1978 Buffalo Bills season

Last updated

1978 Buffalo Bills season
Owner Ralph Wilson
Head coach Chuck Knox
Home field Rich Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place4th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers G Joe DeLamielleure
AP All-Pros G Joe DeLamielleure (2nd team)

The 1978 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League, and the 19th overall. The Bills were coming off a season in which they only won three games, making 1978 a slight improvement.

Contents

Head coach Chuck Knox began his first season with the team, having coached the Los Angeles Rams for the previous five seasons. [note 1] It was also Buffalo's first season after the departure of star running back O. J. Simpson, who was traded to San Francisco for five draft picks in the offseason.

The Bills offense acquired a pair of weapons for quarterback Joe Ferguson: wide receiver Frank Lewis, who had spent the previous 7 seasons in Pittsburgh, and rookie running back Terry Miller, who ended the season with over 1,000 yards. [note 2]

The 1978 Bills' run defense allowed an NFL record 3,228 rushing yards; the 677 rushing attempts the Bills faced in 1978 is also an NFL record. [1] Oddly, the Bills were first in the league in yards allowed on pass defense, giving up only 1,960 yards through the air. [2]

Buffalo's week eight victory over the Cincinnati Bengals produced the second 5-0 final score in modern NFL history (since 1933); the other was a 1970 NFC divisional playoff between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.

Offseason

Draft

1978 Buffalo Bills draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
15 Terry Miller   Running back Oklahoma State
232 Dee Hardison   Defensive end North Carolina
238 Scott Hutchinson  Defensive end Florida
359 Dennis Johnson  Running back Mississippi State
365 Danny Fulton   Wide receiver Nebraska–Omaha
489 Lucius Sanford   Linebacker Georgia Tech
5114Ken Spaeth  Tight end Nebraska
6145Eric Smith  Offensive tackle Southern Miss
7171 Mario Celotto  Linebacker USC
7183Steve Powell Running back NE Missouri State
10255 Will Grant   Center Kentucky
11282 Jerry Blanton  Linebacker Kentucky
12309 Richard Crump  Running back Northeast Oklahoma A&M
      Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[3]

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1978 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive/special teams coaches

Roster

1978 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • -- Mario Celotto LB (IR Tooltip Injured reserve) Injury icon 2.svg


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 3 Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–280–1 Rich Stadium 64,147
2September 10 New York Jets L 20–210–2Rich Stadium40,985
3September 17at Miami Dolphins L 24–310–3 Miami Orange Bowl 48,373
4September 24 Baltimore Colts W 24–171–3Rich Stadium55,270
5October 1 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–132–3Rich Stadium47,310
6October 8at New York Jets L 14–452–4 Shea Stadium 44,545
7October 15at Houston Oilers L 10–172–5 Astrodome 47,727
8October 22 Cincinnati Bengals W 5–03–5Rich Stadium47,754
9October 29at Cleveland Browns L 20–413–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,409
10November 5 New England Patriots L 10–143–7Rich Stadium44,897
11November 12 Miami Dolphins L 24–253—8Rich Stadium48,623
12November 19at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–313–9 Tampa Stadium 61,383
13November 26 New York Giants W 41–174–9Rich Stadium28,496
14December 3at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–144–10 Arrowhead Stadium 25,781
15December 10at New England Patriots L 24–264–11 Schaefer Stadium 59,598
16December 17at Baltimore Colts W 21–145–11 Memorial Stadium 25,415
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

1234Total
• Steelers01401428
Bills0001717

Week 4

1234Total
Colts0143017
• Bills14100024
  • Date: September 24
  • Location: Rich Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 56 °F or 13.3 °C; wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn)
Scoring summary
Q1BUF Gant 19 yard pass from Ferguson (Dempsey kick)BUF 7–0
Q1BUF Lewis 28 yard pass from Ferguson (Dempsey kick)BUF 14–0
Q2BAL Leaks 17 yard pass from Troup (Linhart kick)BUF 14–7
Q2BAL McCall 5 yard blocked punt return (Linhart kick)Tie 14–14
Q2BUF Brown 102 yard kickoff return (Dempsey kick)BUF 21–14
Q2BUFDempsey 21 yard field goalBUF 24–14
Q3BALLinhart 21 yard field goalBUF 24–17

[4]

Week 5

Week Five: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Period1234Total
Chiefs600713
Bills0217028

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: October 1
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT/12:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C)
  • Game attendance: 47,310
  • Referee: Gordon McCarter
  • TV: NBC
  • Box score
Game information

Week 10

1234Total
• Patriots077014
Bills300710

[5]

Week 13 vs. Giants

Week Thirteen: New York Giants (5–7) at Buffalo Bills (3–9)
Period1234Total
Giants 737017
Bills 7072741

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 14 at Chiefs

Week Fourteen: Buffalo Bills (4–9) at Kansas City Chiefs (4–9)
Period1234Total
Bills 073010
Chiefs 707014

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
New England Patriots (2)1150.6886–29–3358286L1
Miami Dolphins (4)1150.6885–38–4372254W3
New York Jets 880.5006–27–5359364L2
Buffalo Bills 5110.3132–64–10302354W1
Baltimore Colts 5110.3131–73–9240421L5

Player stats

Passing

Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions

PlayerGamesCompletionsAttemptsYardsTDINTRating
Joe Ferguson 161753302136161570.5

[6]

Special teams

Note: FGA = Field Goals Attempted; FGM = Field Goals Made; FG% = Field goal percentage; XPA = Extra Points Attempted; XPM = Extra Points Made; XP% = Extra Points Percentage

PlayerGamesFGAFGMFG %XPAXPMXP %
Tom Dempsey 16131076.9%383694.7%

[6]

Video Archives

Notes

  1. ↑ Knox would coach the Bills for five seasons – through the 1982 season – before leaving for Seattle.
  2. ↑ Miller's 1,060 yards would be the only 1,000-yard total of his three year career in Buffalo.

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References

  1. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending opp Rushing Att
  2. ↑ 1978 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics
  3. ↑ "1978 Bufflo Bills draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-Oct-09.
  5. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-Sep-07.
  6. 1 2 "1978 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players".
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