1977 Chicago Bears season

The 1977 Chicago Bears season was their 58th regular season completed in the National Football League. The team finished with a 9–5 record, which was their first winning season since 1967 and earned them a wild card spot against the Dallas Cowboys, who eventually beat the Bears 37–7 en route to a Super Bowl victory. This was their first postseason appearance since winning the 1963 championship. They secured this by winning their last six games, including among others the last of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ record run of 26 consecutive losses.

1977 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Jack Pardee
Home field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Cowboys) 7–37

Sid Gillman was hired to serve as offensive coordinator of the team. Star halfback Walter Payton had the best season of his career as he led the entire NFL in rushing (1,852 yards), 275 of those 1,852 came on a November 20 game against their division rivals the Minnesota Vikings and he did it despite coming down with the flu on a dark rainy day at Soldier Field.

A week after the Dallas playoff loss, Coach Pardee stunned the team by resigning to take the head coaching position of the Washington Redskins (George Allen having been fired after the Redskins were eliminated from the playoffs by a Bears overtime victory over the New York Giants in the last game of the regular season). When Gillman expressed desire to open up the offense, those ideas were rejected by upper staff, which led to the resignation of Gillman.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1977 NFL Draft

1977 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Ted Albrecht	Offensive tackle	California
2	43	Mike Spivey	Cornerback	Colorado
3	61	Robin Earl	Tight end	Washington
6	140	Vince Evans	Quarterback	USC
7	182	Gerald Butler	Wide receiver	Nicholls State
9	238	Nick Buonamici	Defensive tackle	Ohio State
10	266	Dennis Breckner	Defensive end	Miami (FL)
11	294	Connie Zelencik	Center	Purdue
12	322	Terry Irvin	Defensive back	Jackson State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1977 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Mike Andrus	Safety	Richmond
Terry Egerdahl	Defensive back	Minnesota-Duluth
Bob Gregolunas	Linebacker	Northern Illinois
Chris Hoskins	Running back	Missouri Western
Neil Little	Defensive back	Northwestern
Tony Madau	Punter	Nevada
Len Walterscheid	Safety	Southern Utah
Scott Yelvington	Wide receiver	Northwestern

Roster

1977 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Bob Avellini  8 Vince Evans 15 Mike Phipps Running backs (RB) 25 Art Best 35 Roland Harper 22 Johnny Musso 34 Walter Payton Wide receivers (WR) 80 Bo Rather 83 Steve Rivera 85 Steve Schubert 89 James Scott Tight ends (TE) 81 Chuck Bradley 39 Robin Earl 88 Greg Latta

Offensive linemen (OL) 64 Ted Albrecht T 63 Fred Dean G 65 Noah Jackson G 62 Dan Jiggetts T 70 Dennis Lick T 52 Dan Neal C 53 Dan Peiffer C 75 Jeff Sevy G 69 Revie Sorey G Defensive linemen (DL) 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 74 Jerry Meyers DT 87 Billy Newsome DE 68 Jim Osborne DT 76 Ron Rydalch DT 71 Roger Stillwell DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Waymond Bryant 55 Doug Buffone 59 Gary Campbell 54 Tom Hicks 58 Jerry Muckensturm 51 Mel Rogers 57 Don Rives Defensive backs (DB) 43 Craig Clemons SS 48 Allan Ellis CB 45 Gary Fencik SS 24 Virgil Livers CB 46 Doug Plank SS 47 Mike Spivey 44 Terry Schmidt CB 23 Len Walterscheid Special teams 86 Bob Parsons P 16 Robert R. Thomas K

Reserve 79 Lionel Antoine T (IR) 84 Brian Baschnagel WR (IR) 60 Wally Chambers DT (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 18	Detroit Lions	W 30–20	1–0	Soldier Field	51,530
2	September 25	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 13–16	1–1	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,878
3	October 2	New Orleans Saints	L 24–42	1–2	Soldier Field	51,488
4	October 10	Los Angeles Rams	W 24–23	2–2	Soldier Field	51,412
5	October 16	at Minnesota Vikings	L 16–22	2–3	Metropolitan Stadium	47,708
6	October 23	Atlanta Falcons	L 10–16	2–4	Soldier Field	49,407
7	October 30	at Green Bay Packers	W 26–0	3–4	Lambeau Field	56,002
8	November 6	at Houston Oilers	L 0–47	3–5	Houston Astrodome	47,226
9	November 13	Kansas City Chiefs	W 28–27	4–5	Soldier Field	49,543
10	November 20	Minnesota Vikings	W 10–7	5–5	Soldier Field	49,563
11	November 24	at Detroit Lions	W 31–14	6–5	Pontiac Silverdome	71,373
12	December 4	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 10–0	7–5	Soldier Field	48,948
13	December 11	Green Bay Packers	W 21–10	8–5	Soldier Field	33,557
14	December 18	at New York Giants	W 12–9 (OT)	9–5	Giants Stadium	50,152
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	December 26	at Dallas Cowboys	L 7–37	0–1	Texas Stadium	62,920

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 7 3 3 7 20 • Bears 7 20 0 3 30 Date: September 18 Location: Soldier Field • Chicago, Illinois Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 51,530 Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C) • Wind 8 mph (13 km/h) TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender, Tom Matte

Scoring summary 1 DET Dexter Bussey 1-yard run (Steve Mike-Mayer kick) Lions 7–0 1 CHI Johnny Musso 2-yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Tie 7–7 2 CHI Steve Schubert 70-yard punt return (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 14–7 2 CHI Walter Payton 3-yard run (kick failed) Bears 20–7 2 CHI Walter Payton 2-yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 27–7 2 DET Steve Mike-Mayer 35-yard field goal Bears 27–10 3 DET Steve Mike-Mayer 38-yard field goal Bears 27–13 4 DET Dexter Bussey 5-yard run (Steve Mike-Mayer kick) Bears 27–20 4 CHI Bob Thomas 35-yard field goal Bears 30–20

Week 2

• TV Station: CBS
• TV Announcers: Frank Glieber, Johnny Morris

Jim Hart completed 12 straight passes, one of 10 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, while directing St. Louis to victory over Chicago 16–13. The veteran Hart who completed 16 of 24 passes while suffering two interceptions, contributed balance to a crisp Cards attack and Jim Bakken booted three field goals.

Week 3

• TV Station: CBS
• TV Announcers: Don Criqui, Emerson Boozer

Archie Manning scored on runs of 8, 2 and 11 and threw a 35-yard Touchdown pass to Chuck Muncie as the Saints gain a road victory. The Saints also got TDs on a 52-yard fumble recovery by Bob Pollard and a 57-yard interception return by Jim Merlo.

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 13 3 0 7 23 • Bears 7 7 0 10 24 Date: October 10 Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois Game start: 8:00 p.m. CDT TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford and Don Meredith

Scoring summary 1 LA Rafael Septien 22 yard field goal Rams 3–0 1 LA Rafael Septien 29 yard field goal Rams 6–0 1 LA Lawrence McCutcheon 2 yard run (Rafael Septien kick) Rams 13–0 1 CHI James Scott 70 yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick) Rams 13–7 2 CHI James Scott 72 yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 14–13 2 LA Rafael Septien 24 yard field goal Rams 16–14 4 CHI Bob Thomas 33 yard field goal Bears 17–16 4 CHI Greg Latta 29 yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 24–16 4 LA Dwight Scales 26 yard pass from Pat Haden (Rafael Septien kick) Bears 24–23

Week 6

• Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois
• TV Station: CBS
• Announcers: Vin Scully, Alex Hawkins

With about two minutes to go, Chicago appeared to have a one-point victory over Atlanta. But the Bears' Steve Schubert fumbled a punt deep in his own territory, Atlanta recovered and Haskel Stanback plowed in moments later from the two-yard line for the Falcons victory. Chicago had taken a 3–0 lead on Bob Thomas' 40-yard field goal, but Nick Mike-Mayer come back with shots of 32, 44, and 21 yards to put Atlanta ahead 9–3. Brian Baschnagel's 84-yard kickoff return resulted in the Bears only touchdown.

Week 7

• Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin
• TV Station: CBS
• Announcers: Gary Bender and Johnny Morris

Walter Payton's 205 tied Gale Sayers record for most rushing yards in a game that was set in 1968. "I didn't want to break Sayers' record because Sayers is a super guy. What's a record? I just want to win the game" Payton said it after scoring touchdown runs of 1 and 6 and setting up Johnny Musso's 3-yard touchdown run in a rout over the Packers.

Week 8

• The Astrodome in Houston, Texas
• TV Station: CBS
• Announcers: Frank Glieber and Johnny Morris

Houston's big play offense, dormant throughout the season sprang to life on touchdown bombs of 85 and 43 yards to Ken Burrough and a 75-yard free kick return and a 61-yard touchdown run by Billy Johnson as the Oilers dazzled Chicago 47–0. Houston's first two big plays, Johnson's run and Burrough's 85-yarder we're delivered over a span of 2:55 in the second quarter and helped the Oilers to a 17–0 halftime lead and never looked back. Coach Jack Pardee call the loss "The worst thing I've ever been associated with in any form". This loss turns out to be a turning point in the Bears season. They would not lose a game again in the 1977 regular season.

Week 10

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	0	7	0	7
Bears	0	10	0	0	10

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: Sunday, November 20
• Game time: 12:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C), wind 21 mph (34 km/h)
• Game attendance: 49,563
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

Second quarter CHI – Walter Payton 1-yard run (Bob Thomas kick) – Bears 7–0 CHI – Bob Thomas 37-yard field goal – Bears 10–0 Third quarter MIN – Matt Blair 10-yard blocked punt return (Fred Cox kick) – Bears 10–7 Vikings Bob Lee 12/24, 116 Yds, 2 INT Chuck Foreman 14 Rush, 54 Yds Sammy White 3 Rec, 31 Yds Bears Bob Avellini 4/6, 33 Yds, INT Walter Payton 40 Rush, 275 Yds, TD James Scott 2 Rec, 22 Yds

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 0 0 17 14 31 Lions 0 7 0 7 14 Date: November 24 Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, MI Game start: 1:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 71,373 Game weather: Indoors (dome)

Scoring summary Q2 DET Hill 16 yard pass from Landry (Mike-Mayer kick) DET 7–0 Q3 CHI Rather 42 yard pass from Avellini (Thomas kick) Tie 7–7 Q3 CHI Payton 75 yard pass from Avellini (Thomas kick) CHI 14–7 Q3 CHI Thomas 29 yard field goal CHI 17–7 Q4 CHI Avellini 1 yard run (Thomas kick) CHI 24–7 Q4 DET O'Neil 52 yard fumble return (Mike-Mayer kick) CHI 24–14 Q4 CHI Payton 8 yard run (Thomas kick) CHI 31–14

• Walter Payton 20 Rush, 137 Yds, 4 Rec, 107 Yds

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings(3)	9	5	0	.643	6–1	8–4	231	227	W1
Chicago Bears(4)	9	5	0	.643	6–1	8–4	255	253	W6
Detroit Lions	6	8	0	.429	2–5	4–8	183	252	L1
Green Bay Packers	4	10	0	.286	2–5	4–7	134	219	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	12	0	.143	0–4	2–11	103	223	W2

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff

Dallas Cowboys 37, Chicago Bears 7

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	7	7
Cowboys	7	10	17	3	37

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C), mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 62,920
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier

Safety Charlie Waters led the Cowboys to a 37–7 victory by setting an NFL playoff record of 3 interceptions. Dallas built a 17–0 halftime lead, with the aid of running back Doug Dennison’s 2-yard touchdown run and quarterback Roger Staubach’s 28-yard scoring pass to tight end Billy Joe Dupree. In the second half, running back Tony Dorsett recorded two rushing touchdowns and Efren Herrera added two more field goals. The Bears were limited to 224 total yards and did not score until the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.

Awards and records

• Walter Payton, NFL MVP
• Walter Payton, led NFL in rushing (1,852 yards)
• Walter Payton, Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player
• Walter Payton, Led NFL in Total Yards, (2,216)

External links

• Chicago Bears on Pro Football Reference
• Chicago Bears on jt-sw