1978 Kansas City Chiefs season
The 1978 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League, the 16th as the Kansas City Chiefs, and the 19th overall. It began with the hiring of new head coach Marv Levy, formerly of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. With the NFL expanding its schedule to 16 games, the Chiefs finished with a 4–12 record and 5th in the AFC West.
1978 Kansas City Chiefs season | |
---|---|
Owner | Lamar Hunt |
Head coach | Marv Levy |
General manager | Jim Schaaf |
Home field | Arrowhead Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 4–12 |
Division place | 5th AFC West |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Pro Bowlers | None |
Coach Levy's systematic restocking of a relatively barren defensive roster began with a 1978 draft class that included a pair of future Chiefs franchise hall of famers in defensive end Art Still and linebacker Gary Spani. Running back Ed Podolak, who was the club's all-time leading rusher at the time, retired in the offseason on June 15.[1]
Perhaps Levy's most unconventional tactic in rebuilding the Chiefs was installing the Wing-T offense. "It was a situation where we took over a team that had the worst defensive record in the history of the National Football League," Levy explained.[1] "We wanted to keep that defense off the field, so we ran the ball 60 times a game."[1] The 1978 Chiefs team ran and ran often, posting franchise records with 663 rushing attempts and 2,986 ground yards.[1] Levy's squad ran the ball a staggering 69 times in a 24–23 Opening Day win at Cincinnati on September 3, the most rushing attempts in an NFL contest since 1948.[1] Five different players had 100-yard rushing games during the year, including running back Tony Reed, who finished the season with 1,053 yards to become the team's first 1,000-yard back since 1967. Running back Ted McKnight led the NFL averaging 6.0 yards per carry on the season. [1] Despite the squad's Opening Day success, the club lost 10 of its next 11 games, including a pair of overtime decisions. However, the team showed signs of improvement with the defense recording a 23–0 shutout against San Diego on November 26 as the club concluded its first 16-game schedule with a 4–12 mark.[1]
Offseason
NFL Draft
Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
---|---|---|---|---|
Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Reserve lists
|
Schedule
Preseason
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | August 5 | at Green Bay Packers | W 17–14 | 1–0 | Lambeau Field | 54,453 | Recap |
2 | August 12 | Minnesota Vikings | W 17–13 | 2–0 | Arrowhead Stadium | 41,092 | Recap |
3 | August 20 | at New England Patriots | L 7–24 | 2–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 39,043 | Recap |
4 | August 26 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 7–12 | 2–2 | Arrowhead Stadium | 40,884 | Recap |
Regular season
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 3 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 24–23 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | 41,810 | Recap |
2 | September 10 | Houston Oilers | L 17–20 | 1–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 40,213 | Recap |
3 | September 17 | at New York Giants | L 10–26 | 1–2 | Giants Stadium | 70,546 | Recap |
4 | September 24 | Denver Broncos | L 17–23 (OT) | 1–3 | Arrowhead Stadium | 60,593 | Recap |
5 | October 1 | at Buffalo Bills | L 13–28 | 1–4 | Rich Stadium | 47,310 | Recap |
6 | October 8 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 13–30 | 1–5 | Arrowhead Stadium | 38,201 | Recap |
7 | October 15 | at Oakland Raiders | L 6–28 | 1–6 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 50,759 | Recap |
8 | October 22 | Cleveland Browns | W 17–3 | 2–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | 41,157 | Recap |
9 | October 29 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 24–27 | 2–7 | Three Rivers Stadium | 48,185 | Recap |
10 | November 5 | Oakland Raiders | L 10–20 | 2–8 | Arrowhead Stadium | 75,418 | Recap |
11 | November 12 | at San Diego Chargers | L 23–29 (OT) | 2–9 | San Diego Stadium | 41,395 | Recap |
12 | November 19 | Seattle Seahawks | L 10–13 | 2–10 | Arrowhead Stadium | 35,252 | Recap |
13 | November 26 | San Diego Chargers | W 23–0 | 3–10 | Arrowhead Stadium | 26,248 | Recap |
14 | December 3 | Buffalo Bills | W 14–10 | 4–10 | Arrowhead Stadium | 25,781 | Recap |
15 | December 10 | at Denver Broncos | L 3–24 | 4–11 | Mile High Stadium | 74,149 | Recap |
16 | December 17 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 19–23 | 4–12 | Kingdome | 58,490 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game Summaries
Week 6 vs. Tamapa Bay Buccaneers
- TV Network: CBS
- Announcers: Jim Thacker and Roman Gabriel
Kansas City was no match to the Buccaneers team this day. They briefly had a 3-0 lead on Jan Stenerud's 25-yard field goal in period 1, but then it was Tampa Bay all the way as the Bucs is 3-3, one more win than they had in their first 2 years of the franchise.
Standings
AFC West | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
Denver Broncos(3) | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 7–1 | 8–4 | 282 | 198 | L1 |
Oakland Raiders | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–5 | 5–7 | 311 | 283 | W1 |
Seattle Seahawks | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 345 | 358 | W1 |
San Diego Chargers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 355 | 309 | W3 |
Kansas City Chiefs | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–7 | 4–10 | 243 | 327 | L2 |
References
- "Kansas City Chiefs History 1970's". Archived from the original on August 23, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.