1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

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1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season
Head Coach John McKay
Home Field Tampa Stadium
Results
Record 2-12
Place 5th NFC Central
Playoff Finish Did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1976 1978

The 1977 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season began with the team trying to improve on an 0-14 season. In week 13 they recorded their first win in franchise history. It was a 33-14 defeat of the New Orleans Saints. The win ended a 26 game losing streak which as of 2008 remains an NFL record. They scored just six touchdowns during the season and were shut out six times during the season, which also remains an NFL record.

Contents

[edit] Offseason

[edit] NFL Draft

Pick # NFL Team Player Position College
1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ricky Bell Running Back USC
29 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Dave Lewis Linebacker USC
57 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Charles Hannah Defensive End Alabama

[edit] Regular Season

The Buccaneers joined the NFL as members of the AFC West in 1976. The following year, they were moved to the NFC Central, while the other 1976 expansion team, the Seattle Seahawks, switched conferences with Tampa Bay and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons.

Tampa Bay started the first two seasons winless with an overall 0-26 record before finally winning its first game in 1977 on the road against the New Orleans Saints. Saints Head Coach Hank Stram was fired after losing to the Buccaneers, but Tampa Bay went out the next week and won their first home game over the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1977 season finale.

[edit] Schedule

Regular season
Week Date Opponent Result Kickoff Game site TV Record
1 September 18, 1977 Philadelphia Eagles L 13-3 Veterans Stadium 0-1
2 September 24, 1977 Minnesota Vikings L 9-3 Tampa Stadium 0-2
3 October 2, 1977 Dallas Cowboys L 23-7 Texas Stadium 0-3
4 October 9, 1977 Washington Redskins L 10-0 Tampa Stadium 0-4
5 October 16, 1977 Seattle Seahawks L 30-23 Kingdome 0-5
6 October 23, 1977 Green Bay Packers L 13-0 Tampa Stadium 0-6
7 October 30, 1977 San Francisco 49ers L 20-10 Candlestick Park 0-7
8 November 6, 1977 Los Angeles Rams L 31-0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 0-8
9 November 13, 1977 New York Giants L 10-0 Tampa Stadium 0-9
10 November 20, 1977 Detroit Lions L 16-7 Pontiac Silverdome 0-10
11 November 27, 1977 Atlanta Falcons L 17-0 Tampa Stadium 0-11
12 December 4, 1977 Chicago Bears L 10-0 Tampa Stadium 0-12
13 December 11, 1977 New Orleans Saints W 33-14 Louisiana Superdome 1-12
14 December 18, 1977 St. Louis Cardinals W 17-7 Tampa Stadium 2-12

[edit] 1977 Roster

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1977 roster
Quarterbacks
  •  - Gary Huff QB
  •  - Randy Hedberg QB

Running Backs

  •  42 Ricky Bell RB

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

  •  63 Lee Roy Selmon DE
Linebackers

Defensive Backs CB

Special Teams

Reserve Lists

Practice Squad

Rookies in italics

[edit] Standings

NFC Central
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Minnesota Vikings 9 5 0 .643 231 227
Chicago Bears 9 5 0 .643 255 253
Detroit Lions 6 8 0 .429 183 252
Green Bay Packers 4 10 0 .286 134 219
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2 12 0 .143 103 223

[edit] Awards and honors

[edit] References

1977 NFL season
v  d  e
AFC East Central West NFC East Central West
Baltimore Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta
Buffalo Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Los Angeles
Miami Houston Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans
New England Pittsburgh San Diego St. Louis Minnesota San Francisco
NY Jets Seattle Washington Tampa Bay
1977 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XII