NFL game summary for 12/04/1977:

Steve Grogan rifled a 33-yard touchdown pass to Stanley Morgan with 4:40 remaining to give the 8-4 Patriots a 16-10 win and keep New England's playoff hopes alive. The winning touchdown drive covered 89 yards and the Grogan-to-Morgan passing combination accounted for 70 of those yards. A tough Patriots defense led by Julius Adams sacked Steve Bartkowski eight times for a total of 67 yards.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
New England Patriots	OFFENSE	169.4  (5)	147.9  (13)	317.3  (7)	28
	DEFENSE	121.9  (3)	131.1  (9)	253.0  (7)	23
Atlanta Falcons	OFFENSE	138.5  (15)	94.7  (26)	233.2  (25)	17
	DEFENSE	123.7  (7)	87.2  (2)	210.9  (1)	37

Line: Patriots by 5

Team	1	2	3	4	F
New England Patriots (8-4-0)	3	3	3	7	16
Atlanta Falcons (6-6-0)	0	0	7	3	10

( 3- 0) NE  John Smith 36 yard field goal
( 6- 0) NE  John Smith 32 yard field goal
( 9- 0) NE  John Smith 29 yard field goal
( 9- 7) ATL Wallace Francis 15 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Fred Steinfort kick)
( 9-10) ATL Fred Steinfort 25 yard field goal
(16-10) NE  Stanley Morgan 33 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick)

                     NE              ATL
First Downs:         13              9
Rushes-yards:        41-97           28-67
Yards/rush:          2.4             2.4
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     12-26-179-3     7-18-124-4
Sacked-yards:        1-9             8-67
Net pass yards:      170             57
Net yards/pass:      6.3             2.2
Total net yards:     267             124
Total plays:         68 (60% run)    54 (51% run)  
Yards/play:          3.9             2.3
Fumbles-lost:        1-0             2-1
Turnovers:           3               5
Penalties-yards:     7-61            4-35

Attendance: 57,911

Passing:
NE: Steve Grogan, 12 of 26 for 179 yards and 1 TD (3 int)
ATL: Steve Bartkowski, 7 of 18 for 124 yards and 1 TD (4 int)

Rushing:
NE: Sam Cunningham, 15 for 32 yards; Ike Forte, 10 for 27 yards; Don Calhoun, 10 for 22 yards; Steve Grogan, 6 for 16 yards
ATL: Woody Thompson, 13 for 25 yards; Haskel Stanback, 12 for 36 yards; Steve Bartkowski, 3 for 6 yards

Receiving:
NE: Stanley Morgan, 5 for 90 yards and 1 TD; Darryl Stingley, 4 for 71 yards; Don Hasselbeck, 1 for 10 yards; Al Chandler, 1 for 5 yards; Don Calhoun, 1 for 3 yards
ATL: Wallace Francis, 3 for 63 yards and 1 TD; Alfred Jenkins, 3 for 54 yards; Woody Thompson, 1 for 7 yards

Kick returns:
NE: Raymond Clayborn, 2 for 106 yards; Jess Phillips, 1 for 8 yards
ATL: Tom Moriarty, 3 for 50 yards; Karl Farmer, 2 for 43 yards

Punt returns:
NE: Stanley Morgan, 2 for 18 yards
ATL: Rolland Lawrence, 1 for 23 yards

Interceptions:
NE: Mike Haynes, 2 for 22 yards; Prentice McCray, 1 for 48 yards; Tim Fox, 1 for 5 yards
ATL: Rick Byas, 1 for 17 yards; Ray Brown, 1 for 12 yards; Rolland Lawrence, 1 for 6 yards

Punting:
NE: Mike Patrick, 3 for 111 yards
ATL: John James, 7 for 284 yards

Field Goals:
NE: John Smith, 3/5
ATL: Fred Steinfort, 1/1

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