1977 Oakland Raiders season

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 couldn't 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).

1977 Oakland Raiders season
Owner	Al Davis
General manager	Al Davis
Head coach	John Madden
Home field	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (at Colts) 37–31 (2OT) Lost AFC Championship (at Broncos) 17–20
← 1976 Raiders seasons 1978 →

The Raiders playing the Broncos in the 1977-78 AFC Championship Game.

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
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 11 David Humm 12 Ken Stabler 15 Mike Rae Running backs 40 Pete Banaszak 28 Clarence Davis 31 Carl Garrett 29 Hubert Ginn 35 Terry Robiskie 30 Mark van Eeghen FB Wide receivers 25 Fred Biletnikoff 81 Morris Bradshaw 21 Cliff Branch 89 Rich Martini 49 Mike Siani Tight ends 87 Dave Casper 88 Ted Kwalick		Offensive linemen 64 George Buehler G 50 Dave Dalby C 70 Henry Lawrence T 65 Mickey Marvin G 78 Art Shell T 66 Steve Sylvester G 63 Gene Upshaw G 75 John Vella T Defensive linemen 72 John Matuszak DE 76 Mike McCoy DT 77 Charles Philyaw DE 74 Dave Rowe DT 60 Otis Sistrunk DE 67 Pat Toomay DE		Linebackers 39 Willie Hall 83 Ted Hendricks 58 Monte Johnson 53 Rod Martin 57 Randy McClanahan 52 Floyd Rice 41 Phil Villapiano Defensive backs 43 George Atkinson FS 24 Willie Brown CB 20 Neal Colzie FS 37 Lester Hayes CB 47 Charlie Phillips FS 32 Jack Tatum FS 26 Skip Thomas CB Special teams 8 Ray Guy P 14 Errol Mann K		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	3	4	Total
Chargers	0	0	0	0	0
Raiders	7	10	7	0	24

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

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Chargers Raiders 1 Raiders Cliff Branch 7-yard touchdown reception from Ken Stabler, Errol Mann kick good 0 7 2 Raiders 20-yard field goal by Errol Mann 0 10 2 Raiders Dave Casper 1-yard touchdown reception from Ken Stabler, Errol Mann kick good 0 17 3 Raiders Pete Banaszak 2-yard touchdown run, Errol Mann kick good 0 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 0 24

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 0 9 0 7 16 Steelers 0 0 0 7 7 Date: September 25 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h)

Scoring summary 2 OAK Errol Mann 21 yard field goal Raiders 3–0 2 OAK Errol Mann 40 yard field goal Raiders 6–0 2 OAK Errol Mann 41 yard field goal Raiders 9–0 4 OAK Mark van Eeghen 8 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 16–0 4 PIT Bennie Cunningham 43 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick) Raiders 16–7

^[4]

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 7 6 21 3 37 Chiefs 0 21 0 7 28 Date: October 3 Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri Game start: 8:00 p.m. Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 OAK Fred Biletnikoff 21 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann) kick Raiders 7–0 2 OAK Errol Mann 42 yard field goal Raiders 10–0 2 KC Walter White 48 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick) Raiders 10–7 2 KC Walter White 1 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick) Chiefs 14–10 2 KC Henry Marshall 41 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick) Chiefs 21–10 2 OAK Errol Mann 34 yard field goal Chiefs 21–13 3 OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Chiefs 21–20 3 OAK Clarence Davis 37 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 27–21 3 OAK Clarence Davis 2 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 34–21 4 KC Lawrence Williams 13 yard run (Jan Stenerud kick) Raiders 34–28 4 OAK Errol Mann 22 yard field goal Raiders 37–28

^[5]

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 14 0 0 14 28 Jets 13 14 0 0 27 Date: October 23 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 56,734

Scoring summary Q1 OAK Mark van Eeghen 3 yard run (Errol Mann kick) OAK 7–0 Q1 NYJ Jerome Barkum 18 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) Tie 7–7 Q1 OAK Dave Casper 19 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) OAK 14–7 Q1 NYJ Wesley Walker 87 yard pass from Richard Todd (kick failed) OAK 14–13 Q2 NYJ Rich Caster 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 20–14 Q2 NYJ Clark Gaines 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 27–14 Q4 OAK Fred Biletnikoff 7 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) NYJ 27–21 Q4 OAK Mike Siani 24 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) OAK 28–27

^[6]

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 3 7 3 0 13 • Raiders 13 7 14 0 34 Date: November 28 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 6:00 p.m. Game attendance: 51,558 Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C) • Wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h) Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 OAK Cliff Branch 28 yard pass from Ken Stabler (kick failed) Raiders 6–0 1 BUF Carson Long 33 yard field goal Raiders 6–3 1 OAK Fred Biletnikoff 44 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 13–3 2 BUF John Kimbrough 29 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Carson Long kick) Raiders 13–10 2 OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 20–10 3 BUF Carson Long 40 yard field goal Raiders 20–13 3 OAK Cliff Branch 12 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 27–13 3 OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 34–13

^[7]

Week 13

• Network: CBS
• Announcers: Vin Scully, Alex Hawkins

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
view talk edit	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 37–31^2OT	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. 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. Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

• 1977 Raiders on Pro Football Reference