1977 Broncos 37 - 1968 Colts 14

An absolute stunner. I had figured on a low scoring game due to two superb defenses and two of the weaker offenses left in the tournament, but I would never have predicted this. The Broncos took the opening drive to the Colts 49 on a 14 yard pass to Odoms and a decent run by Otis Armstrong, and then Craig Morton hit jack Dolbin on a short pattern, and Dolbin streaked down the sideline for a surprise early TD. The Colts first possession saw Morrall sacked twice, and a 25 yard punt return by Rick Upchurch set up a FG and a 10 point cushion. So far, so good. The Colts then mounted a great TD drive of their own, but on a drive later in the second drive the Broncos benefitted from back to back personal fouls, setting up a QB sneak by Craig Morton. The Broncs were able to tack on a pair of Jim Turner FG's, making use of great field position as they completely held the Colts offense in check. On one possesion they stuffed a 4th and one conversion attempt near midfield and Upchurch delivered a 22 yard return of a punt on another. Score at the half 23-7. This turned from a shocking deficit into a total rout in the Third period, as Earl Morrall went completely in the tank - throwing four interceptions on four successive drives, with Tom Jackson and Bernard Jackson taking two of them the distance. The Broncos scored 37 points on only 251 yards of offense. Some of that was because I went ultra conservative in the second half, but a lot is because the Colts defense is truly outstanding. I simply got lucky as Hell. With a good lead the 77 Broncos are almost impossible to catch up with. Their pass rush isn't as good as some, and their interception rate is good (but not great). They simply don't surrender any completions - and their run defense is so sound that unless they are facing a great RB with big breakaway potential you can leave it alone to take care of itself. The 68 Colts do not have dangerous RB and so the Broncs sat on Morrall from the second quarter on.

1977 Denver 37, 1968 Baltimore 14
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1977 Denver	10	13	14	0	0	37
1968 Baltimore	7	0	0	7	0	14

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	13:18	1977 Denver	J.Dolbin 49 yd. pass from C.Morton (J.Turner kick)	7-0 DEA
1	7:39	1977 Denver	J.Turner 46 yd. field goal	10-0 DEA
1	2:50	1968 Baltimore	R.Perkins 14 yd. pass from E.Morrall (L.Michaels kick)	10-7 DEA
2	10:45	1977 Denver	C.Morton 1 yd. run (J.Turner kick)	17-7 DEA
2	4:32	1977 Denver	J.Turner 24 yd. field goal	20-7 DEA
2	0:45	1977 Denver	J.Turner 22 yd. field goal	23-7 DEA
3	11:59	1977 Denver	B.Thompson 58 yd. intercept (J.Turner kick)	30-7 DEA
3	8:20	1977 Denver	T.Jackson 31 yd. intercept (J.Turner kick)	37-7 DEA
4	2:59	1968 Baltimore	J.Hill 11 yd. pass from J.Unitas (L.Michaels kick)	37-14 DEA

Team Statistics
	1977 Denver	1968 Baltimore
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	7-5-3-15	6-8-0-14
Third Down Efficiency	4-13-31%	3-12-25%
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-0-0%	0-2-0%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	13-21-62%	14-14-100%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	251-58-4.3	211-62-3.4
Total Net Yards Rushing	153	111
Total Rushes	42	34
Average Per Rush	3.6	3.3
Passes Completed/Attempted	7/13 (53.8%)	12/24 (50.0%)
Net Yards Passing	98	100
Avg Yards Per Pass	9.2	5.5
Sacked/Yards Lost	3/22	4/31
Punts/Average	6/35.7	6/43.8
Punts Received/Return Yardage	3/44	3/18
Kickoffs/Returns	2/50	7/140
Interceptions/Returns	4/95	0/0
Penalties/Yards	3/35	6/60
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	1/1	0/0
Time of Possession	29 mins 11 secs	30 mins 49 secs
Average Drive Start	DEA 34	BAN 31

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1977 Denver
Craig Morton	11	7	120	63.6	10.9	1	9.1	0	0	49	2/15	130.9
Norris Weese	1	0	0	0.0	.0	0	0	0	0	0	1/7	39.6
Craig Penrose	1	0	0	0.0	.0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	39.6
1968 Baltimore
Earl Morrall	22	11	120	50.0	5.5	1	4.5	4	18.2	27	4/31	42.0
Johnny Unitas	2	1	11	50.0	5.5	1	50.0	0	0	11	0/0	106.3

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1977 Denver
Otis Armstrong	11	24	2.2	8	0	0	0/0
Lonnie Perrin	11	58	5.3	15	0	0	0/0
Rob Lytle	9	24	2.7	5	0	0	1/1
Jon Keyworth	8	45	5.6	15	0	0	0/0
Norris Weese	2	1	0.5	2	0	0	0/0
Craig Morton	1	1	1.0	1	1	0	0/0
1968 Baltimore
Jerry Hill	11	31	2.8	14	0	0	0/0
Tom Matte	10	29	2.9	8	0	0	0/0
Preston Pearson	7	38	5.4	13	0	0	0/0
Terry Cole	4	12	3.0	9	0	0	0/0
Timmy Brown	2	1	0.5	4	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1977 Denver
Riley Odoms	3	26	8.7	14	0	0
Jack Dolbin	2	61	30.5	49	1	0
Rick Upchurch	1	10	10.0	10	0	0
Rob Lytle	1	23	23.0	23	0	0
1968 Baltimore
Jimmy Orr	3	37	12.3	19	0	0
Ray Perkins	3	31	10.3	14	1	0
Jerry Hill	1	11	11.0	11	1	0
John Mackey	1	9	9.0	9	0	0
Terry Cole	1	3	3.0	3	0	0
Willie Richardson	1	27	27.0	27	0	0
Tom Matte	1	6	6.0	6	0	0
Alex Hawkins	1	7	7.0	7	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1977 Denver
Jim Turner	0/0	2/2	0/0	1/1	0/0	3/3	100
1968 Baltimore
Lou Michaels	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0/1	0.0

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1977 Denver
Bucky Dilts	6	35.7	32.7	0	2	44	0
1968 Baltimore
David Lee	6	43.8	33.2	1	2	62	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1977 Denver
Rick Upchurch	2	50	25.0	27	0
1968 Baltimore
Preston Pearson	3	89	29.7	33	0
Timmy Brown	2	41	20.5	25	0
John Mackey	2	10	5.0	9	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1977 Denver
Rick Upchurch	3	1	44	14.7	25	0
1968 Baltimore
Rick Volk	2	1	15	7.5	13	0
Timmy Brown	1	1	3	3.0	3	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1977 Denver
Randy Gradishar	9	0	0
Rubin Carter	8	2	0
Bernard Jackson	8	0	0
Tom Jackson	6	0	0
Bob Swenson	4	0	0
Barney Chavous	4	2	0
Lyle Alzado	3	0	0
Louis Wright	2	0	0
Steve J. Foley	1	0	0
Bill Thompson	1	0	0
Joe Rizzo	1	0	0
Chris Pane	1	0	0
1968 Baltimore
Dennis Gaubatz	15	0	0
Bubba Smith	8	1	0
Ordell Braase	6	0	0
Billy Ray Smith Sr.	4	1	0
Ron Porter	4	0	0
Mike Curtis	3	1	1
Lenny Lyles	3	0	0
Jerry Logan	2	0	0
Rick Volk	2	0	0
Charlie Stukes	1	0	0
Bobby Boyd	1	0	0

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1977 Denver
Tom Jackson	2	37	18.5	31	1
Bernard Jackson	1	0	0.0	0	0
Bill Thompson	1	58	58.0	58	1
1968 Baltimore

Game Story

In a blowout the visitors from Denver smashed Baltimore by the score of 37 to 14. Craig Morton threw 11 times for 120 yards with a touchdown. Lonnie Perrin rushed the ball 11 times for 58 yards. Denver got out to an early lead outscoring Baltimore 10 to 7 in the first quarter.

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