NFL game summary for 12/11/1977:

New England scored on its first two possessions of the game and a stubborn Patriots defense held off the Dolphins the rest of the way. The Patriots received the opening kickoff and marched 71 yards in 11 plays, capped by Ike Forte's one-yard touchdown run. On the next series, the Patriots drove 51 yards in 11 plays with Sam Cunningham scoring from the 1. Miami's Bob Baumhower recovered a fumble on the Patriots' 27 with just under five minutes to play, but the Dolphins couldn't capitalize on the opportunity.

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

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
Miami Dolphins	OFFENSE	175.2  (4)	127.3  (21)	302.6  (10)	25
	DEFENSE	122.4  (5)	149.7  (16)	272.1  (10)	26
New England Patriots	OFFENSE	163.3  (7)	149.8  (13)	313.1  (7)	31
	DEFENSE	117.3  (2)	124.9  (8)	242.2  (4)	28

Line: Patriots by 4

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Miami Dolphins (9-4-0)	0	3	7	0	10
New England Patriots (9-4-0)	14	0	0	0	14

( 0- 7) NE  Ike Forte 1 yard rush (John Smith kick)
( 0-14) NE  Sam Cunningham 1 yard rush (John Smith kick)
( 3-14) MIA Garo Yepremian 28 yard field goal
(10-14) MIA Nat Moore 23 yard pass from Bob Griese (Garo Yepremian kick)

                     MIA             NE
First Downs:         18              16
Rushes-yards:        19-25           51-177
Yards/rush:          1.3             3.5
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     22-38-260-1     6-10-120-0
Sacked-yards:        6-37            2-14
Net pass yards:      223             106
Net yards/pass:      5.1             8.8
Total net yards:     248             283
Total plays:         63 (30% run)    63 (80% run)  
Yards/play:          3.9             4.5
Fumbles-lost:        0-0             4-3
Turnovers:           1               3
Penalties-yards:     2-10            5-45

Attendance: 61,064

Passing:
MIA: Bob Griese, 22 of 38 for 260 yards and 1 TD (1 int)
NE: Steve Grogan, 6 of 10 for 120 yards

Rushing:
MIA: Leroy Harris, 10 for 12 yards; Gary Davis, 6 for 8 yards; Norm Bulaich, 3 for 5 yards
NE: Sam Cunningham, 19 for 57 yards and 1 TD; Don Calhoun, 18 for 55 yards; Steve Grogan, 7 for 38 yards; Ike Forte, 7 for 27 yards and 1 TD

Receiving:
MIA: Nat Moore, 5 for 64 yards and 1 TD; Norm Bulaich, 5 for 39 yards; Duriel Harris, 4 for 77 yards; Freddie Solomon, 2 for 30 yards; Jim Mandich, 2 for 24 yards; Leroy Harris, 2 for 13 yards; Andre Tillman, 1 for 7 yards; Gary Davis, 1 for 6 yards
NE: Stanley Morgan, 3 for 71 yards; Darryl Stingley, 2 for 42 yards; Ike Forte, 1 for 7 yards

Kick returns:
MIA: Freddie Solomon, 3 for 55 yards
NE: Raymond Clayborn, 1 for 22 yards; Jess Phillips, 1 for 12 yards

Punt returns:
MIA: Freddie Solomon, 3 for 20 yards
NE: Mike Haynes, 2 for 18 yards

Interceptions:
NE: Sam Hunt, 1 for 10 yards

Punting:
MIA: Larry Seiple, 3 for 103 yards; Mike Michel, 2 for 64 yards
NE: Mike Patrick, 4 for 129 yards

Field Goals:
MIA: Garo Yepremian, 1/1
NE: John Smith, 0/1

---