Saturday December 24, 1977
. . . where the 1970s live forever!

NFL game summary for 12/24/1977:



In the third-longest game in NFL history, Ken Stabler's three touchdown passes to Dave Casper, the third after 15:43 of overtime, put the Oakland Raiders in the AFC championship game for the fifth consecutive year. Trailing 31-28 with three minutes to play, the defending Super Bowl champions drove 65 yards in seven plays -- the key play a 42-yard pass from Stabler to Casper -- and tied the score on Errol Mann's 22-yard field goal with 26 seconds left. The AFC wild card Raiders dominated the scoreless first period of overtime and a 10-play, 55-yard drive took the ball to the Baltimore 13 as the second sudden death period began. On second down, Stabler passed 10 yards to Casper for the winning touchdown. Each team scored three touchdowns in the second half of regulation play. The Colts' production included an 87-yard kickoff return by Marshall Johnson and two scoring runs by Ron Lee. It was the Colts' third straight loss in the opening round of the AFC playoffs.

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

TeamRush Yds/GmPass Yds/GmTot Yds/GmTurnovers
OFFENSE187.6  (2)150.6  (11)338.3  (2)40
DEFENSE125.3  (7)158.7  (22)284.0  (15)47
OFFENSE151.6  (9)176.1  (3)327.7  (6)26
DEFENSE128.4  (9)156.4  (21)284.9  (17)47

Line: Raiders by 3

Team1234OT2 OTF
Oakland Raiders (12-3-0)7014100637
Baltimore Colts (10-5-0)0107140031

( 7- 0) OAK Clarence Davis 30 yard rush (Errol Mann kick)
( 7- 7) BAL Bruce Laird 61 yard interception return (Toni Linhart kick)
( 7-10) BAL Toni Linhart 36 yard field goal
(14-10) OAK Dave Casper 8 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)
(14-17) BAL Marshall Johnson 87 yard kickoff return (Toni Linhart kick)
(21-17) OAK Dave Casper 10 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick)
(21-24) BAL Ron Lee 1 yard rush (Toni Linhart kick)
(28-24) OAK Pete Banaszak 1 yard rush (Errol Mann kick)
(28-31) BAL Ron Lee 13 yard rush (Toni Linhart kick)
(31-31) OAK Errol Mann 22 yard field goal
(37-31) OAK Dave Casper 10 yard pass from Ken Stabler 
                     OAK             BAL
First Downs:         28              22
Rushes-yards:        47-167          50-187
Yards/rush:          3.6             3.7
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     21-40-345-2     12-26-164-0
Sacked-yards:        2-21            6-50
Net pass yards:      324             114
Net yards/pass:      7.7             3.6
Total net yards:     491             301
Total plays:         89 (52% run)    82 (60% run)  
Yards/play:          5.5             3.7
Fumbles-lost:        4-2             1-0
Turnovers:           4               0
Penalties-yards:     7-65            8-82

Attendance: 60,763

Passing:
OAK: Ken Stabler, 21 of 40 for 345 yards and 3 TDs (2 int) BAL: Bert Jones, 12 of 26 for 164 yards
Rushing:
OAK: Mark van Eeghen, 19 for 76 yards; Clarence Davis, 16 for 48 yards and 1 TD; Pete Banaszak, 11 for 37 yards and 1 TD; Carl Garrett, 1 for 6 yards BAL: Lydell Mitchell, 23 for 67 yards; Ron Lee, 11 for 46 yards and 2 TDs; Roosevelt Leaks, 8 for 35 yards; Bert Jones, 6 for 30 yards; Don McCauley, 2 for 9 yards
Receiving:
OAK: Fred Biletnikoff, 7 for 88 yards; Cliff Branch, 6 for 113 yards; Dave Casper, 4 for 70 yards and 3 TDs; Mark van Eeghen, 2 for 39 yards; Clarence Davis, 2 for 35 yards BAL: Lydell Mitchell, 3 for 39 yards; Freddie Scott, 2 for 45 yards; Ron Lee, 2 for 22 yards; Don McCauley, 2 for 11 yards; Raymond Chester, 1 for 30 yards; Glenn Doughty, 1 for 20 yards; Robert Pratt, 1 for -3 yards
Kick returns:
OAK: Carl Garrett, 5 for 169 yards; Clarence Davis, 1 for 17 yards BAL: Marshall Johnson, 3 for 134 yards and 1 TD; Don McCauley, 1 for 25 yards; Lyle Blackwood, 1 for 17 yards; Doug Nettles, 1 for 17 yards
Punt returns:
OAK: Neal Colzie, 5 for 42 yards; Morris Bradshaw, 1 for 0 yards BAL: Lyle Blackwood, 2 for 6 yards; Marshall Johnson, 1 for 16 yards
Interceptions:
BAL: Bruce Laird, 2 for 61 yards and 1 TD
Punting:
OAK: Ray Guy, 8 for 374 yards BAL: David Lee, 12 for 438 yards
Field Goals:
OAK: Errol Mann, 1/2 BAL: Toni Linhart, 1/1


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