1977 Detroit Lions season

The 1977 Detroit Lions season was their 48th in the National Football League (NFL). The team matched their previous season's output of 6–8,^[1] and missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season. The Lions struggled offensively, scoring a mere 183 points while finishing in third place with a 6–8 record for the second consecutive season.

1977 Detroit Lions season
Owner	William Clay Ford Sr.
General manager	Russ Thomas
Head coach	Tommy Hudspeth
Home stadium	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
All-Pros	None
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1976 Lions seasons 1978 →

The 1977 coaching staff included 25-year-old assistant special teams and offensive assistant coach Bill Belichick. Belichick would later win two Super Bowls in the 1986 and 1990 seasons as defensive coordinator with the New York Giants, and six as head coach of the New England Patriots.

This would be the final season for head coach Tommy Hudspeth before he and his entire staff were fired. This would also be the final season for future Hall-of-Fame tight end Charlie Sanders before his retirement.

NFL draft

Main article: 1977 NFL draft

1977 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	42	Walt Williams	CB	New Mexico State
3	69	Rick Kane	RB	San Jose State
4	96	Luther Blue	WR	Iowa State
5	114	Ron Crosby	LB	Penn State	from Seattle
6	166	Reggie Pinkney	DB	East Carolina	from New England
7	179	Tim Black	LB	Baylor
8	209	Mark Griffin	OT	North Carolina
9	236	Steve Mathieson	QB	Florida State
10	236	Gary Anderson	G	Stanford
11	293	Tony Daykin	LB	Georgia Tech
12	320	Dave Greenwood	G	Iowa State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

• Detroit traded its first-round pick (12th) to Buffalo in exchange for WR J.D. Hill.
• Detroit traded QB Bill Munson to Seattle in exchange for Seattle's fifth-round pick (114th).
• Detroit traded its fifth-round pick (125th) to Pittsburgh in exchange for TE John McMakin.
• Detroit traded its sixth-round pick (320th) and G Guy Dennis to San Diego in exchange for G Mark Markovich.
• Detroit traded WR Marlin Briscoe to New England in exchange for a sixth-round pick (166th).

Undrafted free agents

1977 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Joe Harvey	Defensive tackle	Northern Michigan
Kevin McClain	Defensive back	Wyoming
John Stufllebeem	Punter	Navy
Bob Wood	Kicker	Michigan

Personnel

Staff

1977 Detroit Lions staff

Front office President – William Clay Ford Sr. Executive Vice President and General Manager – Russ Thomas Vice President and Assistant General Manager – Roger Lehew Head coaches Head coach – Tommy Hudspeth Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/receivers – Ed Hughes Offensive backfield – Wally English Offensive line – John Payne Offensive assistant – Bill Belichick

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/defensive line – Fritz Shurmur Linebackers – Rollie Dotsch Defensive backfield – Burnie Miller Special teams coaches Special teams – Floyd Reese Assistant special teams – Bill Belichick Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Floyd Reese

^[2]

Roster

1977 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Gary Danielson 11 Greg Landry 14 Joe Reed Running backs (RB) 43 Andy Bolton 24 Dexter Bussey 31 Glenn Capriola 44 Marv Hubbard 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King 34 Eddie Payton Wide receivers (WR) 89 Luther Blue 86 J. D. Hill 45 Ray Jarvis 39 Leonard Thompson Tight ends (TE) 81 David Hill 87 Bill Larson

Offensive linemen (OL) 60 Gary Anderson G 62 Lynn Boden G 73 Russ Bolinger G 71 Craig Hertwig T 64 Melvin Mitchell C 63 Jon Morris C 79 Dave Simonson T 75 Jim Yarbrough T Defensive linemen (DL) 78 Doug English DT 74 Larry Hand DT 83 Jim Mitchell DE 88 Herb Orvis DT 72 Ernie Price DE 82 Ken Sanders DE 77 John Woodcock DE

Linebackers (LB) 58 Tony Daykin OLB 52 Jim Laslavic MLB 50 Paul Naumoff OLB 55 Ed O'Neil MLB 57 Garth TenNapel OLB 59 Charlie Weaver OLB Defensive backs (DB) 20 Lem Barney CB/FS 28 James Hunter CB 26 Dick Jauron FS 42 Reggie Pinkney SS 40 Charlie West SS 21 Walt Williams CB Special teams (ST) 10 Steve Mike-Mayer K 11 Wilbur Summers P

Reserve 53 Ron Crosby LB (IR) 76 Rocky Freitas T (IR) 38 Lawrence Gaines FB (IR) 23 Levi Johnson S (IR) 65 Ken Long G (IR) 68 Mark Markovich G (IR)  1 Benny Ricardo K (IR) 88 Charlie Sanders TE (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Attendance
1	September 18	at Chicago Bears	L 30–20	0–1	51,530
2	September 25	New Orleans Saints	W 23–19	1–1	51,458
3	October 2	Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–13	2–1	57,236
4	October 9	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–7	2–2	45,860
5	October 16	Green Bay Packers	W 10–6	3–2	78,452
6	October 23	at San Francisco 49ers	L 28–7	3–3	39,392
7	October 30	at Dallas Cowboys	L 37–0	3–4	63,160
8	November 6	San Diego Chargers	W 20–0	4–4	72,559
9	November 13	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–6	4–5	47,461
10	November 20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 16–7	5–5	49,751
11	November 24	Chicago Bears	L 31–14	5–6	71,373
12	December 4	at Green Bay Packers	L 10–9	5–7	56,267
13	December 11	at Baltimore Colts	W 13–10	6–7	45,124
14	December 17	Minnesota Vikings	L 30–21	6–8	78,572
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 3 vs Philadelphia Eagles

Week 3: Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	7	6	0	13
Lions	7	3	7	0	17

at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan

• Date: October 2, 1977
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
• TV announcers (CBS): Bob Costas and Nick Buoniconti

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Top passers PHI – Ron Jaworski – 13/24, 207 yards, 2 TD, INT DET – Greg Landry – 13/18, 125 yards, 1 TD Top rushers PHI – Mike Hogan – 20 rushes, 67 yards DET – Horace King – 20 rushes, 68 yards Top receivers PHI – Harold Carmichael – 4 receptions, 67 yards, TD DET – Horace King – 7 receptions, 60 yards

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	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