1977 Cincinnati Bengals season

1977 Cincinnati Bengals season
Owner	Paul Brown
Head coach	Bill Johnson
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1977 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 8th season in the National Football League, and the 10th overall. Second-year Running Back Archie Griffin struggled to learn the NFL game rushing for only 549 yards while failing to cross the end zone. A loss to Houston in the final game cost the Bengals a spot in the playoffs. The team finished with an 8–6 record.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1977 NFL Draft

1977 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Eddie Edwards	Defensive end	Miami (FL)
1	8	Wilson Whitley	Defensive tackle	Houston
1	22	Mike Cobb	Tight end	Michigan State
2	49	Pete Johnson *	Running back	Ohio State
3	76	Mike Voight	Running back	North Carolina
4	85	Rick Walker	Tight end	UCLA
4	103	Mike Wilson	Offensive tackle	Georgia
4	105	Jerry Anderson	Defensive back	Oklahoma
5	133	Ray Phillips	Linebacker	Nebraska
6	160	Tommy Duniven	Quarterback	Texas Tech
7	187	Louis Breeden *	Defensive back	North Carolina Central
7	194	Jim Corbett	Tight end	Pittsburgh
8	214	Jose St. Victor	Guard	Syracuse
9	245	Willie Zachary	Wide receiver	Central State (OH)
10	272	Bob Bialik	Punter	Hillsdale
11	292	Joel Parrish	Guard	Georgia
11	299	Carl Allen	Defensive back	Southern Miss
12	326	Alex Percival	Wide receiver	Morehouse
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1977 Cincinnati Bengals staff

	Front office President – John Sawyer General Manager – Paul Brown Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Bill Johnson Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Boyd Dowler Offensive Backfield – Jack Donaldson Offensive Line – Mike McCormack			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Howard Brinker Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Defensive Backfield – Charley Winner Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 18	Cleveland Browns	L 3–13	0–1	Riverfront Stadium	52,847
2	September 25	Seattle Seahawks	W 42–20	1–1	Riverfront Stadium	45,579
3	October 2	at San Diego Chargers	L 3–24	1–2	San Diego Stadium	40,352
4	October 9	at Green Bay Packers	W 17–7	2–2	Milwaukee County Stadium	53,653
5	October 17	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–20	2–3	Three Rivers Stadium	47,950
6	October 23	Denver Broncos	L 13–24	2–4	Riverfront Stadium	54,395
7	October 30	Houston Oilers	W 13–10 (OT)	3–4	Riverfront Stadium	53,194
8	November 6	at Cleveland Browns	W 10–7	4–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	81,932
9	November 13	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–42	4–5	Metropolitan Stadium	45,371
10	November 20	Miami Dolphins	W 23–17	5–5	Riverfront Stadium	46,733
11	November 27	New York Giants	W 30–13	6–5	Riverfront Stadium	32,705
12	December 4	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–7	7–5	Arrowhead Stadium	38,488
13	December 10	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–10	8–5	Riverfront Stadium	36,133
14	December 18	at Houston Oilers	L 16–21	8–6	Astrodome	46,212

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 5 at Steelers

Week Five: Cincinnati Bengals (2–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (2–2)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	0	7	0	7	14
Steelers	0	13	0	7	20

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Date: October 17
• Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C)
• Game attendance: 47,950
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter PIT – Rocky Bleier 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 7–0. PIT – Rocky Bleier 2-yard run (kick failed). Steelers 13–0. CIN – Glenn Bujnoch 4-yard run (Chris Bahr kick). Steelers 13–7. Third quarter No scoring Fourth quarter PIT – Sidney Thornton 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 20–7. CIN – Reggie Williams recovered special teams fumble in end zone. Steelers 20–14. Top passers CIN – John Reaves – 8/25, 142 yards, 3 INT PIT – Terry Bradshaw – 6/9, 117 yards Top rushers CIN – Lenvil Elliott – 13 rushes, 44 yards PIT – Franco Harris – 16 rushes, 73 yards Top receivers CIN – Isaac Curtis – 5 receptions, 88 yards PIT – Bennie Cunningham – 2 receptions, 49 yards

Bob Trumpy was knocked out of the game by Mel Blount

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total • Bengals 7 0 3 0 10 Browns 0 7 0 0 7 Date: November 6 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 67 °F • Wind 11

Scoring summary 1 CIN Pete Johnson 11 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) Bengals 7–0 2 CLE Oscar Roan 4 yard pass from Brian Sipe (Don Cockroft kick) Tie 7–7 3 CIN Chris Bahr 47 yard field goal Bengals 10–7

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 6 0 7 13 • Bengals 20 7 0 3 30 Date: November 27 Location: Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 32,705 Game weather: Snow • 20 °F • Wind 10 TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson and Paul Hornung

Scoring summary 1 CIN Billy Brooks 58 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Chris Bahr kick) Bengals 7–0 1 CIN Boobie Clark 10 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) Bengals 14–0 1 CIN Billy Brooks 30 yard pass from Ken Anderson (kick failed) Bengals 20–0 2 CIN Jim Corbett 47 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Chris Bahr kick) Bengals 27–0 2 NYG Jimmy Robinson 5 yard pass from Joe Pisarcik (kick failed) Bengals 27–6 4 CIN Chris Bahr 32 yard field goal Bengals 30–6 4 NYG Joe Pisarcik 1 yard run (Joe Danelo kick) Bengals 30–13

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(3)	9	5	0	.643	4–2	7–5	276	243	W1
Houston Oilers	8	6	0	.571	3–3	6–6	299	230	W2
Cincinnati Bengals	8	6	0	.571	3–3	6–5	238	235	L1
Cleveland Browns	6	8	0	.429	2–4	5–7	269	267	L4

Roster

Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks 11 John Reaves 14 Ken Anderson 15 Mike Wells Running Backs 27 John Perales 30 Willie Shelby 36 Lenvil Elliott 35 Tony Davis 42 Boobie Clark 45 Archie Griffin 46 Pete Johnson FB Wide Receivers 82 Billy Brooks 83 Steve Holden 85 Isaac Curtis 86 John McDaniel Tight Ends 81 Jim Corbett 84 Bob Trumpy 88 Rick Walker 89 Mike Cobb		Offensive Linemen 54 Bob Johnson C 62 Dave Lapham G 63 Greg Fairchild G 64 John Shinners G 71 Rufus Mayes T 72 Ron Hunt T 74 Glenn Bujnoch G 76 Vernon Holland T Defensive Linemen 67 Gary Burley DE 73 Eddie Edwards DE 75 Wilson Whitley DT 78 Walter Johnson DT 79 Coy Bacon DE 80 Ken Johnson DE		Linebackers 50 Glenn Cameron 51 Chris Devlin 53 Bo Harris 55 Jim LeClair 57 Reggie Williams 59 Ray Phillips 60 Ron Pritchard Defensive Backs 13 Ken Riley CB 20 Lemar Parrish CB 21 Melvin Morgan CB 24 Marvin Cobb S 31 Jerry Anderson S 32 Scott Perry CB 37 Tommy Casanova S Special Teams 10 Chris Bahr K 87 Pat McInally P

References

• Bengals on Pro Football Reference
• Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com
• Bengals History on Official Site