1978 Washington Redskins season

47th season in franchise history, collapse after 6-0 start August 2023 March 2026 Washington Redskins 1978 8–8 3rd NFC East Jack Pardee Edward Bennett Williams Edward Bennett Williams Joe Walton Doc Urich Bobby Beathard RFK Stadium Did not qualify Redskins seasons The 1978 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 47th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 42nd in Washington, D.C. The team failed to improve on their 9–5 record from 1977, finishing 8–8. This was the first of Jack Pardee's three seasons as head coach of the Redskins. This was also the first season in which the NFL expanded from a 14-game season to a 16-game schedule. The Redskins started the season 6–0 and got to 8–3 but ended the season with a five-game losing streak and missed the playoffs. The losing streak began with a loss to a Cardinals team which had started 0–8. The Cardinals would not win again at RFK Stadium until 1993, their sixth season in Arizona. Quarterback Billy Kilmer, who served as backup to Joe Theismann, retired following the season. Offseason NFL draft 1978 NFL draft 1978 Washington Redskins draft Round Selection Player Position College 6 159 Tony Green RB Florida 8 202 Walker Lee WR North Carolina 8 219 Don Hover LB Washington State 9 243 John Hurley QB Santa Claranote04 d d 10 270 Scott Hertenstein DE Azusa Pacific 11 297 Mike Williams DB Texas A&M 12 324 Steve McCabe G Bowdoin Undrafted free agents + 1978 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeTim EllisQuarterbackOle MissDanny KnottRunning backNotre DameCleo MontgomeryWide receiverAbilene ChristianGeorge RobertsPunterVirginia TechMike SanduskyGuard/TackleDukeBill SieboltDefensive tackleBoston CollegeJ. T. SmithWide receiverNorth TexasSteve WilsonWide receiverAngelo StateBilly WoodsDefensive backGeorgiaMike YeatesGuardMaryland Personnel Staff / Coaches 1978 Washington Redskins Majority Owner / Vice President – Jack Kent Cooke Minority Owner / President – Edward Bennett Williams General manager – Bobby Beathard Executive assistant to the President – Bobby Mitchell Assistant general manager – Joel Margolis Assistant general manager – Dick Meyers Director of player personnel – C.A. Temerario Director of pro scouting – Kirk Mee Director of college scouting – Dick Daniels Scouts – Mike Faulkiner Head Coach – Jack Pardee Special Assistant to Head Coach – Bob Bowser Offensive Coordinator – Joe Walton Running Backs – George Dickson Tight Ends / Wide Receivers – John Hilton Offensive Line – Ray Callahan Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Doc Urich Linebackers – George Dickson Defensive Secondary – Richie Petitbon Special Teams Coach – John Hilton Washington Redskins 1978 Press Guide 2–21 Final roster 1978 Washington Redskins 17 Billy Kilmer 11 Kim McQuilken  7 Joe Theismann 30 Ike Forte 34 Tony Green American football y 38 Clarence Harmon American football 25 Benny Malone 44 John Riggins 22 Mike Thomas running back 81 Terry Anderson American football 88 Danny Buggs 86 John McDaniel American football 83 Ricky Thompson 84 Jean Fugett 89 Reggie Haynes 63 Fred Dean offensive lineman G 66 Ted Fritsch Jr. C 68 Jim Harlan T/G 75 Terry Hermeling T 54 Bob Kuziel C 62 Dan Nugent G 64 Ron Saul G 73 Jeff Williams offensive lineman T 80 Coy Bacon DE 69 Perry Brooks DT 65 Dave Butz DT 76 Bob Heinz DT 82 Dallas Hickman DE 71 Karl Lorch DE 79 Ron McDole DE 32 Mike Curtis American football LB 59 Brad Dusek OLB 55 Chris Hanburger OLB 58 Don Hover y MLB 53 Harold McLinton MLB 50 Pete Wysocki OLB 26 Don Harris American football SS 27 Ken Houston SS 20 Joe Lavender CB 29 Mark Murphy American football executive FS 24 Lemar Parrish CB 13 Jake Scott FS 45 Gerard Williams American football CB  4 Mike Bragg P  3 Mark Moseley K 77 Bill Brundige DT IR 36 Eddie Moss RB IR -- Chuck Rodgers CB IR 74 George Starke T IR 72 Diron Talbert DT IR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 3 at New England Patriots W 16–14 1–0 Schaefer Stadium 55,037 Recap 2 September 10 Philadelphia Eagles W 35–30 2–0 RFK Stadium 54,380 Recap 3 September 17 at St. Louis Cardinals W 28–10 3–0 Busch Memorial Stadium 49,282 Recap 4 September 24 New York Jets W 23–3 4–0 RFK Stadium 54,729 Recap 5 October 2, 1978 Dallas Cowboys W 9–5 5–0 RFK Stadium 55,031 Recap 6 October 8 at Detroit Lions W 21–19 6–0 Pontiac Silverdome 60,555 Recap 7 October 15 at Philadelphia Eagles L 10–17 6–1 Veterans Stadium 65,722 Recap 8 October 22 at New York Giants L 6–17 6–2 Giants Stadium 76,192 Recap 9 October 29 San Francisco 49ers W 38–20 7–2 RFK Stadium 53,706 Recap 10 November 6, 1978 at Baltimore Colts L 17–21 7–3 Memorial Stadium 57,631 Recap 11 November 12 New York Giants W 16–13 8–3 RFK Stadium 53,271 Recap 12 November 19 St. Louis Cardinals L 17–27 8–4 RFK Stadium 52,460 Recap 13 November 23 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–37 8–5 Texas Stadium 64,905 Recap 14 December 3 Miami Dolphins L 0–16 8–6 RFK Stadium 52,860 Recap 15 December 10 at Atlanta Falcons L 17–20 8–7 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 54,178 Recap 16 December 16, 1978 Chicago Bears L 10–14 8–8 RFK Stadium 49,774 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Week 2 Referee: Fred Silva TV Network: CBS Announcers: Lindsey Nelson, Paul Hornung, Roman Gabriel During the contest, and the fireworks began early as the Eagles' Wilbert Montgomery opened the scoring with a 34-yard touchdown run in the first period, but back came the Redskins as Joe Theismann who was to have another good game scores from the 4 to even the game. But the Eagles came back as a field goal by Nick Mike-Mayer from 32, but then it was the Redskins offensive show as the Redskins scored 21 unanswered points to take a commanding 28-10 lead. For the day, Theismann passed for 226 yards and 3 touchdown passes. Then both teams traded touchdowns to make it a 35-16, the last one was a flea flicker touchdown pass from 37 yards from Joe Theismann to Jean Fugett. But back came the Eagles who in the 3rd year of the Dick Vermeil era became a competitive team. Just after the Skins scored the Eagles came back as Montgomery first scored from 8 yards and then on the next possession scored from 5 yards. The Eagles also drove deep as Montgomery scored form 5 yards but was brought back due to a holding penalty and on the next play Mike Curtis intercept a Ron Jaworski pass ending the drive and with it the Redskins come away with a win and sole possession of first place in the NFC East. Week 5 collapsed Monday, October 2 9:00 p.m.(et) Cowboys (3-2) 0 0 3 2 Redskins (5-0) 3 3 3 0 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium 68 degrees, relative humidity 58, round(wind) 13 mph Gene Barth ABC Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith Standings References Washington Category:Washington Redskins seasons Washing