1977 Chicago Bears season

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

The 1977 Chicago Bears season was their 58th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted 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 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 twenty-six losses.

Walter Payton was the star of the team 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 a flu and 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).

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 18, 1977	Detroit Lions	W 30–20	51,530
2	September 25, 1977	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 13–16	49,878
3	October 2, 1977	New Orleans Saints	L 24–42	51,488
4	October 10, 1977	Los Angeles Rams	W 24–23	51,412
5	October 16, 1977	at Minnesota Vikings	L 16–22	47,708
6	October 23, 1977	Atlanta Falcons	L 10–16	49,407
7	October 30, 1977	at Green Bay Packers	W 26–0	56,002
8	November 6, 1977	at Houston Oilers	L 0–47	47,226
9	November 13, 1977	Kansas City Chiefs	W 28–27	49,543
10	November 20, 1977	Minnesota Vikings	W 10–7	49,563
11	November 24, 1977	at Detroit Lions	W 31–14	71,373
12	December 4, 1977	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 10–0	48,948
13	December 11, 1977	Green Bay Packers	W 21–10	33,557
14	December 18, 1977	at New York Giants	W 12–9 (OT)	50,152

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	December 26, 1977	at Dallas Cowboys	L 7–37	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 • Wind 8

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 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. TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford

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 10

	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, wind 21 mph
• 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

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

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• 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