1978 Buffalo Bills season

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.

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

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]

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
12 308 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

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 3 Pittsburgh Steelers L 28–17 0—1 64,147
2 September 10 New York Jets L 21–20 0—2 40,985
3 September 17 at Miami Dolphins L 31–24 0—3 48,373
4 September 24 Baltimore Colts W 24–17 1—3 55,270
5 October 1 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–13 2—3 47,310
6 October 8 at New York Jets L 45–14 2—4 44,545
7 October 15 at Houston Oilers L 17–10 2—5 47,727
8 October 22 Cincinnati Bengals W 5–0 3—5 47,754
9 October 29 at Cleveland Browns L 41–20 3—6 51,409
10 November 5 New England Patriots L 14–10 3—7 44,897
11 November 12 Miami Dolphins L 25–24 3—8 48,623
12 November 19 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 31–10 3—9 61,383
13 November 26 New York Giants W 41–17 4—9 28,496
14 December 3 at Kansas City Chiefs L 14–10 4—10 25,781
15 December 10 at New England Patriots L 26–24 4—11 59,598
16 December 17 at Baltimore Colts W 21–14 5—11 25,415

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1
1 234Total
Steelers 7 700 14
• Bills 7 0200 27

Week 4
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)

[4]

Week 13
1 234Total
Giants 7 370 17
• Bills 7 0727 41

[5]

Standings
AFC East
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
Buffalo Bills 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 Ferguson161753302136161570.5

[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 Dempsey16131076.9%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.

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 2021-Jun-13.
  6. "1978 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players".
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