1977 Detroit Lions season

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

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.

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1977 Detroit Lions draft
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).

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 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 49 Larry Walton Tight ends (TE) 81 David Hill 87 Bill Larson 88 Charlie Sanders		Offensive linemen (OL) 60 Gary Anderson G 62 Lynn Boden G 73 Russ Bolinger G 71 Craig Hertwig T 68 Mark Markovich G 64 Melvin Mitchell C 63 Jon Morris C 79 Dave Simonson T 75 Jim Yarbrough T Defensive linemen (DL) 78 Doug English DT 83 Jim Mitchell DE 88 Herb Orvis DT 72 Ernie Price DE 82 Ken Sanders DE 77 John Woodcock DT		Linebackers (LB) 58 Tony Daykin 52 Jim Laslavic 50 Paul Naumoff 55 Ed O'Neil 57 Garth TenNapel Defensive backs (DB) 20 Lem Barney CB 28 James Hunter CB 26 Dick Jauron FS 23 Levi Johnson CB 42 Reggie Pinkney 31 Randy Rich 40 Charlie West SS 21 Walt Williams CB Special teams 17 Mitch Hoopes P 10 Steve Mike-Mayer K 11 Wilbur Summers P				Reserve —- Ron Crosby LB (IR) 76 Rocky Freitas T (IR) 38 Lawrence Gaines FB (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.

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

References

^ 1977 Detroit Lions
^ "Executive and coaching staff profiles". 1977 Detroit Lions Media Guide. pp. 3–10.

v t e Detroit Lions
Founded in 1928 Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1928–1933) Based in Detroit, Michigan Headquartered in Allen Park, Michigan
Franchise	Ownership: William Clay Martha Firestone Ford Sheila Ford Hamp Franchise overview Team history in Portsmouth, Ohio
Records	All-time roster (A–Las, Lat–Z) Coaches Draft history First-round draft picks Picks from 1936 to 1969 Picks from 1970 to present Lists of players NFL All-Decade Team selections Pride of the Lions Pro Bowlers Pro Football Hall of Famers Retired numbers 7 20 20 20 22 37 56 85 Seasons Starting quarterbacks
Stadiums	Universal Stadium University of Detroit Stadium Tiger Stadium Pontiac Silverdome Ford Field
Culture	NFL on Thanksgiving Day Paper Lion (film) "What's Going On" (Marvin Gaye song) Home Improvement Beverly Hills Cop Axel Foley Cheerleaders
Lore	1932 NFL Playoff Game Curse of Bobby Layne 0–16 Miracle in Motown
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings
Division championships (9)	1935 1952 1953 1954 1957 1983 1991 1993 2023
League championships (4)	1935 1952 1953 1957
Media	Broadcasters Radio: Radio network Dan Miller Lomas Brown WXYT-FM TV: Television network WJBK Bally Sports Detroit
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1930–present) Conference: National Football Conference (1970–present) Division: North Division (2002–present)

v t e Detroit Lions seasons
Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1930–1933)
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance

1977 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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