career. Defenders are only permitted to make contact with receivers once. Defenders are not allowed to make contact with an opponent above the shoulders with the palms of their hands, except to ward him off the line. Offensive linemen are not allowed to thrust their hands to a defender’s neck, face, or head. Wide receivers are not allowed to clip defenders. This was the first season when the statistic for time of possession began to be recorded. Division races Tampa Bay and Seattle continued as "swing" teams that did not participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, two or three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14-game schedule against other conference teams. Tampa Bay switched to the NFC and played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the AFC. The teams met in Week Five, with Seattle winning 30–23. Starting in 1970, and through 2001, except for the strike-shortened 1982 season, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. This was the final season as the winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play. National Football Conference * other teams with same W-L record American Football Conference * other teams with same W-L record Regular season Highlights of the 1977 season included: Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 24, featuring Chicago at Detroit. Chicago would prevail in a 31-14 final. The Miami Dolphins visited St. Louis to play the Cardinals, defeating them by a 55-14 mark. Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese would throw for six touchdown passes versus the Cardinals. The Dolphins would set a franchise record for most points scored in one game with 55. Of note, the Dolphins would score eight touchdowns and accumulate 34 first downs. Final standings Tiebreakers Baltimore finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better conference record (9–3 to Dolphins’ 8–4). N.Y. Jets finished ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (1 point). Houston finished ahead of Cincinnati in the AFC Central based on better point-differential in head-to-head competition (2 points). Minnesota finished ahead of Chicago in the