The 1977 Denver Broncos season (also known as the Broncomania season) was the team's 18th year in professional football and its eighth with the National Football League (NFL).
The team had what was then by far its best season at 12–2, finishing first in the AFC West, and making 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 and Oakland). With the AFC Championship win over the defending Super Bowl champion Raiders on New Year's Day, Denver earned a berth in Super Bowl XII, but fell 27–10 to the NFC champion Dallas Cowboys.
Despite the defeat in the Super Bowl, 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. Denver's 1977 season is chronicled in Terry Frei's 2008 book, '77: Denver, the Broncos and a Coming of Age.
The last remaining active member of the 1977 Denver Broncos was offensive lineman Billy Bryan, who retired after the 1989 season.
Offseason NFL draft
Personnel Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue 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 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Season summary
Week 1
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 2
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-25.
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Dec-10.
Week 13
Week 14
Box Score
Standings
Playoffs
Week Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Divisional Playoffs December 24 Pittsburgh Steelers (3) W 34–21 1–0 Mile High Stadium AFC Championship January 1, 1978 Oakland Raiders (4) W 20–17 2–0 Mile High Stadium 74,982 Super Bowl XII January 15, 1978 Dallas Cowboys (N1) L 10–27 2–1 Louisiana Superdome 76,400
Divisional
In Denver's first postseason football contest, linebacker Tom Jackson's 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery set up 17 points, 10 of them in the 4th quarter, as the Broncos defeated the Steelers for the first playoff win in their 18-year history.
Denver scored first after Broncos receiver John Schultz blocked a punt from Rick Engles and recovered the ball on the Steelers 17-yard line to set up running back Rob Lytle's 7-yard rushing touchdown. Pittsburgh responded with a 56-yard drive, including a 19-yard reception by tight end Bennie Cunningham on 4th down and 1, to tie the score on quarterback Terry Bradshaw's 1-yard rushing touchdown.
In the second quarter, Broncos defensive tackle Lyle Alzado forced a fumble from Franco Harris, which linebacker Randy Gradishar recovered and returned 5 yards before fumbling himself. The second fumble was recovered by Tom Jackson, who returned it 25 yards to the Pittsburgh 10-yard line. On the next play, running back Otis Armstrong ran the ball into the end zone to give the Broncos a 14–7 lead. However, Pittsburgh quickly struck back starting with Jim Smith's 28-yard kickoff return to the Steelers 34-yard line. Bradshaw then hit John Stallworth for a 21-yard completion and Harris ripped off a 20-yard burst before he finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14 with 1:41 left in the half.
In the third quarter, the Broncos drove 52 yards to the Pittsburgh 1-yard line, only to lose the ball when Jim Jensen was stuffed for no gain by Jack Lambert and Jimmy Allen on 4th down. But after a punt, they drove 43 yards to go up 21–14 on Craig Morton's 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Riley Odoms.
Early in the 4th quarter, Pittsburgh managed to tie the game with a 48-yard catch by Stallworth setting up Bradshaw's 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Larry Brown. But this would be their last score as Denver soon took over the game. First, Jim Turner put the Broncos up 24–21 by kicking 44-yard field goal with 7:17 left on the clock. Then Jackson intercepted a pass from Bradshaw and returned it 32 yards to the Steelers 9-yard line, setting up Turner's 24-yard field goal to make the score 27–21. On Pittsburgh's ensuring drive, Jackson struck again, intercepting another pass and returning this one 17 yards to the Steelers 33. Rather than sitting on their one-score lead and trying to run out the clock with running plays, Denver took to the air, scoring the game clinching touchdown on Morton's 34-yard pass to Jack Dolbin with 1:44 left in the game.
Harris finished the game with 92 rushing yards, 4 receptions for 20 yards, and a touchdown. Morton only completed 11 of 23 passes, but he threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Steelers and Broncos.
Broncos win and go to the AFC Championship Game and win to the Oakland Raiders 20-17. But in Super Bowl XII lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27-10.
Conference Championship
Despite a poor day from veteran kicker Jim Turner, who missed three field goals and had an extra point blocked, Denver converted two second half turnovers into touchdowns to edge out the defending Super Bowl champion Raiders.
Denver was forced to punt on their opening drive, and Bucky Dilts's kick went just 21 yards to the Oakland 43-yard line. Aided by two Broncos penalties, including a running into the punter call that enabled Oakland to avoid a three and out, the Raiders subsequently drove to the Denver 2-yard line and scored with Errol Mann's 20-yard field goal. But on the Broncos' second drive, quarterback Craig Morton threw a 74-yard touchdown to wide receiver Haven Moses, who caught the ball along the right sideline and managed to break through a tackle attempt by defensive back Skip Thomas and stay in bounds on the way to the end zone. The score would remain 7–3 for the rest of the half, with Mann hitting the uprights on a 30-yard field goal try and Turner missing a 40-yard attempt. The Raiders also suffered a major setback when receiver Fred Biletnikoff went down with a separated shoulder.
Oakland's Carl Garrett returned the second half kickoff 62 yards to the Broncos 33-yard line. On first down, Ken Stabler tried to connect with Cliff Branch in the end zone, but defensive Steve Foley barely managed to deflect the pass away. Then running back Mark van Eeghen was held to a 1-yard gain, Stabler threw a third down incompletion, and the Raiders decided to punt rather than risk a 49-yard field goal. Denver took after and drove deep into Raiders territory, with Moses hauling in a 41-yard reception to give the Broncos another scoring chance, but following a bad snap, Turner missed another field goal, this one from 31 yards. On the next play, Oakland's Clarence Davis lost a fumble that defensive end Brison Manor recovered at the Oakland 17-yard line. A short carry from fullback Jon Keyworth and Morton's 13-yard completion then moved the ball to the 2. Then running back Rob Lytle was hit in mid-air while trying to dive over the line by Raiders safety Jack Tatum, and lost the ball. Oakland nose tackle Mike McCoy appeared to recover the fumble, but the play was blown dead by an official on the opposite side of the field. The officials (chiefly Ed Marion) ruled that Lytle's forward progress was stopped before the fumble, even though replays clearly showed the ball was knocked free at the moment of contact. Denver retained possession. The Raiders were then penalized half the distance to the goal for arguing the call, and Keyworth scored a Denver touchdown on the next play to give Denver a 14–3 lead.
Later on, Denver recovered a muffed punt from Garrett on the Raiders 27-yard line. Right after the turnover, Morton appeared to throw a touchdown pass to Jack Dolbin, who made a rolling catch along the ground and then got up and headed for the end zone. However, officials ruled the ball had touched the ground before he secured the catch (replays appeared to contradict this) and it was called as an incompletion. Following two more incomplete passes, Turner missed his third field goal of the day, this time from 44 yards, and the Broncos came up empty.
Near the end of the third quarter, Oakland finally caught a break when Garrett returned Dilts' 38-yard punt 4 yards to the Broncos 48-yard line. On the next play, Van Eeghen rushed for 13 yards. Following an incompletion, Stabler fired a pass to tight end Dave Casper, who made a falling catch, got back up, and took off for a 26-yard gain to the Denver 9. Two plays later, Stabler finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Casper on the second play of the fourth quarter, cutting the score to 14–10. Denver responded by advancing the ball to the Raiders 11-yard line, only to have linebacker Floyd Rice intercept the ball from Morton and take it 11 yards back to the 22. Oakland now seemed primed to drive for a leading touchdown, but before they could get out of their own territory, Denver linebacker Bob Swenson made a clutch interception and returned the ball 14 yards to the Oakland 17-yard line. Two plays later, Moses made a sliding 12-yard catch of Morton's pass in the end zone, putting the Broncos ahead 20–10 after Turner's extra point was blocked. Oakland struck back with an 8-play, 74-yard drive to score on Casper's 17-yard touchdown catch to make it 20–17 with 3:16 left in regulation, but the Broncos' held the ball for the rest of the game and ran out the clock.
Moses was responsible for most of Denver's 217 yards gained through the air, finishing the game with 5 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Morton completed 10/20 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. Stabler finished 17/35 for 215 yards and two touchdowns with one pick. Garrett returned 3 kickoffs for 111 yards and two punts for 5.
With his two touchdown catches along with his three against the Colts, Casper set a single post-season record for touchdowns by a tight end (5) which still stands to this day.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Raiders and Broncos. It was also Denver's first home victory over Oakland, either in regular season or post season, since 1962 (the two teams played to ties in 1964 and 1973). Pro-Football-Reference.com Broncos go to Super Bowl XII but lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27-10.
Super Bowl