1978 Cincinnati Bengals season

1978 Cincinnati Bengals season
General manager	Paul Brown
Head coach	Bill Johnson and Homer Rice
Home stadium	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1977 Bengals seasons 1979  →

The 1978 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League, and the 11th overall.

Ken Anderson missed the first four games with a broken bone in his right hand, and Homer Rice replaced Bill Johnson as head coach after the Bengals started 0–5. The team dipped to marks of 0–8 and 1–12 before rebounding under Rice to win the last three games. In the season finale, the Bengals blasted Cleveland, 48–16, setting series records for points and victory margin.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1978 NFL draft

1978 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	8	Ross Browner	Defensive end	Notre Dame
1	16	Blair Bush	Center	Washington
2	35	Ray Griffin	Defensive back	Ohio State
2	45	Deacon Turner	Running back	San Diego State
3	72	Ted Vincent	Defensive tackle	Wichita State
3	83	Don Bass	Wide receiver	Houston
4	99	Dennis Law	Wide receiver	East Tennessee State
5	126	Tom Dinkel	Linebacker	Kansas
5	131	Rob Hertel	Quarterback	USC
6	155	Steve Geise	Running back	Penn State
7	182	Joe Branson	Defensive back	Livingstone
7	193	Danny Bass	Guard	Elon
8	211	Bill Miller	Offensive tackle	Western Illinois
9	238	Ron Shumon	Linebacker	Wichita State
10	267	Tom DePaso	Linebacker	Penn State
11	292	Cal Prince	Running back	Louisville
11	294	Mark Donahue	Guard	Michigan
12	323	Kim Featsent	Wide receiver	Kent State
Made roster

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Personnel

Staff

1978 Cincinnati Bengals staff

	Front office President – John Sawyer General Manager – Paul Brown Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Bill Johnson Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Homer Rice Offensive Backfield – George Sefcik Receivers – Boyd Dowler Offensive Line – Mike McCormack			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Howard Brinker Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Defensive Backfield – Charley Winner Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1978 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Ken Anderson 16 Rob Hertel 11 John Reaves Running backs (RB) 42 Boobie Clark 35 Tony Davis 36 Lenvil Elliott 45 Archie Griffin 46 Pete Johnson 22 Deacon Turner Wide receivers (WR) 82 Billy Brooks 85 Isaac Curtis 83 Dennis Law Tight ends (TE) 84 Don Bass 81 James Corbett 88 Rick Walker

Offensive linemen (OL) 74 Glenn Bujnoch G 58 Blair Bush C 66 Mark Donahue G 76 Vernon Holland T 54 Bob Johnson C 62 Dave Lapham G 71 Rufus Mayes T 77 Mike Wilson T Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Ross Browner DE 67 Gary Burley DE 73 Eddie Edwards DT 78 Ted Vincent DT 75 Wilson Whitley DT

Linebackers (LB) 50 Glenn Cameron OLB 56 Tom DePaso OLB 52 Tom Dinkel OLB 53 Bo Harris OLB 55 Jim LeClair MLB 51 Tom Ruud OLB 59 Ron Shumon MLB 57 Reggie Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 34 Louis Breeden CB 24 Marvin Cobb SS 44 Ray Griffin CB 30 Dick Jauron FS 21 Melvin Morgan CB/S 32 Scott Perry FS 13 Ken Riley CB Special teams (ST) 10 Chris Bahr K 87 Pat McInally P

Reserve 72 Ron Hunt T (IR) Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 3	Kansas City Chiefs	L 23–24	0–1	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
2	September 10	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–13 (OT)	0–2	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
3	September 17	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–28	0–3	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
4	September 24	New Orleans Saints	L 18–20	0–4	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
5	October 1	at San Francisco 49ers	L 12–28	0–5	Candlestick Park	Recap
6	October 9	at Miami Dolphins	L 0–21	0–6	Miami Orange Bowl	Recap
7	October 15	New England Patriots	L 3–10	0–7	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
8	October 22	at Buffalo Bills	L 0–5	0–8	Rich Stadium	Recap
9	October 29	Houston Oilers	W 28–13	1–8	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
10	November 5	at San Diego Chargers	L 13–22	1–9	San Diego Stadium	Recap
11	November 13	Oakland Raiders	L 21–34	1–10	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
12	November 19	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 6–7	1–11	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
13	November 26	at Houston Oilers	L 10–17	1–12	Astrodome	Recap
14	December 3	Atlanta Falcons	W 37–7	2–12	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
15	December 11	at Los Angeles Rams	W 20–19	3–12	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Recap
16	December 17	Cleveland Browns	W 48–16	4–12	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers (1)	14	2	0	.875	5–1	11–1	356	195	W5
Houston Oilers (5)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	283	298	L1
Cleveland Browns	8	8	0	.500	1–5	4–8	334	356	L1
Cincinnati Bengals	4	12	0	.250	2–4	2–10	252	284	W3

Team leaders

• Passing: Ken Anderson (319 Att, 173 Comp, 2219 Yds, 54.2 Pct, 10 TD, 22 Int, 58.0 Rating)
• Rushing: Pete Johnson (180 Att, 762 Yds, 4.2 Avg, 50 Long, 7 TD)
• Receiving: Isaac Curtis (47 Rec, 737 Yds, 15.7 Avg, 57 Long, 3 TD)
• Scoring: Chris Bahr, 74 points (16 FG; 26 PAT)

Awards and records

Pro Bowl selection

• For the first time in team history, the Bengals did not have any players selected to the Pro Bowl.

References

1. "1978 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
2. "1978 Cincinnati Bengals starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.

External links

• 1978 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com