1977 Dallas Cowboys season

1977 Dallas Cowboys season
Head Coach	Tom Landry
Home Field	Texas Stadium
Results
Record	12–2
Place	1st in NFC East
Playoff Finish	Won Super Bowl XII (Broncos)
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1976	1978

The 1977 Dallas Cowboys season was their 18th in the NFL. The club appeared twice on Monday Night Football. Tony Dorsett rushed for 1,007 yards and became the second member of the Cowboys (first since 1973) to have a 1,000 yard rushing season. During the season, the club scored 345 points, which ranked first in the NFC, while the defense only gave up 212 points. The Cowboys made it to their fourth Super Bowl and beat the Denver Broncos to capture their second Super Bowl Championship. They were the first team from the NFC East Division to win two Super Bowls.

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
2	Dallas Cowboys (from Seattle)	Tony Dorsett	Running Back	Pittsburgh
54	Dallas Cowboys	Glenn Carano	Quarterback	UNLV
62	Dallas Cowboys	Tony Hill	Wide Receiver	Stanford
108	Dallas Cowboys	Guy Brown	Linebacker	Houston

Regular season

• December 4, 1977 – Tony Dorsett becomes the first player in franchise history to rush for at least 200 yards in a game. Against the Philadelphia Eagles, Dorsett had 23 rushes for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Schedule

Week	Date	Result	Record	Opponent	Points For	Points Against	First Downs	Attendance
1	September 18	Win	1–0	at Minnesota Vikings	16	10	16	47,678
2	September 25	Win	2–0	New York Giants	41	21	25	64,215
3	October 2	Win	3–0	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	23	7	23	55,316
4	October 9	Win	4–0	at St. Louis Cardinals	30	24	22	50,129
5	October 16	Win	5–0	Washington Redskins	34	16	23	62,115
6	October 23	Win	6–0	at Philadelphia Eagles	16	10	17	65,507
7	October 30	Win	7–0	Detroit Lions	37	0	20	63,160
8	November 6	Win	8–0	at New York Giants	24	10	13	74,532
9	November 14	Loss	8–1	St. Louis Cardinals	17	24	16	64,038
10	November 20	Loss	8–2	at Pittsburgh Steelers	13	28	20	49,761
11	November 27	Win	9–2	at Washington Redskins	14	7	19	55,031
12	December 4	Win	10–2	Philadelphia Eagles	24	14	19	60,289
13	December 12	Win	11–2	at San Francisco 49ers	42	35	24	55,851
14	December 18	Win	12–2	Denver Broncos	14	6	15	63,752

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	12	2	0	.857	345	212	W-4
Washington Redskins	9	5	0	.643	196	189	W-3
St. Louis Cardinals	7	7	0	.500	272	287	L-4
Philadelphia Eagles	5	9	0	.357	220	207	W-2
New York Giants	5	9	0	.357	181	265	L-2

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1977 roster
Quarterbacks 18 Glenn Carano 12 Roger Staubach 11 Danny White P Running Backs 36 Larry Brinson 21 Doug Dennison 33 Tony Dorsett 35 Scott Laidlaw FB 44 Robert Newhouse FB 26 Preston Pearson Wide Receivers 80 Tony Hill 86 Butch Johnson RS 88 Drew Pearson 83 Golden Richards Tight Ends 89 Billy Joe DuPree 87 Jay Saldi		Offensive Linemen 61 Jim Cooper C/T 67 Pat Donovan T 62 John Fitzgerald C 71 Andy Frederick T 66 Burton Lawless G 73 Ralph Neely T 64 Tom Rafferty G/C 68 Herbert Scott G 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive Linemen 63 Larry Cole DE 77 Bill Gregory DT 72 Ed Jones DE 79 Harvey Martin DE 75 Jethro Pugh DT 65 Dave Stalls DE 54 Randy White DT		Linebackers 53 Bob Breunig MLB 59 Guy Brown OLB 58 Mike Hegman OLB 56 Thomas Henderson OLB 57 Bruce Huther MLB 50 D. D. Lewis OLB Defensive Backs 31 Benny Barnes CB 43 Cliff Harris FS 42 Randy Hughes SS 25 Aaron Kyle CB 20 Mel Renfro CB/S 46 Mark Washington CB 41 Charlie Waters SS Special Teams  1 Efren Herrera		Reserve Lists Currently vacant Rookies in italics 45 Active, 0 Inactive

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff

Dallas Cowboys 37, Chicago Bears 14 1 2 3 4 Total Bears 0 0 0 7 7 Cowboys 7 10 17 3 37 at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas Date: December 26, 1977 Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C), mostly cloudy Game attendance: 63,260 Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier Game information Scoring DAL - Dennison 2 run (Herrera kick) DAL 7-0 DAL - DuPree 28 pass from Staubach (Herrera kick) DAL 14-0 DAL - field goal Herrera 21 DAL 17-0 DAL - Dorsett 23 run (Herrera kick) DAL 24-0 DAL - field goal Herrera 31 DAL 27-0 DAL - Dorsett 7 run (Herrera kick) DAL 34-0 DAL - field goal Herrera 27 DAL 37-0 CHI - Schubert 34 pass from Avellini (Thomas kick) DAL 37-7

NFC Championship Game

Dallas Cowboys 23, Minnesota Vikings 6 1 2 3 4 Total Vikings 0 6 0 0 6 Cowboys 6 10 0 7 23 at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas Date: January 1, 1978 Game time: 5:30 p.m. EST Game weather: 30 °F (−1 °C), cloudy Game attendance: 64,293 Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and Alex Hawkins Game information Scoring DAL - Richards 32 pass from Staubach (kick blocked) DAL 6-0 DAL - Newhouse 5 run (Herrera kick) DAL 13-0 MIN - field goal Cox 33 DAL 13-3 MIN - field goal Cox 37 DAL 13-6 DAL - field goal Herrera 21 DAL 16-6 DAL - Dorsett 11 run (Herrera kick) DAL 23-6

Super Bowl XII

Dallas Cowboys 27, Denver Broncos 10 1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys (NFC) 10 3 7 7 27 Broncos (AFC) 0 0 10 0 10 at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Date: January 15, 1978 Game attendance: 76,400 Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier Game information Scoring DAL – TD: Tony Dorsett 3 yard run (Efren Herrera kick) 7–0 DAL DAL – FG: Efren Herrera 35 yards 10–0 DAL DAL – FG: Efren Herrera 43 yards 13–0 DAL DEN – FG: Jim Turner 47 yards 13–3 DAL DAL – TD: Butch Johnson 45 yard pass from Roger Staubach (Efren Herrera kick) 20–3 DAL DEN – TD: Rob Lytle 1 yard run (Jim Turner kick) 20–10 DAL DAL – TD: Golden Richards 29 yard pass from Robert Newhouse (Efren Herrera kick) 27–10 DAL

Awards and Records

• Tony Dorsett, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award
• Tony Dorsett, All-Pro Selection
• Efren Herrera, Five Field Goals Attempted in one Super Bowl game, Super Bowl record
• Harvey Martin, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player
• Harvey Martin, NFL Defensive Player of the Year
• Harvey Martin, Led NFL, Sacks (23)
• Pearson, Led NFL Receiving Yards (870)
• Pearson, All-Pro Selection
• Pearson, Pro Bowl Selection
• Roger Staubach, All-Pro Selection
• Roger Staubach, Pro Bowl Selection
• Roger Staubach, Led NFC, Touchdown Passes (18)
• Roger Staubach, NFC Passing Leader
• Randy White, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player
• Led NFC, Points Scored (345)
• Led NFC, Fewest Rushing Yards Allowed (1,651)
• Led NFL, Fewest Total Yards Allowed (3,213)
• Led NFL, Total Yards, (4,812)

References

• http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/dal1977.htm