1977 Oakland Raiders season
OwnerAl Davis
General managerAl Davis
Head coachJohn Madden
Home fieldOakland–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.

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 improve on their 13-1 record from last year and finished 11-3, which was only good enough for second place in the AFC West next to the Denver Broncos, who won twelve games (the two split victories over each other in the regular season).

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

Main article: 1977 NFL Draft
1977 Oakland Raiders Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
2 35 Mike Davis DB Colorado
2 56 Ted McKnight RB Minnesota-Duluth
4 112 Mickey Marvin OG Tennessee
5 126 Lester Hayes DB Texas A&M
5 139 Jeff Barnes LB California
7 190 Rich Martini WR California-Davis
8 223 Terry Robiskie RB Louisiana State
12 317 Rod Martin LB Southern California
12 334 Rolf Benirschke PK California-Davis

Roster

1977 Oakland Raiders roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season

Main article: 1977 NFL season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 18 San Diego Chargers W 24–0 1–0 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 51,022
2 September 25 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 16–7 2–0 Three Rivers Stadium 50,398
3 October 3 at Kansas City Chiefs W 37–28 3–0 Arrowhead Stadium 60,684
4 October 9 at Cleveland Browns W 26–10 4–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,236
5 October 16 Denver Broncos L 7–30 4–1 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 53,616
6 October 23 at New York Jets W 28–27 5–1 Shea Stadium 56,734
7 October 30 at Denver Broncos W 24–14 6–1 Mile High Stadium 75,007
8 November 6 Seattle Seahawks W 44–7 7–1 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 50,929
9 November 13 Houston Oilers W 34–29 8–1 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 53,667
10 November 20 at San Diego Chargers L 7–12 8–2 San Diego Stadium 50,887
11 November 28 Buffalo Bills W 34–13 9–2 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 51,558
12 December 4 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–20 9–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 67,075
13 December 11 Minnesota Vikings W 35–13 10–3 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 52,771
14 December 18 Kansas City Chiefs W 21–20 11–3 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 50,304
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Results

Week 1

Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 0 0 000
Raiders 7 10 7024

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

1 234Total
• Raiders 0 907 16
Steelers 0 007 7
Scoring summary
2OAKErrol Mann 21 yard field goalRaiders 3–0
2OAKErrol Mann 40 yard field goalRaiders 6–0
2OAKErrol Mann 41 yard field goalRaiders 9–0
4OAKMark van Eeghen 8 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 16–0
4PITBennie Cunningham 43 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick)Raiders 16–7

[4]

Week 3

1 234Total
• Raiders 7 6213 37
Chiefs 0 2107 28
Scoring summary
1OAKFred Biletnikoff 21 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann) kickRaiders 7–0
2OAKErrol Mann 42 yard field goalRaiders 10–0
2KCWalter 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
2KCHenry Marshall 41 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick)Chiefs 21–10
2OAKErrol Mann 34 yard field goalChiefs 21–13
3OAKPete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Chiefs 21–20
3OAKClarence Davis 37 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 27–21
3OAKClarence Davis 2 yard run (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 34–21
4KCLawrence Williams 13 yard run (Jan Stenerud kick)Raiders 34–28
4OAKErrol Mann 22 yard field goalRaiders 37–28

[5]

Week 6

1 234Total
• Raiders 14 0014 28
Jets 13 1400 27
Scoring summary
Q1OAKMark van Eeghen 3 yard run (Errol Mann kick)OAK 7–0
Q1NYJJerome Barkum 18 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick)Tie 7–7
Q1OAKDave Casper 19 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)OAK 14–7
Q1NYJWesley Walker 87 yard pass from Richard Todd (kick failed)OAK 14–13
Q2NYJRich Caster 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick)NYJ 20–14
Q2NYJClark Gaines 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick)NYJ 27–14
Q4OAKFred Biletnikoff 7 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)NYJ 27–21
Q4OAKMike Siani 24 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)OAK 28–27

[6]

Week 11

1 234Total
Bills 3 730 13
• Raiders 13 7140 34
Scoring summary
1OAKCliff Branch 28 yard pass from Ken Stabler (kick failed)Raiders 6–0
1BUFCarson Long 33 yard field goalRaiders 6–3
1OAKFred Biletnikoff 44 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)Raiders 13–3
2BUFJohn Kimbrough 29 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Carson Long kick)Raiders 13–10
2OAKPete 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
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

Playoffs

Main article: 1977–78 NFL 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]

Round Date Opponent Result Attendance
Divisional December 24 at Baltimore Colts W 37–312OT
60,763
AFC Championship January 1 at Denver Broncos L 17–20
74,982

Statistics

Passing

Player Comp Att Yards TD INT
Ken Stabler 169 294 2176 20 20

[14]

Rushing

Player Att Yards TD
Ken Stabler 3 −3 –

[14]

Receiving

Player Rec Yards TD
Dave Casper 48 584 6
Cliff Branch 33 540 6
Fred Biletnikoff 33 446 5

[14]

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

Las Vegas Raiders
Las Vegas Raiders seasons
1977 NFL season
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