The teams that finished on the top and bottom of the AFC
East the previous year met in a NFL opening-week game at Foxboro, Massachusetts
on September 12, 1976.
The Baltimore Colts were coming off of a 10-4 record in
their first year under Head Coach Ted Marchibroda, who had received Coach of
the Year recognition for turning around a club that had gone 11-31 in the
preceding three seasons. QB Bert Jones (pictured at right) emerged as an outstanding performer and
productive all-purpose HB Lydell Mitchell was selected to the Pro Bowl. The
defensive line, anchored by DE John Dutton and DT Joe Ehrmann, was solid, as
was the corps of linebackers.
The Patriots, on the other hand, had not compiled a
winning record since they were a pre-merger AFL club and went 3-11 in ’75. Head
Coach Chuck Fairbanks was back for his fourth season and was committed to a new
starting quarterback in Steve Grogan, the second-year successor to QB Jim
Plunkett, who was traded to the 49ers after five up-and-down seasons. The draft
yielded promising players in CB Mike Haynes, C Pete Brock, safety Tim Fox, and
HB Ike Forte. There were good returning players in FB Sam Cunningham, HB Andy
Johnson, TE Russ Francis, tackle Leon Gray, and guards John Hannah and Sam
Adams on offense, and DE Julius Adams, NT Ray Hamilton, and LB Steve Nelson on
defense.
There were 43,512 fans in attendance on a sunny and mild
day at Schaefer Stadium. The Colts got the first break of the game on the third
play from scrimmage when Ike Forte of the Patriots fumbled deep in his own
territory and CB Nelson Munsey recovered at the New England 14. The visitors
couldn’t reach the end zone but came away with a 28-yard field goal by Toni
Linhart.
A clipping penalty on the ensuing kickoff had the
Patriots starting from their own seven, but this time they put together a
sustained drive of 77 yards. Forte, Sam Cunningham, and Andy Johnson all ran
effectively and Steve Grogan completed three passes. The result was a 31-yard
John Smith field goal to tie the score at 3-3.
Two short possessions that resulted in punts closed out
the opening period, but Baltimore HB Howard Stevens had a 27-yard return to
give the Colts good starting field position at the New England 40 to start the
second quarter. They reached the seven before coming up empty when FB Roosevelt
Leaks fumbled and SS Prentice McCray recovered for the Patriots.
New England proceeded to put together another long drive,
advancing 86 yards. A roughing-the-passer penalty on third down helped the
series along and Grogan completed four passes, the longest to WR Marlin Briscoe
for 21 yards. Johnson also had an 18-yard run to get the ball to the Baltimore
16, and while the possession finally stalled at the 10, the Patriots moved in
front on a 27-yard field goal by Smith.
The Colts regained possession with a little over three
minutes remaining in the first half and they put together a 78-yard drive in
nine plays. Bert Jones immediately connected with WR Glenn Doughty (pictured at left) for 25 yards
and a swing pass to FB Don McCauley picked up 12. McCauley had a seven-yard run
and, after the fullback dropped a pass, Jones was successful on his next three,
the last of which was to Doughty in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown.
Linhart added the extra point and Baltimore was up by 10-6.
There were 46 seconds remaining on the clock as the
Patriots took over on offense and Grogan went to the air. A short completion of
three yards to Russ Francis was followed by a 21-yard gain to WR Ricky Feacher,
but when Grogan tried to pass to Feacher again, it was intercepted by FS Jackie
Wallace. Wallace returned the pickoff 32 yards to the New England 20, and three
plays later Jones again completed a scoring pass to Doughty in the end zone,
this time from six yards out. Linhart converted and, thanks to the two
touchdowns in a span of 41 seconds, the Colts took a 17-6 lead into halftime
even though they significantly trailed the Patriots in time of possession.
Baltimore had the ball first in the third quarter and was
forced to punt. A long return by Mike Haynes gave the Patriots excellent
starting field position at the Colts’ 25. They were unable to capitalize,
however, when Grogan’s third down pass into the end zone fell incomplete and a
field goal attempt by Smith from 39 yards was blocked by DT Mike Barnes.
The Colts put together a long series in which they
converted two third downs and nearly scored another TD when a Jones throw to
McCauley in the end zone was nullified by a penalty. However, they did come
away with a 32-yard Linhart field goal and, rather than the home team narrowing
the margin, the Colts extended their lead to 20-6.
The next possession for the Patriots ended with an
interception but Baltimore, after advancing to the New England 32 early in the
fourth quarter, failed to convert a fourth-and-two situation. The Patriots
responded with a 68-yard drive in eight plays. Grogan completed passes to TE Al
Chandler for 29 yards and Briscoe for 16 and had an 11-yard scramble that set
up Johnson’s four-yard carry for a TD. Smith added the point after and the home
team was now down by seven points at 20-13.
The teams exchanged punts before the Colts got the ball
back at the New England 39 following a 34-yard punt by the Patriots from deep
in their own territory. Lydell Mitchell ran for 14 yards on first down and,
following a penalty, picked up another ten yards on two more carries. Mitchell
caught a pass from Jones for 11 more yards and then ran straight through the
middle of the line for a clinching 10-yard touchdown with less than two minutes
remaining to play. Linhart provided the final point as Baltimore came away with
a 27-13 win.
The Patriots had the edge in total yards (317 to 272)
while Baltimore compiled more first downs (20 to 17). However, New England
turned the ball over five times, to one suffered by the Colts.
Bert Jones completed 17 of 23 passes for 190 yards and
two touchdowns while giving up no interceptions. Lydell Mitchell rushed for 73
yards on 18 carries that included a TD and also had 6 catches for 72 yards.
Glenn Doughty contributed 50 yards on his four receptions that included the two
key touchdowns.
For the Patriots, Steve Grogan (pictured at right) was successful on 12 of 22
throws for 179 yards but tossed four interceptions. FB Sam Cunningham picked up
56 yards on 14 rushing attempts and also topped the club with four catches, for
19 yards. Andy Johnson had 53 yards on his lone catch and also gained 51 yards
on 14 carries that included a TD.
“New England gained a lot of yardage in the first half,”
said Baltimore’s Coach Marchibroda. “But we pretty well stopped them after
that. We came up with the big play when we had to.”
The Colts won eight of their first nine games on the way
to repeating as AFC East champs with an 11-3 record, losing to Pittsburgh in
the first playoff round. New England recovered to win its next three contests
on the way to also going 11-3, good for a second-place finish in the division (while
they split their season series with Baltimore, the Colts had a better record
against division opponents to claim the higher spot in the standings). The
upstart team qualified for the postseason as a Wild Card and lost narrowly to
the Raiders in their Divisional game.
Bert Jones received consensus league MVP recognition as
he topped the circuit in passing yards (3104) and ranked second in touchdown
passes (24), yards per attempt (9.0), and overall rating (102.5). He was
selected to the Pro Bowl, as was Lydell Mitchell, who rushed for 1200 yards and
caught 60 passes for 555 more yards, which made him second in all-purpose yards
with 1755. Glenn Doughty had a fine year as a possession receiver with 40
catches for 628 yards (15.7 avg.) and five TDs.
