1978 Buffalo Bills season

1978 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachChuck Knox
Home stadiumRich Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place4th AFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
All-ProsG Joe DeLamielleure (2nd team)
Pro BowlersG Joe DeLamielleure

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.

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

Main article: 1978 NFL draft
1978 Buffalo Bills draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 5 Terry Miller  Running back Oklahoma State
2 32 Dee Hardison  Defensive end North Carolina
2 38 Scott Hutchinson  Defensive end Florida
3 59 Dennis Johnson  Running back Mississippi State
3 65 Danny Fulton  Wide receiver Nebraska–Omaha
4 89 Lucius Sanford  Linebacker Georgia Tech
5 114 Ken Spaeth  Tight end Nebraska
6 145 Eric Smith  Offensive tackle Southern Miss
7 171 Mario Celotto  Linebacker USC
7 183 Steve Powell  Running back NE Missouri State
10 255 Will Grant  Center Kentucky
11 282 Jerry Blanton  Linebacker Kentucky
12 309 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

  • Offensive coordinator / offensive line – Ray Proschaska
  • Running backs coach – Elijah Pitts
  • Wide receivers coach – Jack Donaldson

Defensive/special teams coaches

  • Defensive coordinator / linebackers coach - Tom Caitlin
  • Defensive line – Willie Zapalac
  • Defensive backs – Jim Wagstaff
  • Special teams – Steve Moore & Elijah Pitts

Roster

1978 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 3 Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–28 0–1 Rich Stadium 64,147
2 September 10 New York Jets L 20–21 0–2 Rich Stadium 40,985
3 September 17 at Miami Dolphins L 24–31 0–3 Miami Orange Bowl 48,373
4 September 24 Baltimore Colts W 24–17 1–3 Rich Stadium 55,270
5 October 1 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–13 2–3 Rich Stadium 47,310
6 October 8 at New York Jets L 14–45 2–4 Shea Stadium 44,545
7 October 15 at Houston Oilers L 10–17 2–5 Astrodome 47,727
8 October 22 Cincinnati Bengals W 5–0 3–5 Rich Stadium 47,754
9 October 29 at Cleveland Browns L 20–41 3–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,409
10 November 5 New England Patriots L 10–14 3–7 Rich Stadium 44,897
11 November 12 Miami Dolphins L 24–25 3–8 Rich Stadium 48,623
12 November 19 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–31 3–9 Tampa Stadium 61,383
13 November 26 New York Giants W 41–17 4–9 Rich Stadium 28,496
14 December 3 at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–14 4–10 Arrowhead Stadium 25,781
15 December 10 at New England Patriots L 24–26 4–11 Schaefer Stadium 59,598
16 December 17 at Baltimore Colts W 21–14 5–11 Memorial Stadium 25,415
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

Team 1 234Total
• Steelers 0 14014 28
Bills 0 0017 17

Week 4

Team 1 234Total
Colts 0 1430 17
• Bills 14 1000 24
  • 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)
  • Referee: Cal Lepore
Scoring summary
Q1BUFGant 19 yard pass from Ferguson (Dempsey kick)BUF 7–0
Q1BUFLewis 28 yard pass from Ferguson (Dempsey kick)BUF 14–0
Q2BALLeaks 17 yard pass from Troup (Linhart kick)BUF 14–7
Q2BALMcCall 5 yard blocked punt return (Linhart kick)Tie 14–14
Q2BUFBrown 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
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 6 0 0713
Bills 0 21 7028

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

Team 1 234Total
• Patriots 0 770 14
Bills 3 007 10

[5]

Week 13 vs. Giants

Week Thirteen: New York Giants (5–7) at Buffalo Bills (3–9)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 7 3 7017
Bills 7 0 72741

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)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 7 3010
Chiefs 7 0 7014

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information

Standings

1978 AFC East standings
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
New England Patriots(2) 11 5 0 .688 6–2 9–3 358 286 L1
Miami Dolphins(4) 11 5 0 .688 5–3 8–4 372 254 W3
New York Jets 8 8 0 .500 6–2 7–5 359 364 L2
5 11 0 .313 2–6 4–10 302 354 W1
Baltimore Colts 5 11 0 .313 1–7 3–9 240 421 L5

Player stats

Passing

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

Player Games Completions Attempts Yards TD INT Rating
Joe Ferguson 16 175 330 2136 16 15 70.5

[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

Player Games FGA FGM FG % XPA XPM XP %
Tom Dempsey 16 13 10 76.9% 38 36 94.7%

[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.

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. ^ a b "1978 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players".
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