1977 New England Patriots season

The 1977 New England Patriots season was the franchise's eighth season in the National Football League and 18th overall. The Patriots struggled to a 5–4 record and trailed the Baltimore Colts by three games and the Miami Dolphins by two games after losing 17–5 to the Dolphins. Beginning November 20th, the Patriots won four straight allowing no more than 10 points. While they won the rematch with Miami, a Baltimore win on December 11th would have actually helped them in their quest to win the division crown, but Detroit won 13–10 on a late blocked punt, and New England then needed help with a Buffalo win over Miami. That did not happen as the Dolphins rolled to a 31–14 win to eliminate the Patriots, who ended the season with a record of 9–5 and finished third in the AFC East Division, after a 30–24 loss in the final game to the Colts.

1977 New England Patriots season
Owner	Billy Sullivan
General manager	Chuck Fairbanks
Head coach	Chuck Fairbanks
Home stadium	Schaefer Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
All-Pros	G John Hannah (2nd team) CB Mike Haynes (2nd team)
Pro Bowlers	TE Russ Francis CB Mike Haynes
← 1976 Patriots seasons 1978 →

Draft

1977 New England Patriots draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	16	Raymond Clayborn *	Defensive back	Texas
1	25	Stanley Morgan *	Wide receiver	Tennessee
2	44	Horace Ivory	Running back	Oklahoma
2	52	Don Hasselbeck	Tight end	Colorado
3	82	Sidney Brown	Defensive back	Oklahoma	Played with the Patriots in 1978
4	109	Gerald Skinner	Tackle	Arkansas
7	192	Ken Smith	Wide receiver	Arkansas–Pine Bluff
8	219	Brad Benson *	Tackle	Penn State
9	249	Jerry Vogele	Linebacker	Michigan
10	276	John Rasmussen	Tackle	Wisconsin
10	279	Giles Alexander	Defensive end	Tulsa
11	303	Ray Costict	Linebacker	Mississippi State
12	333	Dave Preston	Running back	Bowling Green
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1977 New England Patriots staff

Front office President – Billy Sullivan Executive vice president – Chuck Sullivan Assistant general manager – Jim Valek Director of player personnel – Bucko Kilroy Coaches administrative aide – Ernie Adams Personnel assistant – Tom Boisture Personnel assistant – Mike Holovak Personnel assistant – Marv Sunderland Personnel assistant – Tony Razzano Head coaches General manager/head coach – Chuck Fairbanks Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/line – Hank Bullough Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/running backs – Ron Erhardt Quarterbacks – John Polonchek Receivers – Ray Perkins Offensive line – Leon McLaughlin

Defensive coaches Linebackers – Charlie Sumner Defensive backs – Dick Walker Special teams coaches Special teams – Tom Yewcic

Roster

1977 New England Patriots roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Steve Grogan 17 Tom Owen Running backs (RB) 44 Don Calhoun 39 Sam Cunningham 38 Ike Forte 23 Horace Ivory 35 Jess Phillips Wide receivers (WR) 82 Steve Burks 86 Stanley Morgan 84 Darryl Stingley 83 Don Westbrook Tight ends (TE) 87 Al Chandler 81 Russ Francis 80 Don Hasselbeck

Offensive linemen (OL) 61 Sam Adams G 58 Pete Brock G/C 70 Leon Gray T 73 John Hannah G 74 Shelby Jordan T 67 Bill Lenkaitis C 66 Bob McKay T 77 Tom Neville T 63 Fred Sturt G Defensive linemen (DL) 85 Julius Adams DE 64 Richard Bishop NT 65 Greg Boyd DE 71 Ray Hamilton NT 72 Mel Lunsford DE 78 Tony McGee DE

Linebackers (LB) 59 Pete Barnes OLB 55 Ray Costict ILB 50 Sam Hunt ILB 52 Steve King OLB 57 Steve Nelson ILB 56 Rod Shoate OLB 54 Steve Zabel OLB Defensive backs (DB) 27 Doug Beaudoin SS 26 Raymond Clayborn CB 22 Dick Conn FS 48 Tim Fox FS 40 Mike Haynes CB 24 Bob Howard CB 34 Prentice McCray SS Special teams (ST)  2 Mike Patrick P  1 John Smith K

Reserve 21 Sidney Brown CB (IR) 76 Pete Cusick NT (IR) 32 Andy Johnson RB (IR) 53 Jim Romaniszyn LB (IR) 51 Jerry Vogele LB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Game Recap
1	September 18	Kansas City Chiefs	W 21–17	1–0	Schaefer Stadium	58,185	Recap
2	September 26	at Cleveland Browns	L 27–30 (OT)	1–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	76,418	Recap
3	October 2	at New York Jets	L 27–30	1–2	Shea Stadium	38,227	Recap
4	October 9	Seattle Seahawks	W 31–0	2–2	Schaefer Stadium	45,927	Recap
5	October 16	at San Diego Chargers	W 24–20	3–2	San Diego Stadium	50,327	Recap
6	October 23	Baltimore Colts	W 17–3	4–2	Schaefer Stadium	60,958	Recap
7	October 30	New York Jets	W 24–13	5–2	Schaefer Stadium	61,042	Recap
8	November 6	Buffalo Bills	L 14–24	5–3	Schaefer Stadium	60,263	Recap
9	November 13	at Miami Dolphins	L 5–17	5–4	Miami Orange Bowl	67,502	Recap
10	November 20	at Buffalo Bills	W 20–7	6–4	Rich Stadium	27,598	Recap
11	November 27	Philadelphia Eagles	W 14–6	7–4	Schaefer Stadium	57,893	Recap
12	December 4	at Atlanta Falcons	W 16–10	8–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,911	Recap
13	December 11	Miami Dolphins	W 14–10	9–4	Schaefer Stadium	61,064	Recap
14	December 18	at Baltimore Colts	L 24–30	9–5	Memorial Stadium	42,250	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Kansas City Chiefs

Week 1: Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	14	0	0	3	17
Patriots	7	7	7	0	21

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

• Date: September 18
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: Hazy, warm, 76 °F (24 °C)
• Game attendance: 58,185
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Len Dawson
• Box score

Game information

First quarter KC – MacArthur Lane 1-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick), 7:54. Chiefs 7–0. Drive: 7 plays, 19 yards, 3:34. KC – Tony Reed 10-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick), 4:15. Chiefs 14–0. Drive: 3 plays, 65 yards, 1:28. NE – Darryl Stingley 34-yard run (John Smith kick), 0:52. Chiefs 14–7. Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 3:23. Second quarter NE – Darryl Stingley 21-yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick), 1:08. Tied 14–14. Drive: 4 plays, 42 yards, 0:38. Third quarter NE – Jess Phillips 11-yard run (John Smith kick), 2:02. Patriots 21–14. Drive: 7 plays, 59 yards, 3:38. Fourth quarter KC – Jan Stenerud 22-yard field goal, 10:23. Patriots 21–17. Drive: 13 plays, 76 yards, 6:39. Top passers KC – Mike Livingston – 13/26, 219 yards NE – Steve Grogan – 10/16, 155 yards, TD, 2 INT Top rushers KC – Tony Reed – 19 rushes, 88 yards, TD NE – Sam Cunningham – 23 rushes, 105 yards Top receivers KC – Henry Marshall – 3 receptions, 76 yards NE – Sam Cunningham – 3 receptions, 48 yards

• Week 11
• Television: CBS
• Announcers: Don Criqui, Nick Buoniconti

Steve Grogan passed for two touchdowns in the first half, and the New England defense sacked Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski eight times as the Patriots keep their faint playoff hopes alive with their win in front of a regional TV audience. Grogan hit Stanley Morgan on a scoring shot 64 yards in the first period, and then drilled a 16-yard pass to Darryl Stingley for another touchdown in the first half. The Eagles averted a shutout as Jaworski broke out of trouble and passed 12 yards to Charles Smith for a touchdown with just 52 seconds left to play.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts^(2)	10	4	0	.714	6–2	9–3	295	221	W1
Miami Dolphins	10	4	0	.714	6–2	8–4	313	197	W1
New England Patriots	9	5	0	.643	4–4	7–5	278	217	L1
New York Jets	3	11	0	.214	2–6	2–10	191	300	L2
Buffalo Bills	3	11	0	.214	2–6	2–10	160	313	L1

See also

• New England Patriots seasons