco's Tom Wittum.

Standings[]

NFC West
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams(2)	10	4	0	.714	4–2	8–4	302	146	L1
Atlanta Falcons	7	7	0	.500	3–3	7–5	179	129	W1
San Francisco 49ers	5	9	0	.357	3–3	5–7	220	260	L3
New Orleans Saints	3	11	0	.214	2–4	3–9	232	336	L4

Defensive legacy[]

Arguably the most famous personality on the 1977 Falcons was defensive assistant Jerry Glanville, who installed in a swarming style of play in Atlanta remembered as the "Grits Blitz" defense. Football analytics site Cold Hard Football Facts calls the 1977 Falcons "the stingiest defense of the Super Bowl Era" and "the stingiest defense since World War II."^[7] Atlanta surrendered just 9.2 points-per-game, or a total of 129 points in the 14-game season (both all-time records). Against the Falcons, teams scored 7 or fewer points in half (7) of the games, and scored more than 16 points only twice. Atlanta's defense intercepted 26 passes, allowed just nine touchdown passes, and recovered 22 fumbles.^[8]

Despite its status as the stingiest defense since the 1944 New York Giants, the Falcons sent only two defenders to the Pro Bowl in 1977: cornerback Rolland Lawrence and defensive end Claude Humphrey. The 1976 Falcons possessed one of the worst defenses in the league (22.3 PPG) and largely fell apart in 1978 (18.1 PPG), therefore making the 1977 defense a "one-hit wonder".

Awards and records[]

Milestones[]

• Jerry Glanville's "Grits Blitz" defense set the NFL record for fewest points allowed per game since the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger (129 points on a 14-game schedule, an average of 9.2 per game).

References[]

External links[]

• 1977 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com