1977 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 1977 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 45th in the National Football League (NFL). The 1977 Pittsburgh Steelers failed to improve on their 10–4 record from 1976 and finished with a 9–5 record; however, they appeared in the playoffs for their 6th straight season and won the AFC Central again. They had a hard time for most of the season as their record hovered around .500. Even the Steel Curtain seemed to have a little wear and tear allowing 243 points on the season, more than 100 more than the previous season. The sloppy plays would catch up with them in the Divisional Playoffs when they were knocked off by the Broncos 34–21 in Denver. The 1977 season is remembered as one of the most turbulent in franchise history, as numerous players were involved with off-the-field issues. Defensive tackle Ernie Holmes was arrested for cocaine possession, and despite being found not guilty, lawsuits followed. Head coach Chuck Noll was also subject to a defamation lawsuit, as Oakland Raiders safety George Atkinson sued Noll and the Steelers for a disparaging comment in which Noll called Atkinson part of the "criminal element" in football. Though Atkinson lost the lawsuit, Noll was forced to bring Steelers cornerback Mel Blount into the suit, which upset Blount as he was one of many Steelers players engaged in a contract holdout, with others including linebacker Jack Lambert and safety Glen Edwards. Disputes between these players and Steelers owner Art Rooney were often publicized, and the overall drama played a significant part in the regression of the Steel Curtain defense. This was also the first season that the Steelers wore black face masks on their helmets. == Offseason == === NFL draft === === Undrafted free agents === == Personnel == === Staff === === Roster === The Pittsburgh Steelers began the 1977 season looking to improve upon their 10–4 record in 1976; when they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders. While the Steelers once again won the AFC Central crown, they finished with one fewer win; going 9–5 and losing to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional playoff game at Denver. == Regular season == === Schedule === === Game summaries === ==== Week 1 (Monday September 19, 1977): vs. San Francisco 49ers ==== at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 9:00 pm EDT Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h) Game attendance: 48,046 Referee: Bernie Ulman TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play), Don Meredith & Howard Cosell (color commentators) Scoring drives: Pittsburgh – Harris 14 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 49 Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 47 Pittsburgh – Harris 7 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Stallworth 15 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) ==== Week 2 (Sunday September 25, 1977): vs. Oakland Raiders ==== at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 4:00 pm EDT Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h) Game attendance: 50,398 Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers: (NBC) Curt Gowdy (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator) Scoring drives: Oakland – FG Mann 21 Oakland – FG Mann 40 Oakland – FG Mann 41 Oakland – van Eeghen 8 run (Mann kick) Pittsburgh – Cunningham 43 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) ==== Week 3 at Browns ==== ==== Week 4 (Sunday October 9, 1977): at Houston Oilers ==== at Astrodome, Houston, Texas Game time: 2:00 pm EDT Game attendance: 49,226 Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers: (NBC) Jack Buck (play by play), Jimmy Johnson (color commentator) Scoring drives: Houston – Burrough 44 pass from Coleman (Fritsch kick) Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 Pittsburgh – Bleier 1 run (Gerela kick) Houston – FG Fritsch 27 Houston – Johnson 51 pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick) Houston – Stemrick 5 fumble recovery return (Fritsch kick) Houston – FG Fritsch 18 ==== Week 5 (Monday October 17, 1977): vs. Cincinnati Bengals ==== at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 9:00 pm EDT Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C), wind 18 mph (29 km/h) Game attendance: 47,950 Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers: (ABC) Frank Gifford (play by play) and Don Meredith (color commentator) Scoring drives: Pittsburgh – Bleier 1 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Bleier 2 run (kick failed) Cincinnati – Bujnoch 4 run (Bahr kick) Pittsburgh – Thornton 1 run (Gerela kick) Cincinnati – Williams recovered blocked punt in end zone (Bahr kick) ==== Week 6 (Sunday October 23, 1977): vs. Houston Oilers ==== at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 pm EDT Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h) Game attendance: 48,517 Referee: Bernie Ulman TV announcers: (NBC) Stu Nahan (play by play), Andy Russell (color commentator) Scoring drives: Houston – Barber 5 pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Stallworth 49 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed) Houston – FG Fritsch 46 Pittsburgh – Cunningham 2 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Gerela kick) ==== Week 7 (Sunday October 30, 1977): at Baltimore Colts ==== at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland Game time: 4:00 pm EST Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C), wind 8 mph (13 km/h) Game attendance: 60,225 Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers: (NBC) Marv Albert (play by play), Len Dawson (color commentator) Scoring drives: Baltimore – FG Linhart 24 Baltimore – Leaks 26 pass from Jones (Linhart kick) Baltimore – Mitchell 13 pass from Jones (Linhart kick) Baltimore – Lee 25 run (Linhart kick) Pittsburgh – Swann 32 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Baltimore – Jones 6 run (Linhart kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 11 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 3 run (Gerela kick) ==== Week 8 (Sunday November 6, 1977): at Denver Broncos ==== at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado Game time: 4:00 pm EST Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C), wind 7 mph (11 km/h) Game attendance: 74,967 Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers: (NBC) Jim Simpson (play by play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator) Scoring drives: Denver – Lytle 1 run (Turner kick) Denver – Upchurch 87 punt return (Turner kick) Denver – Moses 20 pass from Morton (Turner kick) Pittsburgh – Stallworth 4 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) ==== Week 9 (Sunday November 13, 1977): vs. Cleveland Browns ==== at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 pm EST Game weather: 30 °F (−1 °C), wind 13 mph (21 km/h) Game attendance: 47,055 Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers: (NBC) Jim Simpson (play by play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator) Scoring drives: Cleveland – FG Cockroft 44 Pittsburgh – Swann 39 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Bleier 2 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Stallworth 38 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 16 run (Gerela kick) Cleveland – Miller 5 run (Cockroft kick) Pittsburgh – Stallworth 9 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Cleveland – Poole 5 pass from Mays (Cockroft kick) Cleveland – Poole 13 pass from Mays (Cockroft kick) Cleveland – Poole 3 pass from Mays (Cockroft kick) ==== Week 10 (Sunday November 20, 1977): vs. Dallas Cowboys ==== at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 4:00 pm EST Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h) Game attendance: 49,761 Referee: Bob Frederic TV announcers: (CBS) Pat Summerall (play by play), Tom Brookshier (color commentator) Scoring drives: Dallas – Dorsett 13 run (kick blocked) Pittsburgh – Harris 61 run (Gerela kick) Dallas – Saldi 23 pass from Staubach (Herrera kick) Pittsburgh – Swann 9 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Stallworth 28 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 2 run (Gerela kick) ==== Week 11 at Jets ==== ==== Week 12 (Sunday December 4, 1977): vs. Seattle Seahawks ==== at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game time: 1:00 pm EST Game weather: 33 °F (1 °C), wind 7 mph (11 km/h) Game attendance: 45,429 Referee: Cal Lepore TV announcers: (NBC) Sam Nover (play by play), Mike Haffner (color commentator) Scoring drives: Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 5 run (Gerela kick) Seattle – FG Leypoldt 20 Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 22 Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 28 Seattle – McCullum 65 pass from Zorn (Leypoldt kick) Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 43 Pittsburgh – Swann 22 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 3 run (Gerela kick) Seattle – Largent 30 pass from Zorn (Leypoldt kick) ==== Week 13 (Saturday December 10, 1977): at Cincinnati Bengals ==== at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati Game time: 1:00 pm EST Game weather: 0 °F (−18 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h) Game attendance: 36,133 Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers: (NBC) Curt Gowdy (play by play), John Brodie (color commentator) Scoring drives: Cincinnati – Parrish 47 interception return (Bahr kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 5 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 32 Cincinnati – FG Bahr 24 Cincinnati – McInally 43 pass from Anderson (Bahr kick) ==== Week 14 (Sunday December 18, 1977): at San Diego Chargers ==== at San Diego Stadium, San Diego, California Game time: 4:00 pm EST Game weather: 63 °F (17 °C), wind 12 mph (19 km/h) Game attendance: 50,727 Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers: (NBC) Charlie Jones (play by play), Andy Russell (color commentator) Scoring drives: San Diego – C. Williams 2 run (kick failed) San Diego – FG Benirschke 38 Pittsburgh – Thornton 1 run (Gerela kick) Pittsburgh – FG Gerela 27 === Standings === == Postseason == === Game summary === ==== AFC Divisional Playoff (Saturday December 24, 1977): at Denver Broncos ==== at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado Game time: 4:00 pm EST Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C), wind 17 mph (27 km/h) Game attendance: 75,059 Referee: Gene Barth TV announcers: (NBC) Jim Simpson (play by play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator) Denver – Lytle 7 run (Turner kick) Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 1 run (Gerela kick) Denver – Armstrong 10 run (Turner kick) Pittsburgh – Harris 1 run (Gerela kick) Denver – Odoms 30 pass from Morton (Turner kick) Pittsburgh – Brown 1 pass from Bradshaw (Gerela kick) Denver – FG Turner 44 Denver – FG Turner 25 Denver – Dolbin 34 pass from Morton (Turner kick) == See also == List of NFL teams affected by internal conflict == References == == External links == 1977 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Profootballreference.com 1977 Pittsburgh Steelers season statistics at jt-sw.com