1977 NFL season

1977 NFL season

Infobox NFL
year = 1977
NFLchampion = Dallas Cowboys
regular_season = September 18 1977 - December 18 1977
playoffs_start = December 24 1977
AFCchampion = Denver Broncos
NFCchampion = Dallas Cowboys
sb_name = XII
sb_date = January 15 1978
sb_site = Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
pb_date = January 23 1978

The 1977 NFL season was the 58th regular season of the National Football League. The Seattle Seahawks were placed in the AFC West while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were slotted in the NFC Central.

Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving Day game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys, the league scheduled a Miami Dolphins at St. Louis Cardinals contest. This would be only the second season since 1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday.

This was the last NFL regular season with 14 games. The regular season was expanded to 16 games in 1978, with the preseason reduced from six games to four.

The season ended with Super Bowl XII when the Cowboys defeated the Denver Broncos.

Major rule changes

*The head slap is outlawed. This change is referred to as the "Deacon Jones Rule"; the Rams defensive end frequently used this technique.
*Any shoe worn by a player with an artificial limb must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe. Informally referred to as the "Tom Dempsey Rule." Dempsey is a record-breaking placekicker whose modified shoe (having a flattened and enlarged toe area) on his deformed kicking foot generated controversy during his career.
*Defenders are only permitted to make contact with receivers once.
*Defenders are not allowed to make contact with an opponent above the shoulders with the palms of their hands, except to ward him off the line.
*Offensive linemen are not allowed to thrust their hands to a defender's neck, face, or head.
*Wide receivers are not allowed to clip defenders.

Division races

Tampa Bay and Seattle continued as "swing" teams that didn't participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14 game schedule against other conference teams. Tampa Bay switched to the NFC and played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the AFC. The teams med in "Week Five", with Seattle winning 30-23.

Starting in 1970, and until 2002, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebraker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.

National Football Conference


Tiebreakers

*Baltimore finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better conference record (9-3 to Dolphins' 8-4).
*Buffalo finished ahead of N.Y. Jets in the AFC East based on better strength of schedule (.582 to Jets' .536).
*Cincinnati finished ahead of Houston in the AFC Central based on better division record (6-3 to Oilers' 5-4).
*Minnesota finished ahead of Chicago in the NFC Central based on fewer losses by common opponents (11 losses to 14 losses by the Bears' opponents).
*Chicago won the NFC Wild Card over Washington based on better net points in conference games (48 to Redskins' 4).
*Philadelphia finished ahead of N.Y. Giants in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2-0).

Playoffs

Round8
RD1=Divisional Playoffs
RD2=Conf. Championship Games
RD3=Super Bowl XII
December 26 - L.A. Memorial Coliseum|3) Minnesota Vikings|14|2) Los Angeles Rams|7
December 26 - Texas Stadium|4) Chicago Bears|7|1) Dallas Cowboys|37
December 24 - Memorial Stadium|4) Oakland Raiders (2OT) |37|2)* Baltimore Colts|31
December 24 - Mile High Stadium|3) Pittsburgh Steelers|21|1)* Denver Broncos|34
January 1 - Texas Stadium|3) Minnesota Vikings|6|1) Dallas Cowboys|23
January 1 - Mile High Stadium|4) Oakland Raiders|17|1) Denver Broncos|20
January 15 - Louisiana Superdome|N1) Dallas Cowboys|27|A1) Denver Broncos|10
*Denver (the AFC 1 seed) did not play Oakland (the 4 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.

References

* "NFL Record and Fact Book" (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
* [http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1971-1980 NFL History 1971-1980] (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
* [http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1977.pdf 1977 season in details]
* "Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League" (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • 1977 NFL Draft — The 1977 National Football League Draft annual player selection was held May 3–4, 1977.Player selectionsRound Three Round Six Round Nine Round Twelve {| style= background color:#FFCC00; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:2em; = Pro Bowler Players… …   Wikipedia

  • 1976 NFL season — 1976 National Football League season Regular season Duration September 12, 1976 December 12, 1976 Playoffs Start date December 18, 1976 AFC Champions Oakland Raiders NFC Champions …   Wikipedia

  • 2008 NFL season — 2008 National Football League season The NFL s newly revamped shield. Regular season Duration September 4[1 …   Wikipedia

  • 2009 NFL season — 2009 National Football League season Regular season Duration September 10, 2009 – January 3, 2010 Playoffs Start date January 9, 2010 AFC Champions Indianapolis Colts NFC Champions …   Wikipedia

  • 2010 NFL season — 2010 National Football League season Regular season Duration September 9, 2010 – January 2, 2011 Playoffs Start date January 8, 2011 – January 23, 2011[1] AFC Champions …   Wikipedia

  • 2006 NFL season — 2006 National Football League season Regular season Duration September 7, 2006 (2006 09 07) – December 31, 2006 Playoffs Start date January 6, 2007 AFC Champions …   Wikipedia

  • 2005 NFL season — 2005 National Football League season Regular season Duration September 8, 2005 – January 1, 2006 Playoffs Start date January 7, 2006 AFC Champions Pittsburgh Steelers NFC Champions …   Wikipedia

  • 1921 NFL season — 1921 National Football League season Regular season Duration September 25, 1921 – December 18, 1921 Champions Chicago Staleys National Football League seasons  < 1920 …   Wikipedia

  • 1977 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season — Infobox NFL season team = St. Louis Cardinals year = 1977 record = division place = coach = stadium = playoffs = Did not qualify previous = 1976 next = 1978The 1977 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team s 56th year with the National Football… …   Wikipedia

  • 1977–78 NFL playoffs — The NFL playoffs following the 1977 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XII. Due to Christmas, the Divisional playoff games were held in a span of three days. The AFC playoff games were played on December 24 while the NFC games were held on December… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”