# 1977 Green Bay Packers season

The 1977 Green Bay Packers season was their 59th season overall and their 57th season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 4–10 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a fourth-place finish in the NFC Central division. The Packers suffered injuries and continued to be among the worst teams in the NFL, posting a 4–10 record. During the season, quarterbacks Lynn Dickey and David Whitehurst combined to throw 21 interceptions while just connecting on six touchdown passes. They only scored 134 points, second worst in the league to the 2–12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (103).

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1977 Green Bay Packers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 9 | Mike Butler | Defensive end | Kansas |
| 1 | 28 | Ezra Johnson * | Defensive end | Morris Brown |
| 2 | 39 | Greg Koch | Offensive tackle | Arkansas |
| 3 | 74 | Rick Scribner | Guard | Idaho State |
| 5 | 122 | Nate Simpson | Running back | Tennessee State |
| 6 | 149 | Tim Moresco | Safety | Syracuse |
| 7 | 172 | Derrel Gofourth | Center | Oklahoma State |
| 7 | 176 | Rell Tipton | Guard | Baylor |
| 8 | 206 | David Whitehurst | Quarterback | Furman |
| 9 | 233 | Joel Mullins | Offensive tackle | Arkansas State |
| 10 | 260 | Jim Culbreath | Running back | Oklahoma |
| 11 | 290 | Terry Randolph | Cornerback | American International |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1977 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Rick Moore | Defensive back | North Carolina Central |
| Randy Rose | Wide receiver | Wisconsin |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 18 | at New Orleans Saints | W 24–20 | 1–0 | Louisiana Superdome | 56,250 |
| 2 | September 25 | Houston Oilers | L 10–16 | 1–1 | Lambeau Field | 55,071 |
| 3 | October 2 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 7–19 | 1–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,143 |
| 4 | October 9 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 7–17 | 1–3 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 53,653 |
| 5 | October 16 | at Detroit Lions | L 6–10 | 1–4 | Pontiac Silverdome | 78,452 |
| 6 | October 23 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 13–0 | 2–4 | Tampa Stadium | 47,635 |
| 7 | October 30 | Chicago Bears | L 0–26 | 2–5 | Lambeau Field | 56,002 |
| 8 | November 6 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–20 | 2–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | 62,687 |
| 9 | November 13 | Los Angeles Rams | L 6–24 | 2–7 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 52,948 |
| 10 | November 21 | at Washington Redskins | L 9–10 | 2–8 | RFK Stadium | 51,498 |
| 11 | November 27 | Minnesota Vikings | L 6–13 | 2–9 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 12 | December 4 | Detroit Lions | W 10–9 | 3–9 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 13 | December 11 | at Chicago Bears | L 10–21 | 3–10 | Soldier Field | 33,557 |
| 14 | December 18 | San Francisco 49ers | W 16–14 | 4–10 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 44,902 |
    Monday (November 21)
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Season summary
#### Week 1: at New Orleans Saints

* Television network: CBS
* Announcers: Tim Ryan, Nick Buoniconti
Williard Harrell's 75-yard punt return and Lynn Dickey's 15-yard touchdown pass to Ken Payne helped Green Bay to a 24-0 that turned out to be the difference in their opener win. New Orleans' Chuck Muncie had touchdown runs of two and three yards and Archie Manning threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Henry Childs in a futile rally. Saints coach Hank Stram said "I guess you can say we slept through the first half. You just can't play 30 minutes and expect to win."

#### Week 3: at Minnesota Vikings

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Vikings | 7 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 19 |
at Metropolitan Stadium, Minnesota
* Date: October 2, 1977
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Overcast, 47 °F (8 °C)
* TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Unitas
Game information :
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
Top passers
MIN – Fran Tarkenton – 19/27, 184 yards, 1 TD
GB – Lynn Dickey – 8/20, 143 yards, 1 TD
Top rushers
MIN – Chuck Foreman – 19 rushes, 53 yards, 1 TD
GB – Eric Torkelson – 8 rushes, 34 yards
Top receivers
MIN – Sammy White – 5 receptions, 73 yards, 1 TD
GB – Steve Odom – 1 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TD :

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |