1977 Oakland Raiders season

1977 Oakland Raiders season
Head coach	John Madden
General manager	Al Davis
Owner	Al Davis
Home field	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record	11–3
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Championship

The 1977 Oakland Raiders season was the team’s 18th season overall, and 8th season since joining the NFL. The Raiders entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champions.

The 1977 Raiders reached the AFC Championship Game for the fifth consecutive season, and their sixth time in eight years. They lost the AFC Championship, however, to the division rival Denver Broncos.

The 1977 Raiders set a professional football record with 681 rushing attempts. Fullback Mark van Eeghen 324 times for 1273 yards, and running back Clarence Davis ran 194 times for 787 yards.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1977 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Roster

Defense [1] CB Skip Thomas ⋅ CB Willie Brown ⋅ Offense [2] WR Fred Biletnikoff ⋅ LT LG C RG RT Art Shell Gene Upshaw Dave Dalby George Buehler Henry Lawrence ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ TE Dave Casper ⋅ WR Cliff Branch ⋅ QB Ken Stabler ⋅ RB Clarence Davis ⋅ FB Mark van Eeghen ⋅ Special Teams PK Errol Mann P Ray Guy KR Carl Garrett PR Neal Colzie

Schedule

Regular season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 18, 1977	San Diego Chargers	W 24–0	51,022
2	September 25, 1977	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–7	50,398
3	October 3, 1977	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 37–28	60,684
4	October 9, 1977	at Cleveland Browns	W 26–10	80,236
5	October 16, 1977	Denver Broncos	L 30–7	53,616
6	October 23, 1977	at New York Jets	W 28–27	56,734
7	October 30, 1977	at Denver Broncos	W 24–14	75,007
8	November 6, 1977	Seattle Seahawks	W 44–7	50,929
9	November 13, 1977	Houston Oilers	W 34–29	53,667
10	November 20, 1977	at San Diego Chargers	L 12–7	50,887
11	November 28, 1977	Buffalo Bills	W 34–13	51,558
12	December 4, 1977	at Los Angeles Rams	L 20–14	67,075
13	December 11, 1977	Minnesota Vikings	W 35–13	52,771
14	December 18, 1977	Kansas City Chiefs	W 21–20	50,304

Playoffs

Oakland made the playoffs as a wild card in 1977 and won the divisional playoffs in a game against the Baltimore Colts when Errol Mann tied the game with a field goal. In the second overtime, Dave Casper caught another touchdown pass for the victory. The following week, they lost the AFC Championship Game 20–17 in Denver.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	December 24, 1977	at Baltimore Colts	W 37–31	60,763
AFC Championship	January 1, 1978	at Denver Broncos	L 20–17	74,982

Results

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chargers	0	0	0	0	0
Raiders	7	10	7	0	24

at Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA

• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 66°F (24.4°C), wind 11 mph
• Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Chargers Raiders 1 Raiders Cliff Branch 7-yard touchdown reception from Ken Stabler, Errol Mann kick good 0 7 2 Raiders 20-yard field goal by Errol Mann 0 10 2 Raiders Dave Casper 1-yard touchdown reception from Ken Stabler, Errol Mann kick good 0 17 3 Raiders Pete Banaszak 2-yard touchdown run, Errol Mann kick good 0 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 0 24

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 0 9 0 7 16 Steelers 0 0 0 7 7 Date: September 25 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 67°F, wind 9

Scoring summary 2 OAK Errol Mann 21 yard field goal Raiders 3–0 2 OAK Errol Mann 40 yard field goal Raiders 6–0 2 OAK Errol Mann 41 yard field goal Raiders 9–0 4 OAK Mark van Eeghen 8 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 16–0 4 PIT Bennie Cunningham 43 yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick) Raiders 16–7

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 7 6 21 3 37 Chiefs 0 21 0 7 28 Date: October 3 Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri Game start: 8:00 p.m. Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 OAK Fred Biletnikoff 21 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann) kick Raiders 7–0 2 OAK Errol Mann 42 yard field goal Raiders 10–0 2 KC Walter White 48 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick) Raiders 10–7 2 KC Walter White 1 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick) Chiefs 14–10 2 KC Henry Marshall 41 yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick) Chiefs 21–10 2 OAK Errol Mann 34 yard field goal Chiefs 21–13 3 OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Chiefs 21–20 3 OAK Clarence Davis 37 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 27–21 3 OAK Clarence Davis 2 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 34–21 4 KC Lawrence Williams 13 yard run (Jan Stenerud kick) Raiders 34–28 4 OAK Errol Mann 22 yard field goal Raiders 37–28

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 14 0 0 14 28 Jets 13 14 0 0 27 Date: October 23 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 56,734

Scoring summary Q1 OAK Mark van Eeghen 3 yard run (Errol Mann kick) OAK 7–0 Q1 NYJ Jerome Barkum 18 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) Tie 7–7 Q1 OAK Dave Casper 19 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) OAK 14–7 Q1 NYJ Wesley Walker 87 yard pass from Richard Todd (kick failed) OAK 14–13 Q2 NYJ Rich Caster 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 20–14 Q2 NYJ Clark Gaines 14 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 27–14 Q4 OAK Fred Biletnikoff 7 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) NYJ 27–21 Q4 OAK Mike Siani 24 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) OAK 28–27

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 3 7 3 0 13 • Raiders 13 7 14 0 34 Date: November 28 Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California Game start: 6:00 p.m. Game attendance: 51,558 Game weather: 56°F • Wind 6 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary 1 OAK Cliff Branch 28 yard pass from Ken Stabler (kick failed) Raiders 6–0 1 BUF Carson Long 33 yard field goal Raiders 6–3 1 OAK Fred Biletnikoff 44 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 13–3 2 BUF John Kimbrough 29 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Carson Long kick) Raiders 13–10 2 OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 20–10 3 BUF Carson Long 40 yard field goal Raiders 20–13 3 OAK Cliff Branch 12 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 27–13 3 OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 34–13

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Denver Broncos(1)	12	2	0	.857	6–1	11–1	274	148	L1
Oakland Raiders(4)	11	3	0	.786	5–2	10–2	351	230	W2
San Diego Chargers	7	7	0	.500	3–4	6–6	222	205	L2
Seattle Seahawks	5	9	0	.357	1–3	4–9	282	373	W2
Kansas City Chiefs	2	12	0	.143	1–6	1–11	225	349	L6

Statistics

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
Ken Stabler	169	294	2176	20	20

Rushing

Player	Att	Yards	TD
Ken Stabler	3	−3	–

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yards	TD
Dave Casper	48	584	6
Cliff Branch	33	540	6
Fred Biletnikoff	33	446	5

External links

• 1977 Raiders on Pro Football Reference
• 1977 Raiders on Database Football