The

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

season was the team's 40th year with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and the 32nd season in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Hobbled by chronic knee woes,

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...

was waived by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

after the 1976 season, after they were unable to trade him. Namath signed with the Rams in May 1977. Hope of a Rams revival sprung when Los Angeles won two of their first three games, but Namath was hampered by low mobility. After a poor performance in a Monday Night loss to the

Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the North ...

, Namath never saw NFL game action again. After a home playoff loss to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

14-7 on a saturated field in game which has been termed the "Mud Bowl", Rams head coach

Chuck Knox Charles Robert Knox (April 27, 1932 – May 12, 2018) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He served as head coach of three National Football League (NFL) teams, the Los Angeles Rams ( 1973–19 ...

was fired due to ownership's frustration that Knox had not been able to reach the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

Offseason

NFL Draft

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1

Namath threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Harold Jackson early, but then it was all Falcons as their defense totally shut down the running game. Scott Hunter, starting in place of injured

Steve Bartkowski Steven Joseph Bartkowski (born November 12, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons (1975–1985) and the Los Angeles Rams (1986). He was a tw ...

, directed a ball-control attack and ran for a touchdown.

Week 2

*TV Network:

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

*Announcers:

Don Criqui Don Criqui (born October 1, 1940) is an American sportscaster. He holds the record for longest-tenured NFL broadcaster in U.S. TV history, calling NFL football for 47 seasons (1967-2013) on NBC and CBS. Criqui's final NFL broadcast came on Dec ...

Emerson Boozer Emerson Boozer (born July 4, 1943) is a former running back in the American Football League (AFL) and in the National Football League (NFL). In the last year of separate drafts by the AFL and the NFL, Boozer signed with the AFL's New York Jets, r ...

*Attendance: 46,031 Namath passed for two touchdowns in this game, 14 yards to

Lawrence McCutcheon Lawrence McCutcheon (born June 2, 1950) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams from 1972 to 1980, the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks in 1980, and 1981 with the Buff ...

and 2 yards to Terry Nelson. Rafael Septién provided the other scoring with 2 extra points and 2 field goals (20 and 23). It also turned out to be the final two touchdowns Namath would ever throw in his

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

career.

Week 3

McCutcheon and

John Cappelletti John Cappelletti (born August 9, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers. Prior to his professional career, he att ...

both ran for two touchdowns in this blowout.

Jim Plunkett James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. He achieved his greatest professional success during his final eight seasons with the ...

was completely ineffective against the Rams defense.

Week 4

Namath's final NFL start and game. He was 16 for 40 and once again victimized by no running game. Rams did get off to a 13–0 lead, but Bears QB

Bob Avellini Robert Hayden Avellini (born August 28, 1953) is a former National Football League quarterback. For most of his career, he played for the Chicago Bears before finishing with the New York Jets. His nickname was "Slow-Mo." Professional career Ave ...

completed two long touchdown passes to James Scott and

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

ran for 126 yards to bring the Bears back.

Week 5

*TV Network: CBS *Announcers: Tim Ryan,

Sonny Jurgensen Christian Adolph "Sonny" Jurgensen III (born August 23, 1934) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. He was inducted int ...

*Attendance: 46,045

Pat Haden Patrick Capper Haden (born January 23, 1953) is the former athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016. He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in ...

took back over as the starting quarterback and led a ball-control attack with McCutcheon gaining 152 yards and rookie

Wendell Tyler Wendell Avery Tyler (born May 20, 1955) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 3rd round of the 1977 NFL Draft. A 5'10", 198 lbs. running back from UCLA, Tyler played in 10 NFL seaso ...

scoring his first career NFL touchdown on a 16-yard run.

Week 6

In a Monday Night blowout, Haden passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. The Rams' defense sacked

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

four times and intercepted him twice, both by rookie Pat Thomas.

Week 7

In a wild game at the New Orleans Superdome, the Saints won on a 31-yard field goal by

Rich Szaro Ryszard "Rich" Szaro (March 7, 1948 – April 7, 2015) was a Polish-born professional American football player who played placekicker for six seasons for the Philadelphia Bell of the WFL, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets. Szaro moved w ...

with 16 seconds left. *TV Network: CBS *Announcers:

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...

and

Alex Hawkins Clifton Alexander Hawkins (July 2, 1937 – September 12, 2017) was an American football player who played professionally as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts and Atlanta Falcons. He excelled as a spec ...

Week 8

*TV Network: CBS *Announcers:

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

and

Haden continued to roll with two more touchdown passes and

Jim Youngblood Jimmy Lee Youngblood (born February 23, 1950) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Commanders, Washington Redskins. He played college football at Tennessee Technolo ...

scored on a 25-yard interception return and handed the Buccaneers their 22nd straight loss.

Week 9

McCutcheon and Tyler each scored running touchdowns and Haden passed for another.

Week 10

Rookie wide receiver

Billy Waddy Billy Waddy (February 19, 1954 – January 21, 2022) was an American professional football player who played wide receiver for seven seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings. Waddy was a legitimate deep threat, who averaged 16 ...

scored his first NFL touchdown on a pass from Haden and McCutcheon scored on a 42-yard run.

Week 11

Rams won slug-it-out game in the mud despite Haden throwing 3 INT's. Cappelletti scored on a 7-yard run and

Rafael Septién José Rafael Septién Michel (born December 12, 1953) is a Mexican-American former placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Louisiana at La ...

added a field goal.

Week 12

Against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Rams survived a late scoring drive and a touchdown pass by

Ken Stabler Kenneth Michael Stabler (December 25, 1945 – July 8, 2015) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Nicknamed "Snake", he played col ...

by answering with a 43-yard Haden-to- Harold Jackson touchdown bomb with around two minutes left. The win clinched the Rams' fifth straight division title. Pro-Football-Reference.com
Retrieved 2014-Jun-16.

Week 13

*Tv Network: CBS Rams avenged their season-opening loss to the Falcons as Haden ran for a touchdown and passed for another to Cappelletti.

Week 14

In the cold and rain at

RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...

, Redskins quarterback

Billy Kilmer William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He w ...

threw for two early touchdowns. Rookie backup quarterback

Vince Ferragamo Vince Anthony Ferragamo (born April 24, 1954) is an American former gridiron football player. He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). Early years Born in Torrance, ...

nearly led the Rams back in the second half with two touchdowns of his own, but Septién missed a potential game-tying FG with no time left. It turned out to be

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

's final regular-season game as an NFL coach.

Playoffs

Standings

References

Los Angeles Rams seasons NFC West championship seasons

{{Americanfootball-season-stub