1977 NFL season
The 1977 NFL season was the 58th regular season of the National Football League. The two second-year expansion teams switched conferences, with the Seattle Seahawks moving from the NFC West to the AFC West, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers transferring from the AFC West to the NFC Central.
The Cowboys playing against the Broncos in Super Bowl XII | |
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 18 – December 18, 1977 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | December 24, 1977 |
| AFC Champions | Denver Broncos |
| NFC Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| Super Bowl XII | |
| Date | January 15, 1978 |
| Site | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | January 23, 1978 |
| Site | Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida |
Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving Day game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys, the league scheduled a Miami Dolphins at St. Louis Cardinals contest. This would be only the second season since 1966 that the Cowboys did not play on that holiday. It marked the last time that the Cowboys did not play on Thanksgiving.
This was the last NFL regular season with 14 games. The regular season was expanded to 16 games in 1978, with the preseason reduced from six games to four. It was also the final season of the eight-team playoff field in the NFL, before going to ten the following season.
The 1977 season is considered the last season of the "Dead Ball Era" of professional football (1970 to 1977). The 17.2 average points scored per team per game was the lowest since 1942, and it was the only post-merger NFL season where no player surpassed 1,000 receiving yards. For 1978, the league made significant changes to allow greater offensive production.
The season ended with Super Bowl XII when the Cowboys defeated the Denver Broncos.