1977_Los_Angeles_Rams_season Knowpia

1977 Los Angeles Rams season
1977 Los Angeles Rams season
Owner	Carroll Rosenbloom
Head coach	Chuck Knox
Home field	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs; (vs. Vikings) 7–14
Uniform
	← 1976; Rams seasons; 1978 →;

The 1977 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 40th year with the National Football League and the 32nd season in Los Angeles.

Hobbled by chronic knee woes, quarterback Joe Namath was waived by the New York Jets after the 1976 season, after they were unable to trade him. Namath signed with the Rams in May 1977. Hope of a Rams revival sprung when Los Angeles won two of their first three games, but Namath was hampered by low mobility. After a poor performance in a Monday Night loss to the Bears, Namath never saw NFL game action again.^[1]

After a home playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings 14–7 on a saturated field in game which has been termed the "Mud Bowl", Rams head coach Chuck Knox was fired due to ownership's frustration that Knox had not been able to reach the Super Bowl.^[2]

Offseason edit

NFL Draft edit

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1977 Los Angeles Rams draft
1	23	Bob Brudzinski	Linebacker	Ohio State
2	31	Nolan Cromwell *	Safety	Kansas
2	50	Billy Waddy	Wide receiver	Colorado
3	68	Ed Fulton	Guard	Maryland
3	79	Wendell Tyler *	Running back	UCLA
4	91	Vince Ferragamo	Quarterback	Nebraska
4	107	Earl Jones	Defensive end	Memphis State
5	130	Donnie Hickman	Guard	USC
5	134	Jeff Williams	Guard	Rhode Island
6	156	Art Best	Running back	Kent State
8	218	Rod Bockwoldt	Defensive back	Weber State
10	274	Don Peterson	Tight end	Boston College
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster edit

**1977 Los Angeles Rams roster**

	Quarterbacks 15 Vince Ferragamo 11 Pat Haden 12 Joe Namath Running backs 32 Cullen Bryant 22 John Cappelletti 43 Jim Jodat FB 30 Lawrence McCutcheon 39 Rod Phillips 26 Wendell Tyler Wide receivers 29 Harold Jackson 81 Ron Jessie 80 Billy Waddy Tight ends 83 Terry Nelson 86 Charle Young		Offensive linemen 77 Doug France T 60 Dennis Harrah G 63 Greg Horton G 65 Tom Mack G 51 Rick Nuzum C 61 Rich Saul C 78 Jackie Slater T 75 John Williams T Defensive linemen 90 Larry Brooks DT 70 Al Cowlings DE/DT 89 Fred Dryer DE 79 Mike Fanning DT 76 Cody Jones DT 85 Jack Youngblood DE		Linebackers 59 Bob Brudzinski 55 Carl Ekern 52 Rick Kay 50 Kevin McLain 64 Jack Reynolds 58 Isiah Robertson 53 Jim Youngblood Defensive backs 42 Dave Elmendorf SS 21 Nolan Cromwell FS 28 Monte Jackson 49 Rod Perry CB 27 Pat Thomas CB 20 Jackie Wallace SS Special teams 1 Rafael Septién K 19 Glen Walker P		Reserve lists 68 Ed Fulton G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 62 Jeff Williams G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season edit

Schedule edit

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 18	at Atlanta Falcons	L 6–17	0–1	Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium	Recap
2	September 25	Philadelphia Eagles	W 20–0	1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
3	October 2	San Francisco 49ers	W 34–14	2–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
4	October 10	at Chicago Bears	L 23–24	2–2	Soldier Field	Recap
5	October 16	New Orleans Saints	W 14–7	3–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
6	October 24	Minnesota Vikings	W 35–3	4–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
7	October 30	at New Orleans Saints	L 26–27	4–3	Louisiana Superdome	Recap
8	November 6	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 31–0	5–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
9	November 13	at Green Bay Packers	W 24–6	6–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	Recap
10	November 20	at San Francisco 49ers	W 23–10	7–3	Candlestick Park	Recap
11	November 27	at Cleveland Browns	W 9–0	8–3	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
12	December 4	Oakland Raiders	W 20–14	9–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
13	December 11	Atlanta Falcons	W 23–7	10–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
14	December 17	at Washington Redskins	L 14–17	10–4	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries edit

Week 1 edit

Namath threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Harold Jackson early, but then it was all Falcons as their defense totally shut down the running game. Scott Hunter, starting in place of injured Steve Bartkowski, directed a ball-control attack and ran for a touchdown.

Week 2 edit

TV Network: CBS
Announcers: Don Criqui, Emerson Boozer
Attendance: 46,031

Namath passed for two touchdowns in this game, 14 yards to Lawrence McCutcheon and 2 yards to Terry Nelson. Rafael Septién provided the other scoring with 2 extra points and 2 field goals (20 and 23). It also turned out to be the final two touchdowns Namath would ever throw in his Hall of Fame career.

Week 3 edit

McCutcheon and John Cappelletti both ran for two touchdowns in this blowout. Jim Plunkett was completely ineffective against the Rams defense.

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	7	0	7	0	14
• Rams	3	14	0	17	34

Date: October 2
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C) • Wind 8 mph (13 km/h)
TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully, Sonny Jurgensen

^[3]

Week 4 edit

Namath's final NFL start and game. He was 16 for 40 and once again victimized by no running game. Rams did get off to a 13–0 lead, but Bears QB Bob Avellini completed two long touchdown passes to James Scott and Walter Payton ran for 126 yards to bring the Bears back.

Week 5 edit

TV Network: CBS
Announcers: Tim Ryan, Sonny Jurgensen
Attendance: 46,045

Pat Haden took back over as the starting quarterback and led a ball-control attack with McCutcheon gaining 152 yards and rookie Wendell Tyler scoring his first career NFL touchdown on a 16-yard run.

Week 6 edit

In a Monday Night blowout, Haden passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. The Rams' defense sacked Fran Tarkenton four times and intercepted him twice, both by rookie Pat Thomas.

Week 7 edit

In a wild game at the New Orleans Superdome, the Saints won on a 31-yard field goal by Rich Szaro with 16 seconds left.

TV Network: CBS
Announcers: Vin Scully and Alex Hawkins

Week 8 edit

TV Network: CBS
Announcers: Bob Costas and Sonny Jurgensen

Haden continued to roll with two more touchdown passes and Jim Youngblood scored on a 25-yard interception return and handed the Buccaneers their 22nd straight loss.

Week 9 edit

McCutcheon and Tyler each scored running touchdowns and Haden passed for another.

Week 10 edit

Rookie wide receiver Billy Waddy scored his first NFL touchdown on a pass from Haden and McCutcheon scored on a 42-yard run.

Week 11 edit

Rams won slug-it-out game in the mud despite Haden throwing 3 INT's. Cappelletti scored on a 7-yard run and Rafael Septién added a field goal.

Week 12 edit

Against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Rams survived a late scoring drive and a touchdown pass by Ken Stabler by answering with a 43-yard Haden-to-Harold Jackson touchdown bomb with around two minutes left. The win clinched the Rams' fifth straight division title.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	7	0	7	14
• Rams	7	0	3	10	20

Date: December 4
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Game start: 4:00 p.m.
Game attendance: 67,075
Game weather: Sunny; 57 °F (14 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)
Referee: Red Cashion
TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy

^[4]

Week 13 edit

TV Network: CBS

Rams avenged their season-opening loss to the Falcons as Haden ran for a touchdown and passed for another to Cappelletti.

Week 14 edit

In the cold and rain at RFK Stadium, Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer threw for two early touchdowns. Rookie backup quarterback Vince Ferragamo nearly led the Rams back in the second half with two touchdowns of his own, but Septién missed a potential game-tying FG with no time left. It turned out to be George Allen's final regular-season game as an NFL coach.

Playoffs edit

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
Divisional	December 26	Minnesota Vikings (3)	L 14–7	0–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap

Standings edit

A football signed by the 1977 Los Angeles Rams, including Tom Mack, Joe Namath, Pat Haden, and Vince Ferragamo.

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams⁽²⁾	10	4	0	.714	4–2	8–4	302	146	L1
Atlanta Falcons	7	7	0	.500	3–3	7–5	179	129	W1
San Francisco 49ers	5	9	0	.357	3–3	5–7	220	260	L3
New Orleans Saints	3	11	0	.214	2–4	3–9	232	336	L4

References edit

^ "Joe Namath - Los Angeles Rams - Icons at the End of the Road - Photos - SI.com". Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
^ The Super '70s, Tom Danyluk, Mad Uke Publishing, 2005, page 95. The person being interviewed, "LM," is former Rams running back (1972-'79) Lawrence McCutcheon.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-16.