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| Regular season | |||
| Duration | September 18, 1977 – December 18, 1977 | ||
| Playoffs | |||
| Start date | December 24, 1977 | ||
| AFC Champions | Denver Broncos | ||
| NFC Champions | Dallas Cowboys | ||
| Super Bowl XII | |||
| Date | January 15, 1978 | ||
| Site | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana | ||
| Champions | Dallas Cowboys | ||
| Pro Bowl | |||
| Date | January 23, 1978 | ||
| Site | Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida | ||
National Football League seasons
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The 1977 NFL season was the 58th regular season of the National Football League. The Seattle Seahawks were placed in the AFC West while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were slotted in the NFC Central.
Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving Day game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys, the league scheduled a Miami Dolphins at St. Louis Cardinals contest. This would be only the second season since 1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday. As of 2010, it marked the last time that the Cowboys did not play on Thanksgiving.
This was the last NFL regular season with 14 games. The regular season was expanded to 16 games in 1978, with the preseason reduced from six games to four. It was also the final season of the eight-team playoff field in the NFL, before going to ten the following season.
The season ended with Super Bowl XII when the Cowboys defeated the Denver Broncos.
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Tampa Bay and Seattle continued as "swing" teams that didn't participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14 game schedule against other conference teams. Tampa Bay switched to the NFC and played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the AFC. The teams met in Week Five, with Seattle winning 30–23.
Starting in 1970, and through 2001, except for the strike-shortened 1982 season, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
| Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 teams | 1–0 | (Chi, GB) | 1–0 | ATLANTA | 1–0 | 3 teams | 1–0 |
| 2 | DALLAS | 2–0 | 4 teams | 1–1 | ATLANTA* | 1–1 | 8 teams | 1–1 |
| 3 | DALLAS | 3–0 | MINNESOTA | 2–1* | ATLANTA | 2–1 | 3 teams | 2–1 |
| 4 | DALLAS | 4–0 | MINNESOTA | 3–1 | ATLANTA | 3–1 | WASHINGTON | 3–1 |
| 5 | DALLAS | 5–0 | MINNESOTA | 4–1 | ATLANTA* | 3–2 | 3 teams | 3–2 |
| 6 | DALLAS | 6–0 | MINNESOTA | 4–2 | ATLANTA* | 4–2 | LOS ANGELES | 4–2 |
| 7 | DALLAS | 7–0 | MINNESOTA | 5–2 | ATLANTA* | 4–3 | ST. LOUIS* | 4–3 |
| 8 | DALLAS | 8–0 | MINNESOTA | 5–3 | LOS ANGELES | 5–3 | ST. LOUIS* | 5–3 |
| 9 | DALLAS | 8–1 | MINNESOTA | 6–3 | LOS ANGELES | 6–3 | ST. LOUIS* | 6–3 |
| 10 | DALLAS | 8–2 | MINNESOTA | 6–4 | LOS ANGELES | 7–3 | ST. LOUIS | 7–3 |
| 11 | DALLAS | 9–2 | MINNESOTA | 7–4 | LOS ANGELES | 8–3 | ST. LOUIS | 7–4 |
| 12 | DALLAS | 10–2 | MINNESOTA | 8–4 | LOS ANGELES | 8–4 | ST. LOUIS* | 7–5 |
| 13 | DALLAS | 11–2 | CHICAGO* | 8–5 | LOS ANGELES | 10–3 | WASHINGTON* | 8–5 |
| 14 | DALLAS | 12–2 | MINNESOTA* | 9–5 | LOS ANGELES | 10–4 | CHICAGO* | 9–5 |
* other teams with same W-L record
American Football Conference
| Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Bal, Mia) | 1–0 | 3 teams | 1–0 | (Den, Oak) | 1–0 | 5 teams | 1–0 |
| 2 | (Bal, Mia) | 2–0 | (Cle, Hou) | 2–0 | (Den, Oak) | 2–0 | 3 teams | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | (Bal, Mia) | 3–0 | CLEVELAND* | 2–1 | (Den, Oak) | 3–0 | 2 teams | 3–0 |
| 4 | BALTIMORE | 4–0 | HOUSTON | 3–1 | (Den, Oak) | 4–0 | 2 teams | 4–0 |
| 5 | BALTIMORE | 5–0 | PITTSBURGH* | 3–2 | DENVER | 5–0 | OAKLAND* | 4–1 |
| 6 | BALTIMORE* | 5–1 | PITTSBURGH* | 3–2 | DENVER | 6–0 | OAKLAND* | 5–1 |
| 7 | BALTIMORE | 6–1 | CLEVELAND | 5–2 | OAKLAND* | 6–1 | DENVER | 6–1 |
| 8 | BALTIMORE | 7–1 | CLEVELAND | 5–3 | OAKLAND* | 7–1 | DENVER | 7–1 |
| 9 | BALTIMORE | 8–1 | PITTSBURGH* | 5–4 | OAKLAND* | 8–1 | DENVER | 8–1 |
| 10 | BALTIMORE | 9–1 | PITTSBURGH* | 6–4 | DENVER | 9–1 | OAKLAND | 8–2 |
| 11 | BALTIMORE* | 9–2 | PITTSBURGH | 7–4 | DENVER | 10–1 | OAKLAND | 9–2 |
| 12 | BALTIMORE* | 9–3 | PITTSBURGH | 8–4 | DENVER | 11–1 | OAKLAND | 9–3 |
| 13 | BALTIMORE* | 9–4 | PITTSBURGH* | 8–5 | DENVER | 12–1 | OAKLAND | 10–3 |
| 14 | BALTIMORE* | 10–4 | PITTSBURGH | 9–5 | DENVER | 12–2 | OAKLAND | 11–3 |
* other teams with same W-L record
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
x – clinched wild card berth, y – clinched division title
| AFC East | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Baltimore Colts | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 295 | 221 |
| Miami Dolphins | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 313 | 197 |
| New England Patriots | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 278 | 217 |
| Buffalo Bills | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 160 | 313 |
| New York Jets | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 191 | 300 |
| AFC Central | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-Pittsburgh Steelers | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 283 | 243 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 238 | 235 |
| Houston Oilers | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 299 | 230 |
| Cleveland Browns | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 269 | 267 |
| AFC West | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-Denver Broncos | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 274 | 148 |
| x-Oakland Raiders | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 351 | 230 |
| San Diego Chargers | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 222 | 205 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 282 | 373 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 225 | 349 |
| NFC East | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Dallas Cowboys | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 345 | 212 |
| Washington Redskins | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 196 | 189 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 272 | 287 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 220 | 207 |
| New York Giants | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 181 | 265 |
| NFC Central | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-Minnesota Vikings | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 231 | 227 |
| x-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 |
| NFC West | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
| y-Los Angeles Rams | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 302 | 146 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 179 | 129 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 220 | 260 |
| New Orleans Saints | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 232 | 336 |
| Divisional Playoffs | Conf. Championship Games | Super Bowl XII | ||||||||
| December 26 – L.A. Memorial Coliseum | ||||||||||
| 3) Minnesota Vikings | 14 | |||||||||
| January 1 – Texas Stadium | ||||||||||
| 2) Los Angeles Rams | 7 | |||||||||
| 3) Minnesota Vikings | 6 | |||||||||
| December 26 – Texas Stadium | ||||||||||
| 1) Dallas Cowboys | 23 | |||||||||
| 4) Chicago Bears | 7 | |||||||||
| January 15 – Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||
| 1) Dallas Cowboys | 37 | |||||||||
| N1) Dallas Cowboys | 27 | |||||||||
| December 24 – Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||
| A1) Denver Broncos | 10 | |||||||||
| 4) Oakland Raiders (2OT) | 37 | |||||||||
| January 1 – Mile High Stadium | ||||||||||
| 2)* Baltimore Colts | 31 | |||||||||
| 4) Oakland Raiders | 17 | |||||||||
| December 24 – Mile High Stadium | ||||||||||
| 1) Denver Broncos | 20 | |||||||||
| 3) Pittsburgh Steelers | 21 | |||||||||
| 1)* Denver Broncos | 34 | |||||||||
*Denver (the AFC 1 seed) did not play Oakland (the 4 seed) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.
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