NFL team season
The 1977 Denver Broncos season National Football League (NFL).
The team had by far its best season to date at 12–2, first in the AFC West , and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Broncos earned home field advantage, and won its first two playoff games (over perennial AFC powerhouses Pittsburgh [1] Oakland ). With the AFC Championship win over the Raiders on New Year's Day ,[2] Super Bowl XII , but fell 27–10 to the NFC champion Dallas Cowboys .[3]
Still, 1977 was a major leap for the Broncos, who had never won more than nine games in a season. Coach Red Miller , in his first season as the Broncos' head coach, was named NFL Coach of the Year . Quarterback Craig Morton , age 34, was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year . The Denver defense was known as the Orange Crush , which delighted the makers of the soft drink , based in Illinois .[4]
Denver's 1977 season is chronicled in Terry Frei's 2008 book, '77: Denver, the Broncos and a Coming of Age .
Denver's1977
Offseason [ ] NFL Draft [ ] Personnel [ ] Staff [ ]
1977 Denver Broncos staff
Front office
Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps
President –
Vice President/General Manager – Fred Gehrke
Director of Player Personnel – Carroll Hardy
Director of Pro Scouting – Doc Urich Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Quarterbacks – Babe Parilli
Offensive Backs – Paul Roach
Wide Receivers – Fran Polsfoot
Offensive Line – Ken Gray
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Roster [ ]
1977 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
Reserve lists
Practice squad
Rookies in italics
Regular season [ ] Schedule [ ]
Week
Date
Opponent
Result
Record
Game site
Attendance
1
September 18
St. Louis Cardinals
W 7–0
1–0
Mile High Stadium
75,002
2
September 25
Buffalo Bills
W 26–6
2–0
Mile High Stadium
74,897
3
October 2
at Seattle Seahawks
W 24–13
3–0
Kingdome
53,108
4
October 9
Kansas City Chiefs
W 23–7
4–0
Mile High Stadium
74,878
5
October 16
at Oakland Raiders
W 30–7
5–0
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
53,616
6
October 23
at Cincinnati Bengals
W 24–13
6–0
Riverfront Stadium
54,395
7
October 30
Oakland Raiders
L 14–24
6–1
Mile High Stadium
75,007
8
November 6
Pittsburgh Steelers
W 21–7
7–1
Mile High Stadium
74,967
9
November 13
at San Diego Chargers
W 17–14
8–1
San Diego Stadium
45,211
10
November 20
at Kansas City Chiefs
W 14–7
9–1
Arrowhead Stadium
54,050
11
November 27
Baltimore Colts
W 27–13
10–1
Mile High Stadium
74,939
12
December 4
at Houston Oilers
W 24–14
11–1
Astrodome
46,875
13
December 11
San Diego Chargers
W 17–9
12–1
Mile High Stadium
74,905
14
December 18
at Dallas Cowboys
L 6–14
12–2
Texas Stadium
63,752
This was the last NFL regular season with 14 games: it was expanded to 16 games in 1978 . Season summary [ ] Week 1 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Cardinals
0
0 0 0
0
• Broncos
0
0 7 0
7
Date: September 18Location: Mile High Stadium , Denver, Colorado Game start: 2:00 p.m. Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C), wind 10 mph (16 km/h)Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui and Emerson Boozer
[5]
Week 2 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Bills
0
6 0 0
6
• Broncos
3
7 13 3
26
Date: September 25Location: Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C); wind 11 mph (18 km/h) Scoring summary Q1 DEN Turner 48 yard field goalDEN 3–0 Q2 BUF Cornell 22 yard fumble return (kick failed)BUF 6–3 Q2 DEN Morton 5 yard run (Turner kick)DEN 10–6 Q3 DEN Armstrong 1 yard run (kick failed)DEN 16–6 Q3 DEN Odoms 1 yard pass from Morton (Turner kick)DEN 23–6 Q4 DEN Turner 26 yard field goal DEN 26–6
[6]
Week 3 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
10
0 14 0
24
Seahawks
7
0 6 0
13
Date: October 2Location: Kingdome Game weather: Indoors (dome)
Week 4 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Chiefs
0
0 0 7
7
• Broncos
10
6 7 0
23
Date: October 9Location: Mile High Stadium
Week 5 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
7
14 6 3
30
Raiders
7
0 0 0
7
Date: October 16Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Week 6 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
7
10 0 7
24
Bengals
7
3 0 3
13
Date: October 23Location: Riverfront Stadium
Week 7 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Raiders
7
10 7 0
24
Broncos
0
0 0 14
14
Date: October 30Location: Mile High Stadium
Week 8 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Steelers
0
0 0 7
7
• Broncos
14
7 0 0
21
Date: November 6Location: Mile High Stadium
Week 9 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
3
0 7 7
17
Chargers
7
7 0 0
14
Date: November 13Location: San Diego Stadium
Week 10 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
0
7 0 7
14
Chiefs
0
7 0 0
7
Week 11 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Colts
0
3 10 0
13
• Broncos
7
7 0 13
27
Date: November 27Location: Mile High Stadium
Week 12 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
0
14 3 7
24
Oilers
0
7 7 0
14
Date: December 4Location: Houston Astrodome Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 46,875Game weather: Indoors (dome) Scoring summary Q2 HOU Coleman 2 yard run (Fritsch kick)HOU 7–0 Q2 DEN Odoms 13 yard pass from Morton (Turner kick)Tie 7–7 Q2 DEN Upchurch 13 yard pass from Morton (Turner kick)DEN 14–7 Q3 DEN Turner 42 yard field goal DEN 17–7 Q3 HOU Burrough 29 yard pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick)DEN 17–14 Q4 DEN Weese 5 yard run (Turner kick)DEN 24–14
[7]
Week 13 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Chargers
3
3 3 0
9
• Broncos
7
0 0 10
17
Date: December 11Location: Mile High Stadium
Week 14 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Broncos
0
0 3 3
6
• Cowboys
7
0 7 0
14
Date: December 18Location: Texas StadiumGame start: 1:00 pm Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C); wind 10 mph (16 km/h)Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (NBC): Jack Buck and Len Dawson Scoring summary Q1 DAL P. Pearson 22 yard pass from Staubach (Herrera kick)DAL 7–0 Q3 DAL Newhouse 7 yard pass from Staubach (Herrera kick)DAL 14–0 Q3 DEN Turner 22 yard field goalDAL 14–3 Q4 DEN Turner 37 yard field goal DAL 14–6
[8]
Standings [ ] Playoffs [ ] Divisional [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Steelers
0
14 0 7
21
• Broncos
7
7 7 13
34
Date: December 24Location: Mile High Stadium • Denver, Colorado
Source: [1] [9] [10]
Conference Championship [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Raiders
3
0 0 14
17
• Broncos
7
0 7 6
20
Date: January 1Location: Game start: 12:00 p.m. MST Game attendance: 74,982Game weather: 13 °F (−11 °C) • Wind 6 mph (10 km/h)TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Len Dawson Scoring summary 1 OAK Errol Mann 20 yard field goalRaiders 3–0 1 DEN Haven Moses 74 yard pass from Craig Morton (Jim Turner kick)Broncos 7–3 3 DEN Jon Keyworth 1 yard run (Jim Turner kick)Broncos 14–3 4 OAK Dave Casper 7 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)Broncos 14–10 4 DEN Haven Moses 12 yard pass from Craig Morton (kick failed) Broncos 20–10 4 OAK Dave Casper 17 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) Broncos 20–17
Source: [2] [11] [12] [13]
The Broncos defeated the Raiders in the AFC Championship Game to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Cowboys
10
3 7 7
27
Broncos
0
0 10 0
10
Date: January 15Location: Louisiana Superdome Game attendance: 76,400Game weather: Indoors (dome)Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier
Source: [3] [14] [15]
The Broncos playing against the Cowboys in Super Bowl XII.
References [ ]
^ a b Marshall, Joe (January 2, 1978). "That Crushmas spirit" . Sports Illustrated . p. 14. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (January 9, 1978). "Wholly Moses for Denver" . Sports Illustrated . p. 14.^ a b Jenkins, Dan (January 23, 1978). "Doomsday in the Dome" . Sports Illustrated . p. 16.^ "Broncos 'pay off' Crush" . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington). January 15, 1978. p. D1.^ Pro-Football-Reference.com ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved 2014-Dec-25.^ Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved 2015-Dec-10.^ Box Score ^ "Denver becomes the stealers and triumphs" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). wire service reports. December 25, 1977. p. 3C.^ Brady, Dave (December 25, 1977). "Morton leads Broncos" . Lewiston Morning Tribune . (Idaho). (Washington Post). p. 1B. ^ "Broncos turn a dream into Super reality" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). wire service reports. January 2, 1978. p. 1B.^ Pro-Football-Reference.com ^ Howitt, Bruce (January 2, 1978). "Denver and Dallas in Super shoot-out" . Lewiston Morning Tribune . (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 1B. ^ "It's Doomsday for the Broncos" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). wire service reports. January 16, 1978. p. 1B.^ "' Doomsday II' tames Broncos, XXVII to X" . Lewiston Morning Tribune . (Idaho). Associated Press. January 16, 1978. p. 1B.
External links [ ]
Denver Broncos
Founded in 1960
Based in Denver, Colorado
Headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado Franchise Stadiums
Mile High Stadium Empower Field at Mile High Key personnel
Owner Estate of Pat Bowlen
President/CEO Joe Ellis Executive Vice President/General Manager John Elway Head Coach Vic Fangio Culture Lore Rivalries Retired numbers Division championships (15) Conference championships (8) League championships (3) Media Current league affiliations Former league affiliation
League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Bold indicates Super Bowl victoryItalics indicates Super Bowl appearance
