# 1977 Cleveland Browns season

The 1977 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 28th season with the National Football League. After a 6–4 start, the Browns lost their final four games of the season, to finish with a disappointing 6–8 record. With one game left in the season, head coach Forrest Gregg was fired and replaced by Dick Modzelewski.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1977 NFL draft.
1977 Cleveland Browns Draft :
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 17 | Robert L. Jackson | Linebacker | Texas A&M |
| 2 | 46 | Tom Skladany | Punter | Ohio State |
| 4 | 102 | Oliver Davis | Defensive back | Tennessee State |
| 4 | 110 | Mickey Sims | Defensive tackle | South Carolina State |
| 7 | 173 | Kenny Randle | Wide receiver | SMU |
| 7 | 184 | Blane Smith | Linebacker | Purdue |
| 7 | 188 | Bob Lingenfelter | Offensive tackle | Nebraska |
| 8 | 213 | Bill Armstrong | Defensive back | Wake Forest |
| 9 | 240 | Daryl Brown | Defensive back | Tufts |
| 10 | 269 | Tom Burkett | Offensive tackle | North Carolina |
| 11 | 296 | Charles Nash | Wide receiver | Arizona |
| 12 | 325 | Leo Tierney | Center | Georgia Tech |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | August 8 | Washington Redskins | L 14–16 | 0–1 | 32,554 |
| 2 | August 13 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 33–34 | 0–2 | 45,379 |
| 3 | August 19 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 19–10 | 1–2 | 31,308 |
| 4 | August 25 | Chicago Bears | W 14–7 | 2–2 | 36,598 |
| 5 | September 3 | at Green Bay Packers | W 19–14 | 3–2 | 53,180 |
| 6 | September 9 | at Detroit Lions | L 20–24 | 3–3 | 49,168 |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 18 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 13–3 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,847 | Recap |
| 2 | September 26 | New England Patriots | W 30–27 | 2–0 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 76,418 | Recap |
| 3 | October 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–28 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 80,588 | Recap |
| 4 | October 9 | Oakland Raiders | L 10–26 | 2–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 80,236 | Recap |
| 5 | October 16 | at Houston Oilers | W 24–23 | 3–2 | Houston Astrodome | 47,888 | Recap |
| 6 | October 23 | at Buffalo Bills | W 27–16 | 4–2 | Rich Stadium | 60,905 | Recap |
| 7 | October 30 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 44–7 | 5–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 60,381 | Recap |
| 8 | November 6 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 7–10 | 5–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 81,932 | Recap |
| 9 | November 13 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 31–35 | 5–4 | Three Rivers Stadium | 47,055 | Recap |
| 10 | November 20 | at New York Giants | W 21–7 | 6–4 | Giants Stadium | 72,576 | Recap |
| 11 | November 27 | Los Angeles Rams | L 0–9 | 6–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 70,352 | Recap |
| 12 | December 4 | at San Diego Chargers | L 14–37 | 6–6 | San Diego Stadium | 37,312 | Recap |
| 13 | December 11 | Houston Oilers | L 15–19 | 6–7 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 30,898 | Recap |
| 14 | December 18 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 19–20 | 6–8 | Kingdome | 61,583 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

The 1977 season started with a league rival and an impressive win.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
at Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio
* Date: September 18, 1977
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C) • Wind 12 mph (19 km/h)
* Game attendance: 52,847
* Referee: Bob Frederic
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and John Brodie
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Browns
Bengals :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | CLE | CIN |
| 1 | | | | | Browns | 41-yard field goal by Cockroft | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | | | | | Browns | 25-yard field goal by Cockroft | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | | | | | Browns | Poole 12-yard touchdown run, Cockroft kick good | 13 | 0 |
| 3 | | | | | Bengals | 25-yard field goal by Bahr | 13 | 3 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 13 | 3 |

#### Week 2

The Cleveland Browns had not hosted nor been in a Monday Night Football game since the 1973 season, when they lost at home against the Miami Dolphins. The Cleveland Stadium was sold out that beautiful night along the lakefront and the crowd looked forward to a great game. Indeed, the game went into overtime, and with a little more than 10 minutes left in over time, Don Cockroft kicked a 35-yard field goal to end the game with a win for the Browns. Howard Cosell said that it was one of the most exciting finishes to a Monday Night Football game that he ever witnessed.

#### Week 3 vs Steelers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Browns | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
* Date: October 2
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C)
* Game attendance: 80,588
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Merlin Olsen
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
PIT – Lynn Swann 5-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 7–0. Drive:
CLE – Dave Logan 22-yard pass from Brian Sipe (Don Cockroft kick). Tie 7–7. Drive:
Second quarter
CLE – Cleo Miller 1-yard run (Don Cockroft kick). Browns 14–7. Drive:
PIT – Frank Lewis 65-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Tie 14–14. Drive:
Third quarter
PIT – Lynn Swann 14-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 21–14. Drive:
Fourth quarter
PIT – Terry Bradshaw 1-yard run (Roy Gerela kick). Steelers 28–14. Drive:
Top passers
PIT – Terry Bradshaw — 10/17, 143 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
CLE – Brian Sipe — 9/20, 81 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
PIT – Franco Harris — 22 rushes, 72 yards
CLE – Cleo Miller — 11 rushes, 49 yards, TD
Top receivers
PIT – Lynn Swann — 7 receptions, 71 yards, 2 TD
CLE – Oscar Roan — 3 receptions, 43 yards :

#### Week 5

The Browns beat the Oilers 24–23 on another Cockroft last-second field goal. Toni Fritsch kicks a 37-yarder with 4:28 left to give Houston a 23–21 lead, but running back Greg Pruitt leads the Browns on their final scoring drive with three runs and a 13-yard third-down completion to Cleo Miller. Cockroft's six points lift him past Jim Brown to the no. 2 spot (behind Lou Groza) on the Browns' all-time scoring list.

### Week 7

Scoring their most points in 9 years, the Browns broke a team record with 34 first downs while rolling up 526 yards (322 rushing) in a rout over the Kansas City Chiefs 44-7. Greg Pruitt rushed for 153 yards. Brian Sipe threw for 200 yards and tight end Gary Parris caught two touchdown passes.

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |