1978 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1978 7–9 3rd NFC Central Monte Clark Russ Thomas William Clay Ford Sr. Pontiac Silverdome Did not qualify 3 TE David Hill DT Doug English DE Al Baker 1 DE Al Baker Lions seasons The 1978 Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 49th season in the National Football League. Under new head coach and former NFL player Monte Clark, the Lions continue to struggle with mediocrity finishing in third place again with a less than stellar record of 7–9. This season would also be the swan song for starting quarterback Greg Landry's stellar ten-year career in Detroit, as in the offseason Landry was shipped to the Baltimore Colts for a 1979 fourth round pick (#88—Ulysses Norris), a 1979 fifth round pick (#131—Walt Brown), and a 1980 third round pick (#62—Mike Friede), in a rebuilding process begun by head coach Monte Clark.Daytona Beach Journal, sports article April 30, 1979.1979 NFL Draft Pick Transactions, ProSportsTransactions.com, accessed March 31, 2012. Offseason NFL draft 1978 NFL draft 1978 Detroit Lions 1 11 Luther Bradley CB Notre Dame yes 2 40 Al Baker DE Colorado State yes yes 4 94 Bill Fifer OT West Texas State yes 4 107 Homer Elias G Tennessee State from Baltimore yes 4 109 Larry Tearry C Wake Forest from Denver yes 5 121 Amos Fowler G Southern Mississippi yes 5 123 Dan Gray DE Rutgers from San Diego yes 6 150 Dwight Hicks S Michigan no yes 6 153 Tony Ardizzone C Northwestern no 6 165 Jesse Thompson WR California from Denver yes 7 177 Bruce Gibson RB Pacific no 8 206 Jim Breech K California no 10 262 Fred Arrington LB Purdue no 11 289 Richard Murray DT Oklahoma no 12 318 Mark Patterson DB Washington State no no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/1978_draft.htm 1978 Detroit Lions Draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com January 10, 2014 Notes Detroit traded its third-round pick (67th) and seventh-round pick in 1979 to Cleveland in exchange for the rights to K Tom Skladany. Detroit traded DT Herb Orvis to Baltimore in exchange for the Colts' fourth-round pick (107th). Detroit traded P Herman Weaver to Denver in exchange for the Broncos' fourth- and sixth-round picks (109th and 165th). Detroit traded LB Jim Laslavic to San Diego in exchange for the Chargers' fifth- and sixth-round picks (123rd and 153rd). Detroit traded its ninth-round pick (233rd) to San Francisco in exchange for K Steve Mike-Mayer. Undrafted free agents + 1978 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeBob BratkowskiWide receiverWashington StateKen CallicuttRunning backClemsonTim CunninghamRunning backLong Beach StateTom McLaughlinQuarterbackIowa Personnel Staff / Coaches 1978 Detroit Lions President – William Clay Ford Sr. Executive Vice President and General Manager – Russ Thomas Director of Football Operations – Monte Clark Administrative Assistant – Doug Gerhart Head Coach – Monte Clark Quarterbacks and Receivers – Bob Schnelker Offensive Backfield – Jimmy Raye Offensive Line – Fred Hoaglin Defensive Line – Floyd Reese Linebackers – Marty Schottenheimer Defensive Backfield – Billy Atkins Special Teams – Don Doll 1978 Detroit Lions Media Guide 3–11 Executive and coaching staff profiles Roster 1978 Detroit Lions 45 13 0 16 Gary Danielson 11 Greg Landry 14 Joe Reed quarterback 24 Dexter Bussey 31 Ken Callicutt y 38 Lawrence Gaines 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King American football 89 Luther Blue 86 Willie McGee American football 87 Freddie Scott American football, born 1952 39 Leonard Thompson American football 83 William Gay defensive lineman y 81 David Hill tight end 76 Karl Baldischwiler y T 60 Lynn Boden G 66 Karl Chandler American football C 61 Homer Elias y G 65 Amos Fowler y G 67 Donnie Green T 63 Donnie Hickman G 74 Brad Oates T 53 John Sokolosky y C 54 Larry Tearry y C 60 Al Baker y DE 72 Bill Cooke defensive end DE 78 Doug English DT 64 Dan Gray American football y DT 75 Dave Pureifory DE 77 John Woodcock American football DT 58 Tony Daykin OLB 57 Dan Dickel MLB 55 Ed O'Neil MLB 50 Paul Naumoff OLB 52 Dave Washington OLB 59 Charlie Weaver OLB 40 Jimmy Allen American football FS 27 Luther Bradley y CB 29 Mike Burns American football SS 28 James Hunter American football CB 26 Tony Leonard American football CB 33 Bruce Rhodes SS 21 Walt Williams cornerback CB  1 Benny Ricardo K 15 Tom Skladany y P 73 Russ Bolinger G IR 43 Andy Bolton American football RB IR -- Howard Fest T IR 71 Dave Gallagher American football DT IR -- J. D. Hill WR IR 23 Levi Johnson S IR -- Ken Long G (Ret.) 7px 68 Mark Markovich G IR 82 Ken Sanders American football DE IR 79 Dave Simonson T IR 47 Nat Terry y CB IR 84 Jesse Thompson American football y WR IR -- Jim Yarbrough T offensive lineman IR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 3 Green Bay Packers L 7–13 0–1 Pontiac Silverdome 51,187 2 September 9, 1978 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 15–7 1–1 Tampa Stadium 64,445 3 September 17 Chicago Bears L 0–19 1–2 Pontiac Silverdome 65,982 4 September 24 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–28 1–3 Kingdome 60,040 5 October 1 at Green Bay Packers L 14–35 1–4 Milwaukee County Stadium 54,601 6 October 8 Washington Redskins L 19–21 1–5 Pontiac Silverdome 60,555 7 October 15 at Atlanta Falcons L 0–14 1–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 51,172 8 October 22 San Diego Chargers W 31–14 2–6 Pontiac Silverdome 54,031 9 October 29 at Chicago Bears W 21–17 3–6 Soldier Field 53,378 10 November 5 at Minnesota Vikings L 7–17 3–7 Metropolitan Stadium 46,008 11 November 12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34–23 4–7 Pontiac Silverdome 60,320 12 November 19 at Oakland Raiders L 17–29 4–8 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 44,517 13 November 23 Denver Broncos W 17–14 5–8 Pontiac Silverdome 71,785 14 December 3 at St. Louis Cardinals L 14–21 5–9 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,200 15 December 9, 1978 Minnesota Vikings W 45–14 6–9 Pontiac Silverdome 78,685 16 December 17 San Francisco 49ers W 33–14 7–9 Pontiac Silverdome 56,674Note: Intra-division games are in bold text Game summaries Week 9: at Chicago Bears Lions 7 14 0 0 Bears 3 7 7 0 October 29 Soldier Field, Chicago 1:00 p.m. CST 48 °F °C 1 or, wind 10 mph km/h knots Tim Ryan, Johnny Morris and sideline reporter Bill Mazer CBS Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com yes 1 Lions Horace King 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) Lions 7–0 1 Bears Bob Thomas 28 yard field goal Lions 7–3 2 Lions Jesse Thompson 8 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Benny Ricardo kick) Lions 14–3 2 Bears Bob Avellini 9 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Lions 14–10 2 Lions David Hill 2 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Benny Ricardo kick) Lions 21–10 3 Bears Roland Harper 2 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Lions 21–17 yes Standings References External links 1978 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1978 Detroit Lions at JT-SW.com 1978 Detroit Lions at The Football Database (FootballDB.com) Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Category:1978 in sports in Michigan