1978 Oakland Raiders season

The 1978 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 19th season, and ninth as an NFL member.

1978 Oakland Raiders season
OwnerAl Davis
Head coachJohn Madden
General managerAl Davis
Home fieldOakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify

1978 would prove to be an up and down year for the silver and black. During a pre-season game, Jack Tatum paralyzed New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley from the chest down while making a hit. Overall, the Raiders were plagued by one of quarterback Kenny Stabler's worst seasons, tossing 16 TD's, while throwing 30 interceptions. The running game also fell off from seasons past. Even the great wide receiver Cliff Branch, only caught one touchdown. The season started off with a 14–6 loss in Denver. The Raiders would rally to a 5–3 start, then climbed to 8–4. As a result of a last-minute defeat to the Seattle Seahawks 17–16, the Raiders lost twice to a single team in the same season for the first time since 1965. The following week, the Broncos completed their sweep of the Raiders with a 21–6 victory in Oakland, which was followed by a 23–6 defeat in Miami. A meaningless 27–20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings kept the Raiders consecutive seasons with a winning record streak alive. This was head coach John Madden's tenth and final season as head coach of the team. He was replaced by his wide receivers coach, Tom Flores.

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 1978 NFL Draft
Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team

Roster
1978 Oakland Raiders roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 3, 1978 at Denver Broncos L 6–14
75,092
2 September 10, 1978 at San Diego Chargers W 21–20
51,653
3 September 17, 1978 at Green Bay Packers W 28–3
55,903
4 September 24, 1978 New England Patriots L 14–21
52,904
5 October 1, 1978 at Chicago Bears W 25–19
52,848
6 October 8, 1978 Houston Oilers W 21–17
52,550
7 October 15, 1978 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–6
50,759
8 October 22, 1978 at Seattle Seahawks L 7–27
62,529
9 October 29, 1978 San Diego Chargers L 23–27
52,612
10 November 5, 1978 at Kansas City Chiefs W 20–10
75,418
11 November 13, 1978 at Cincinnati Bengals W 34–21
51,374
12 November 19, 1978 Detroit Lions W 29–17
44,517
13 November 26, 1978 Seattle Seahawks L 16–17
52,978
14 December 3, 1978 Denver Broncos L 6–21
53,932
15 December 10, 1978 at Miami Dolphins L 6–23
73,003
16 December 17, 1978 Minnesota Vikings W 27–20
44,643

Game summaries

Week 2
1 234Total
• Raiders 0 7014 21
Chargers 0 1307 20

[1]

The Holy Roller

During this game, one of the most famous plays known as the Holy Roller occurred. Kenny Stabler fumbled the ball and Pete Banaszak moved it forward allowing Dave Casper to finish the job for a touchdown. It is one of the most controversial plays in the history of the NFL.

Week 3
1 234Total
• Raiders 0 14014 28
Packers 0 300 3

[2]

Week 6

This game started with nearly all Oilers as future Raider Dan Pastorini throw touchdown passes of 58 yards to Mike Renfro and 17 yards to Mike Barber and Toni Fritsch kicked a 35-yard field goal. The only Raiders points in the first 3 quarters was a 4-yard touchdown run by Arthur Whittington. Then with the Oilers leading 17-7 lead and driving deep in Raiders' territory, Oiler running back Earl Campbell ran around left tackle and lost the ball when Oakland's Dave Browning hit him, and Charles Phillips picked up the ball and ran it 96 yards to cut the Oilers lead to 3. Then in quarter four, and late Ken Stabler who had 3 interceptions prior to this drive suddenly came to life as he successfully passes 71 of the 80 yards ending with a pass to Dave Casper. Oiler defender Greg Stemrick got his hands on the short winning pass, but Casper yanked the ball loose and held on for the score. His four-yard touchdown reception helped the Raiders go to 4-2 and a tie for first with Denver in the AFC West standings.

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
  1. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jul-17.
  2. Pro-Football-Reference.com
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