Sunday December 12, 1976
. . . where the 1970s live forever!

NFL game summary for 12/12/1976:



Norris Weese engineered four Denver touchdowns in the second half and the Broncos rushed for a club record 356 yards to climax a 9-5 season, the club's best in its 17-year history. Trailing 14-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, Rick Upchurch tied the score on the fourth play of the period. Then with 3:17 left in the game Otis Armstrong put Denver in the lead with an 11-yard TD run that also marked his fifth 100-yard game of the season. Armstrong lifted his season total to 1,008 yards on the Broncos' next series that was capped by Riley Odoms' 12-yard end-around touchdown.

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

TeamRush Yds/GmPass Yds/GmTot Yds/GmTurnovers
OFFENSE121.2  (23)162.1  (11)283.3  (19)28
DEFENSE122.5  (5)151.5  (14)274.0  (8)33
OFFENSE172.8  (5)109.5  (25)282.4  (20)24
DEFENSE125.2  (6)163.1  (19)288.3  (11)41

Line: Bears by 6

Team1234F
Denver Broncos (9-5-0)0072128
Chicago Bears (7-7-0)770014

( 0- 7) CHI Allan Ellis 22 yard interception return (Bob Thomas kick) ( 0-14) CHI Walter Payton 21 yard rush (Bob Thomas kick) ( 7-14) DEN Jon Keyworth 13 yard pass from Norris Weese (Jim Turner kick) (14-14) DEN Rick Upchurch 19 yard rush (Jim Turner kick) (21-14) DEN Otis Armstrong 11 yard rush (Jim Turner kick) (28-14) DEN Riley Odoms 12 yard rush (Jim Turner kick)
                     DEN             CHI
First Downs:         26              5
Rushes-yards:        59-356          31-116
Yards/rush:          6.0             3.7
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     8-25-107-5      2-17-64-2
Sacked-yards:        2-10            1-8
Net pass yards:      97              56
Net yards/pass:      3.6             3.1
Total net yards:     453             172
Total plays:         86 (68% run)    49 (63% run)  
Yards/play:          5.3             3.5
Fumbles-lost:        2-1             4-2
Turnovers:           6               4
Penalties-yards:     6-35            5-47

Attendance: 44,459

Passing:
DEN: Norris Weese, 7 of 22 for 98 yards and 1 TD (4 int); Craig Penrose, 1 of 3 for 9 yards (1 int) CHI: Bob Avellini, 2 of 17 for 64 yards (2 int)
Rushing:
DEN: Otis Armstrong, 26 for 116 yards and 1 TD; Norris Weese, 12 for 120 yards; Lonnie Perrin, 8 for 37 yards; Jon Keyworth, 6 for 16 yards; Jim Kiick, 4 for 31 yards; Rick Upchurch, 2 for 24 yards and 1 TD; Riley Odoms, 1 for 12 yards and 1 TD CHI: Walter Payton, 14 for 49 yards and 1 TD; Roland Harper, 13 for 50 yards; Johnny Musso, 3 for 13 yards; Bob Avellini, 1 for 4 yards
Receiving:
DEN: Rick Upchurch, 2 for 42 yards; Otis Armstrong, 2 for 23 yards; Riley Odoms, 1 for 19 yards; Jon Keyworth, 1 for 13 yards and 1 TD; Jack Dolbin, 1 for 9 yards; Lonnie Perrin, 1 for 1 yard CHI: Brian Baschnagel, 1 for 58 yards; Johnny Musso, 1 for 6 yards
Kick returns:
DEN: Lonnie Perrin, 2 for 48 yards; Harvey Goodman, 1 for 8 yards CHI: Roland Harper, 3 for 52 yards; Brian Baschnagel, 2 for 70 yards
Punt returns:
DEN: Rick Upchurch, 5 for 28 yards CHI: Virgil Livers, 1 for 3 yards
Interceptions:
DEN: Tom Jackson, 1 for 24 yards; Randy Poltl, 1 for 0 yards CHI: Ross Brupbacher, 3 for 3 yards; Allan Ellis, 1 for 22 yards and 1 TD; Virgil Livers, 1 for 0 yards
Punting:
DEN: Norris Weese, 4 for 104 yards CHI: Bob Parsons, 11 for 358 yards
Field Goals:
DEN: Jim Turner, 0/1


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