Our taxable joint income slightly exceed 77.4k and I thought I would need an IRA to avoid the 22% bracket, but we're still being taxed at 12%. Any explanations?

Your joint income is not usually your taxable income. You are being taxed on income after deductions, Line 10 on your 1040. So, most likely your income fell below that. 

Also, only the portion of your taxable income that exceeds $77.4k would be taxed at 22%. All other taxable income would be at either 12% or 10%.

Line 10 exceeds 77.4k by a few hundred dollars, but I didn't know that different portions of the taxable income would be taxed at different rates.  I thought that it would all be taxed at 22% if it exceeded 77.4k.  Thank you for your quick response...it really helped put me at ease.