Bert Jones - Colts - 1977 - Week 14 - TV (1 of 4)

[orionstarman]

I was at this game. Whoever won this game went to the playoffs. There was a Patriots fan sitting in front of me waving this Patriots flag, really pissing me off. I just had to snatch it out of his hand and break it up.

[jsteptoe36]

Not that the loss to Detroit helped, but it did not hurt, and think that was being said.

[rsimonse]

in your comments you say the Colts benefited from a loss to the Lions??? that makes no sense. if the Colts wouldn't have lost to the Lions they would have ended the season at 11-3 and would have won the division outright w/o any tiebreakers.

[giles422]

fumble

[wizeman5974]

1977: The last season the Baltimore Colts were a genuine Super Bowl contender.

[ebel1122]

bert jones was best quartback in time but he no defense god bless bert

[fromthefarside]

From 1975-79 the Colts were 36-12 w/Jones & 5-21 w/out him.

[Adyanthaya]

Thanks for posting. I've been looking for this for years. I'm a Pats fan, but I lived in Houston at the time and this was the first Patriots game I ever saw (it was just the final two minutes at the end).

Two thoughts: Can't believe the horrible fumble call that cost the Patriots the game and sad that the last Pat's play was an incompletion to Darryl Stingley in his last regular season game.

[marquettefootball]

I'm waiting for Santana and his band to show up in the broadcast booth with Dick and Merlin with the bongo music. Awesome stuff! :)

[fromthefarside]

Only the 2nd time Dick Enberg & Merlin Olsen worked as a team. The best announcer duo I can remember. I always enjoyed them much more than Summerall & Madden.

[mdumas43073]

You can really hear the Vin Scully influence in the younger Enberg.

[fromthefarside]

Great as always. I've looked for this NBC telecast for years. Have the GOTW film. I met Bert Jones in October at an autograph signing. He came across the building & saw my father was trying to take his picture & stopped & took the camera off his neck & gave it to a stranger to take all our picture together. A class act. I idolized him as a boy & lived & died w/the Colts each week. Maybe you can locate the NBC telecast of the Steelers game from 1977. I've tried & have not had any success.

[Mpoconnor7]

Injuries derailed Bert Jones career, as he was a definite HOFer in his prime, and would have been one of the greatest QB's ever. From 1975-77 he was the best QB in the NFL, and there were a lot of great QB's in the NFL at that time like Bradshaw, Staubach, Tarkenton, Stabler, Anderson, Griese and others.

[Mpoconnor7]

Injuries derailed Bert Jones career, as he was a definite HOFer in his prime, and would have been one of the greatest QB's ever. From 1975-77 he was the best QB in the NFL, and there were a lot of great QB's in the NFL at that time like Bradshaw, Staubach, Tarkenton, Stabler, Anderson, Griese and others. At his best, Bert Jones was one of the 4-5 best QB's I have ever seen.

[douker]

@Mpoconnor7 Agreed. A lot of people think Bert was the most physically gifted QB to date. Imagine someone with Bert Jones' talent with the offensive weapons like Brady has today. Also, all of the rules that are now in place to protect quarterbacks and receivers. Would be a sight to see. but alas.

[sptrfn]

@fromthefarside: If you ever find that broadcast, let me know. I would love to find another NFL on NBC game from 77 and before.

[raelraven2]

Wow! I actually went to this game! I sat in the upper deck towards the closed end of Memorial Stadium. What an incredible come back for Baltimore! It was really the last big victory the Colts had in Baltimore.

[threeby8887]

Thank you for posting this Colts game excerpt. Those were the days in the NFL.

[a7b7c78]

Was it true that the Lion win over the Colts the week before knocked the Pats out of the playoffs?

[porter4]

Yes. I forget how. But there would have been a different result in a 3 way tie instead of a 2 way tie. It was that situation (and the Pit-Cinci tiebreakers that same week) that made me first realize how complicated NFL tiebreakers could be.

[joneseracolts]

In a 3-way tie of 10-4 records, the Patriots would have edge over Colts and Dolphins based upon games against each other (Pats 3-1, Dolphins 2-2, Colts 1-3). The Colts loss to the Lions prevented a 3-way tie from occuring.

Colts had better conference record than Miami (9-3 to 8-4) giving Colts title in 2-way tie.

The Dolphins win on the last week of the season guaranteed them a better division record than the best the Patriots could do (6-2 to 5-3) and hence the 2-way tie breaker.

[porter4]

I remember also the Colt-Raider playoff game the following week. Because of the overtime, the network continued broadcasting the Colt game and we missed the beginning of the Steeler-Bronco playoff game - even in Pittsburgh. Do you have any of the Colt-Raider game - or the GOW film from that week? I believe that was Christmas eve 1977.

[porter4]

Now that I think of it, I was watching the Houston-Cinci game the day this was on. Pittsburgh needed the Oilers to beat the Bengals in order for Pit to make the playoffs. The Oilers won and Pit went to the playoffs and lost to Denver.

[porter4]

Thanks for posting this. I remember these events. I don't think I saw this game, but I saw the Pats play Miami the week before and the announcers explained the tie-breaker situation. I remember also the GOW featuring this game. I was a Pit fan, so I hated everyone involved (Colts, Pats, Mia, Oak), but it is great to see this again.