1978 Buffalo Bills season

19th season in franchise history November 2013 February 2026 Buffalo Bills 1978 5–11 4th AFC East Chuck Knox Ralph Wilson Rich Stadium Did not qualify G Joe DeLamielleure G Joe DeLamielleure (2nd team) Bills seasons 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.Knox would coach the Bills for five seasons – through the 1982 season – before leaving for Seattle. 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.Miller's 1,060 yards would be the only 1,000-yard total of his three year career in Buffalo. 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.Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending opp Rushing Att Oddly, the Bills were first in the league in yards allowed on pass defense, giving up only 1,960 yards through the air.1978 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics 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 1978 NFL draft 1978 Buffalo Bills 1 5 Terry Miller Running back Oklahoma State yes 2 32 Dee Hardison Defensive end North Carolina yes 2 38 Scott Hutchinson Defensive end Florida yes 3 59 Dennis Johnson Running back Mississippi State yes 3 65 Danny Fulton Wide receiver Nebraska–Omaha yes 4 89 Lucius Sanford Linebacker Georgia Tech yes 5 114 Ken Spaeth Tight end Nebraska 6 145 Eric Smith Offensive tackle Southern Miss 7 171 Mario Celotto Linebacker USC yes 7 183 Steve Powell Running back NE Missouri State yes 10 255 Will Grant Center Kentucky yes 11 282 Jerry Blanton Linebacker Kentucky yes 12 309 Richard Crump Running back Northeast Oklahoma A&M https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/1978_draft.htm 1978 Bufflo Bills draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com November 11, 2014 Undrafted free agents + 1978 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJoe ShippTight endUSC Personnel Staff/coaches 1978 Buffalo Bills staff Front office Majority owner/team president – Ralph Wilson Vice-president & general manager – Bob Lustig Vice-president/minority owner – Pat McGroder Coaching staff Head coach – Chuck Knox 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 12 Joe Ferguson 10 Dave Mays  9 Bill Munson 47 Curtis Brown running back, born 1954 25 Roland Hooks 39 Dennis Johnson fullback y 40 Terry Miller running back y 23 Steve Powell American football y 81 Bob Chandler 82 Frank Lewis American football 89 Lou Piccone 49 Larry Walton 84 Mike Franckowiak 88 Reuben Gant 60 Bill Adams offensive lineman G 68 Joe DeLamielleure G 79 Elbert Drungo T 53 Will Grant y C 76 Craig Hertwig T 72 Ken Jones American football T 67 Reggie McKenzie guard G 61 Willie Parker offensive lineman C 74 Dee Hardison y DT 78 Scott Hutchinson American football y DE 73 Mekeli Ieremia y DE 75 Dennis Johnson defensive tackle DT 71 Mike Kadish DT 83 Sherman White American football DE 77 Ben Williams American football, born 1954 DE 52 Doug Becker y OLB 55 Tom Graham American football MLB 51 Dan Jilek OLB 54 Randy McClanahan MLB 59 Shane Nelson American football OLB 57 Lucius Sanford y OLB 29 Mario Clark CB 22 Steve Freeman American football SS 43 Tony Greene FS 24 Doug Jones American football SS 41 Eddie McMillan CB 46 Keith Moody CB 26 Charles Romes CB 21 Marvin Switzer y FS  6 Tom Dempsey K  4 Rusty Jackson P 58 Mario Celotto y LB IR 35 Mike Collier American football RB IR 70 Joe Devlin American football T IR 85 Phil Dokes DT IR 56 Tom Ehlers LB IR -- Danny Fulton y WR IR 80 John Holland American football WR IR -- Phil Olsen American football C IR 87 Joe Shipp y TE IR -- Eric Smith offensive lineman, born 1956 y T IR 86 Leonard Willis WR IR -- Willie Zackery y WR IR -- Connie Zelencik C IR 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 Steelers 0 14 0 14 Bills 0 0 0 17 September 3, 1978 Rich Stadium • Orchard Park, NY 1:00 PM EST 64,147 67 °F °C 1 or • 13 mph km/h knot Fred Silva Jay Randolph and Mike Haffner NBC Week 4 Colts 0 14 3 0 Bills 14 10 0 0 September 24 Rich Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST 56 °F °C 1 or; wind 11 mph km/h knot Cal Lepore yes Q1 BUF Gant 19 yard pass from Ferguson (Dempsey kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 BUF Lewis 28 yard pass from Ferguson (Dempsey kick) BUF 14–0 Q2 BAL Leaks 17 yard pass from Troup (Linhart kick) BUF 14–7 Q2 BAL McCall 5 yard blocked punt return (Linhart kick) Tie 14–14 Q2 BUF Brown 102 yard kickoff return (Dempsey kick) BUF 21–14 Q2 BUF Dempsey 21 yard field goal BUF 24–14 Q3 BAL Linhart 21 yard field goal BUF 24–17 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-Oct-09. Week 5 Buffalo Bills 1978 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Five: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills – Game summary October 1 1:00 p.m. EDT/12:00 p.m. CST Chiefs 6 0 0 7 Bills 0 21 7 0 Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 47,310 60 F C Gordon McCarter NBC Box score First quarter KC – Jan Stenerud 42-yard field goal. Chiefs 3–0. KC – Jan Stenerud 27-yard field goal. Chiefs 6–0. Second quarter BUF – Bob Chandler 20-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 7–6. BUF – Terry Miller 8-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 14–6. BUF – Bob Chandler 22-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 21–6. Third quarter BUF – Curtis Brown 22-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 28–6. Fourth quarter KC – Ted McKnight 41-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick). Bills 28–13. Top passers KC – Tony Adams – 7/12, 80 yards BUF – Joe Ferguson – 15/18, 210 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers KC – MacArthur Lane – 17 rushes, 144 yards BUF – Terry Miller – 18 rushes, 67 yards, TD Top receivers KC – Walter White – 5 receptions, 60 yards BUF – Bob Chandler – 7 receptions, 116 yards, 2 TD Week 10 Patriots 0 7 7 0 Bills 3 0 0 7 September 24 Rich Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST 44,897 56 °F °C 1 or; wind 13 mph km/h knot Chuck Heberling Sam Nover and Len Dawson NBC Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-Sep-07. Week 13 vs. Giants Buffalo Bills 1978 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Thirteen: New York Giants (5–7) at Buffalo Bills (3–9) November 26, 1978 1:00 p.m. EDT Giants 7 3 7 0 Bills 7 0 7 27 Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 28,496 23 F C Red Cashion CBS Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier Box Score First quarter NYG – Al Dixon 31-yard pass from Joe Pisarcik (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 7–0. BUF – Curtis Brown 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Tie 7–7. Second quarter NYG – Joe Danelo 27-yard field goal. Giants 10–7. Third quarter NYG – Doug Kotar 19-yard pass from Joe Pisarcik (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 17–7. BUF – Roland Hooks 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Giants 17–14. Fourth quarter BUF – Curtis Brown 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 21–17. BUF – Lou Piccone 9-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 28–17. BUF – Terry Miller 39-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 35–17. BUF – Terry Miller 13-yard run (kick failed). Bills 41–17. Top passers NYG – Joe Pisarcik – 15/24, 230 yards, 2 TD, INT BUF – Joe Ferguson – 9/15, 106 yards, TD, INT Top rushers NYG – Bobby Hammond – 15 rushes, 60 yards BUF – Terry Miller – 21 rushes, 208 yards, 2 TD Top receivers NYG – Al Dixon – 2 receptions, 78 yards, TD BUF – Bob Chandler – 5 receptions, 75 yards Week 14 at Chiefs Buffalo Bills 1978 2; text-align:center collapsed Week Fourteen: Buffalo Bills (4–9) at Kansas City Chiefs (4–9) December 3 1:00 p.m. CDT Bills 0 7 3 0 Chiefs 7 0 7 0 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri 25,781 24 F C Fred Silva NBC Jay Randolph and Mike Haffner Box score First quarter KC – Ted McKnight 17-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick). Chiefs 7–0. Second quarter BUF – Frank Lewis 40-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Tied 7–7. Third quarter BUF – Tom Dempsey 22-yard field goal. Bills 10–7. KC – Walter White 3-yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick). Chiefs 14–10. Fourth quarter No scoring Top passers BUF – Joe Ferguson – 14/25, 207 yards, TD, 3 INT KC – Mike Livingston – 12/21, 99 yards, TD, INT Top rushers BUF – Terry Miller – 15 rushes, 57 yards KC – Tony Reed – 16 rushes, 97 yards Top receivers BUF – Frank Lewis – 7 receptions, 126 yards, TD KC – Henry Marshall – 3 receptions, 40 yards Standings 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 70.5https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/1978.htm 1978 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players 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% Video Archives 1978 NFL Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills at YouTube 1978 NFL Week 2: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills at YouTube 1978 NFL Week 5: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills at YouTube 1978 NFL Week 6: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets at YouTube Notes note External links Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1978 Buffalo Bills References Bills on Pro Football Reference Bills on jt-sw.com Bills Stats on jt-sw.com Category:Buffalo Bills seasons Buffalo Bills Buffalo