1977 Chicago Bears season

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1977 NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

Roster

• Bob Thomas K

Regular season

Schedule

Playoffs

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

;Top passers

• CHI – Bob Avellini – 18/37, 177 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
• STL – Jim Hart – 16/24, 215 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT ;Top rushers
• CHI – Roland Harper – 14 rushes, 65 yards
• STL – Jim Otis – 20 rushes, 64 yards ;Top receivers
• CHI – James Scott – 5 receptions, 64 yards
• STL – Mel Gray – 5 receptions, 95 yards Jim Hart completed 12 straight passes, one of 10 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, while directing St. Louis to victory over Chicago 16–13. The veteran Hart who completed 16 of 24 passes while suffering two interceptions, contributed balance to a crisp Cards attack and Jim Bakken booted three field goals.

Week 3 vs New Orleans Saints

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

;Top passers

• NO – Archie Manning – 8/17, 168 yards, TD
• CHI – Bob Avellini – 18/38, 238 yards, TD, 2 INT ;Top rushers
• NO – Tony Galbreath – 21 rushes, 61 yards
• CHI – Walter Payton – 19 rushes, 140 yards, 2 TD ;Top receivers
• NO – Jim Thaxton – 3 receptions, 63 yards
• CHI – Bo Rather – 6 receptions, 113 yards Archie Manning scored on runs of 8, 2 and 11 and threw a 35-yard Touchdown pass to Chuck Muncie as the Saints gain a road victory. The Saints also got TDs on a 52-yard fumble recovery by Bob Pollard and a 57-yard interception return by Jim Merlo.

Week 4

Week 6

• Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois
• TV Station: CBS
• Announcers: Vin Scully, Alex Hawkins With about two minutes to go, Chicago appeared to have a one-point victory over Atlanta. But the Bears' Steve Schubert fumbled a punt deep in his own territory, Atlanta recovered and Haskel Stanback plowed in moments later from the two-yard line for the Falcons victory. Chicago had taken a 3–0 lead on Bob Thomas' 40-yard field goal, but Nick Mike-Mayer come back with shots of 32, 44, and 21 yards to put Atlanta ahead 9–3. Brian Baschnagel's 84-yard kickoff return resulted in the Bears only touchdown.

Week 7

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

;Top passers

• CHI – Bob Avellini – 4/9, 54 yards, TD, INT
• GB – Lynn Dickey – 10/25, 96 yards, INT ;Top rushers
• CHI – Walter Payton – 23 rushes, 205 yards, 2 TDs
• GB – Barty Smith – 15 rushes, 54 yards ;Top receivers
• CHI – Greg Latta – 3 receptions, 49 yards
• GB – Ollie Smith – 3 receptions, 57 yards Walter Payton's 205 tied Gale Sayers record for most rushing yards in a game that was set in 1968. "I didn't want to break Sayers' record because Sayers is a super guy. What's a record? I just want to win the game" Payton said it after scoring touchdown runs of 1 and 6 and setting up Johnny Musso's 3-yard touchdown run in a rout over the Packers.

Week 8

• The Astrodome in Houston, Texas
• TV Station: CBS
• Announcers: Frank Glieber and Johnny Morris Houston's big play offense, dormant throughout the season sprang to life on touchdown bombs of 85 and 43 yards to Ken Burrough and a 75-yard free kick return and a 61-yard touchdown run by Billy Johnson as the Oilers dazzled Chicago 47–0. Houston's first two big plays, Johnson's run and Burrough's 85-yarder we're delivered over a span of 2:55 in the second quarter and helped the Oilers to a 17–0 halftime lead and never looked back. Coach Jack Pardee call the loss "The worst thing I've ever been associated with in any form". This loss turns out to be a turning point in the Bears season. They would not lose a game again in the 1977 regular season.

Week 10

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

• Walter Payton 20 Rush, 137 Yds, 4 Rec, 107 Yds

Standings

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff

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)

References

References

1. (July 2016). "Best of Dr. Z: 1991 Sid Gillman feature".
2. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197709180chi.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]
3. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197710100chi.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]
4. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197711240det.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2014-Nov-27.