1977 Denver Broncos season

1977 Denver Broncos season
Head coach	Red Miller
General manager	Fred Gehrke
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	12–2
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Super Bowl XII

The Broncos playing against the Cowboys in Super Bowl XII.

The 1977 Denver Broncos season was the team's 18th year in professional football and its eighth with the National Football League (NFL).

The team had by far its best season to date, finishing first in the AFC West and making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Broncos won the first two playoff games in franchise history (over perennial AFC powerhouses Pittsburgh and Oakland) and won their first AFC Championship, earning a berth in Super Bowl XII, where they fell to the NFC champion Dallas Cowboys, 27–10.

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, and quarterback Craig Morton was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Denver's 1977 season is chronicled in Terry Frei's 2008 book, '77: Denver, the Broncos and a Coming of Age.

Personnel

Staff

1977 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps
President – Allan Phipps
Vice President/General Manager – Fred Gehrke
Director of Player Personnel – Carroll Hardy
Director of Pro Scouting – Doc Urich

Head coaches

Head Coach – Red Miller

Offensive coaches

Quarterbacks – Babe Parilli
Offensive Backfield – Paul Roach
Wide Receivers – Fran Polsfoot
Offensive Line – Ken Gray

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Joe Collier
Defensive Line – Stan Jones
Linebackers – Myrel Moore
Defensive Backfield – Bob Gambold

Special teams coaches

Special Teams – Marv Braden

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	Attendance
1	September 18	St. Louis Cardinals	W 7–0	Mile High Stadium	1–0	75,002
2	September 25	Buffalo Bills	W 26–6	Mile High Stadium	2–0	74,897
3	October 2	at Seattle Seahawks	W 24–13	Kingdome	3–0	53,108
4	October 9	Kansas City Chiefs	W 23–7	Mile High Stadium	4–0	74,878
5	October 16	at Oakland Raiders	W 30–7	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	5–0	53,616
6	October 23	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 24 – 13	Riverfront Stadium	6–0	54,395
7	October 30	Oakland Raiders	L 14–24	Mile High Stadium	6–1	75,007
8	November 6	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 21–7	Mile High Stadium	7–1	74,967
9	November 13	at San Diego Chargers	W 17–14	San Diego Stadium	8–1	45,211
10	November 20	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 14–7	Arrowhead Stadium	9–1	54,050
11	November 27	Baltimore Colts	W 27–13	Mile High Stadium	10–1	74,939
12	December 4	at Houston Oilers	W 24–14	Astrodome	11–1	46,875
13	December 11	San Diego Chargers	W 17–9	Mile High Stadium	12–1	74,905
14	December 18	at Dallas Cowboys	L 6–14	Texas Stadium	12–2	63,752

Season summary

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0
• Broncos	0	0	7	0	7

Date: September 18
Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
Game start: 2:00 p.m.
Game weather: 60°F, wind 10 mph
Referee: Dick Jorgensen

Scoring summary

3		DEN	Otis Armstrong 10 yard run (Jim Turner kick)	Broncos 7–0

^[1]

Week 2

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	6	0	0	6
• Broncos	3	7	13	3	26

Date: September 25
Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 66°F; wind 11

Scoring summary

Q1	DEN	Turner 48 yard field goal	DEN 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

^[2]

Week 12

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Broncos	0	14	3	7	24
Oilers	0	7	7	0	14

Date: December 4
Location: Houston Astrodome
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Game attendance: 46,875
Game 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

^[3]

Week 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	0	0	3	3	6
Cowboys	7	0	7	0	14

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
Divisional Playoffs	December 24	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–21	Mile High Stadium	75,011
AFC Championship	January 1	Oakland Raiders	W 20–17	Mile High Stadium	74,982
Super Bowl XII	January 15	Dallas Cowboys	L 10–27	Louisiana Superdome	76,400

AFC Championship

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	3	0	0	14	17
• Broncos	7	0	7	6	20

Date: January 1
Location: Mile High Stadium • Denver, Colorado
Game start: 12:00 p.m. MST
Game attendance: 74,982
Game weather: 13°F • Wind 6
TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Len Dawson

Scoring summary

1	OAK	Errol Mann 20 yard field goal	Raiders 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

^[4]

Super Bowl XII: Dallas Cowboys 27, Denver Broncos 10

Further information: Super Bowl XII

Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys (NFC)	10	3	7	7	27
Broncos (AFC)	0	0	10	0	10

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Date: January 15, 1978
Game attendance: 76,400
Referee: Jim Tunney
TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Denver Broncos⁽¹⁾	12	2	0	.857	6–1	11–1	274	148	L1
Oakland Raiders⁽⁴⁾	11	3	0	.786	5–2	10–2	351	230	W2
San Diego Chargers	7	7	0	.500	3–4	6–6	222	205	L2
Seattle Seahawks	5	9	0	.357	1–3	4–9	282	373	W2
Kansas City Chiefs	2	12	0	.143	1–6	1–11	225	349	L6

Roster

Defense

CB
Louis Wright
⋅

CB
Steve Foley
⋅

Offense

WR
Jack Dolbin
⋅

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Andy Maurer	Tom Glassic	Mike Montler	Paul Howard	Claudie Minor
⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅	⋅

TE
Riley Odoms
⋅

WR
Haven Moses
⋅

QB
Craig Morton
⋅

RB
Otis Armstrong
⋅

FB
Jon Keyworth
Lonnie Perrin

Special Teams
PK Jim Turner
P Bucky Dilts
KR Rick Upchurch
PR Rick Upchurch

References

↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-25.
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-10.
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

1977 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Denver Broncos

Founded in 1960 Based in Denver, Colorado Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado

Franchise	History Players Starting quarterbacks Coaches Seasons First-round draft picks Broadcasters

Stadiums	Mile High Stadium Sports Authority Field at Mile High

Key personnel	Owner Pat Bowlen President/CEO Joe Ellis Executive Vice President/General Manager John Elway Head Coach Gary Kubiak

Culture	Miles Thunder Orange Crush Defense No Fly Zone The Barrel Man Cheerleaders "You Only Move Twice" (The Simpsons episode) South Park Mork & Mindy

Lore	Snowball Game The Drive The Fumble The Helicopter Mile High Miracle

Rivalries	Kansas City Chiefs Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers Manning vs. Brady

Retired numbers	7 18 44

Ring of Fame	Steve Atwater Pat Bowlen Terrell Davis John Elway Goose Gonsoulin Randy Gradishar Rich Jackson Tom Jackson Charley Johnson Floyd Little Karl Mecklenburg Gene Mingo Craig Morton Haven Moses Tom Nalen Gerald Phipps Dan Reeves Shannon Sharpe Dennis Smith Paul Smith Rod Smith Lionel Taylor Billy Thompson Frank Tripucka Jim Turner Rick Upchurch Louis Wright Gary Zimmerman

Division titles	1977 1978 1984 1986 1987 1989 1991 1996 1998 2005 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Conference titles	1977 1986 1987 1989 1997 1998 2013 2015

League titles	1997 (XXXII) 1998 (XXXIII) 2015 (50)

Media	Broadcasters Dave Logan Brian Griese Scott Hastings Ed McCaffrey Alan Roach TV: KUSA 9News Radio: 850 KOA (AM)

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: West Division

Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)

Seasons (56)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Denver Broncos seasons

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates Super Bowl victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1977 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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