1978 Cleveland Browns season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Cleveland Browns 1978 Sam Rutigliano Art Modell Cleveland Municipal Stadium 8–8 3rd AFC Central Did not qualify FS Thom Darden Browns seasons thumb | right | Primay script logo used by the Cleveland Browns, 1975-1995 The 1978 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 29th season with the National Football League (NFL). After nearly three years of struggling offensively – and not making the playoffs—while posting just one winning record under ultra-strict, disciplinarian head coach Forrest Gregg, the Browns in 1978 decided to take a softer approach to liven up their attack – and their team. They did so by hiring a virtually unknown assistant at the time, New Orleans Saints receivers coach Sam Rutigliano, to replace Gregg, who was fired with one game left in the 1977 season. Rutigliano was the fourth head coach hired by Art Modell in his 18 years as club owner to that point, and it marked the first time Modell had not promoted from within the organization to fill the spot. After a period of limited offensive production, the team appointed Rutigliano as head coach, under whom the offense improved during the second half of the season. In the final eight games, the team scored 30 or more points in four contests. Quarterback Brian Sipe’s performance also improved under Rutigliano’s system. In the 1978 season, Sipe recorded 21 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions with a passer rating of 80.7, marking his strongest statistical season to that point in his career with the Browns. The Browns started well, winning their first three games over the San Francisco 49ers (24–7), Cincinnati Bengals (13–10 in overtime) and Atlanta Falcons (24–16). They then stood 4–2 after beating the Saints 24–16 three games later. They surrendered 34 or more points in three successive games at the very end of the year. The end result was an 8–8 finish in which the Browns were outscored by 22 points overall, 356 to 334, in the first year that the NFL expanded from a 14- to a 16-game regular season. The Browns top draft choice that year, future Hall of Fame TE Ozzie Newsome, fresh off of an NCAA National Championship with Paul "Bear" Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide team, had a solid rookie season, snaring 38 passes for 589 yards and two touchdowns. Offseason NFL draft The following were selected in the 1978 NFL draft. 1978 Cleveland Browns draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes112Clay MatthewsLinebacker USC123Ozzie NewsomeTight end Alabama239Johnny EvansPunter North Carolina State367Larry CollinsRunning back Texas A&I368Mark MillerQuarterback Bowling Green4103Pete PullaraOffensive Guard Tennessee-Chattanooga5122Keith WrightWide receiver Memphis State6149Al PittsCenter Michigan State8205Jesse TurnbowDefensive tackle Tennessee9234Jon KramerGuard Baylor10261Brent WatsonOffensive tackle Tennessee11290Larry GillardDefensive tackle Mississippi State12317Leo BiedermannOffensive tackle California1978 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1978.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20090531154019/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1978.htm 2009-05-31 live 2009-07-23 Personnel Staff / Coaches 1978 Cleveland Browns Owner and President – Art Modell Executive Vice President/General Manager – Peter Hadhazy Head Coach – Sam Rutigliano Quarterbacks – Jim Shofner Offensive backfield – Jim Garrett Receivers – Rich Kotite Offensive line – Rod Humenuik Defensive line – Buck Buchanan Linebackers – Dick MacPherson Defensive backfield – Chuck Weber Special Teams – John Petercuskie Film Coordinator - Ed Ulinski Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy Roster 1978 Cleveland Browns 17 Brian Sipe 15 Mark Miller quarterback, born 1956 y 23 Larry Collins American football y 35 Calvin Hill 30 Cleo Miller 34 Greg Pruitt 43 Mike Pruitt 83 Ricky Feacher 85 Dave Logan American football 33 Reggie Rucker 89 Keith Wright wide receiver y 82 Ozzie Newsome y 84 Gary Parris 81 Oscar Roan 69 Leo Biedermann y T 62 George Buehler G 63 Barry Darrow T 54 Tom DeLeone C 73 Doug Dieken T 68 Robert Jackson guard G 65 Henry Sheppard G 79 Gerry Sullivan G/C 66 Earl Edwards American football DT 64 Joe Jones defensive end DE 70 Mack Mitchell DE 75 Ken Novak DT 72 Jerry Sherk DT 78 Mickey Sims DT 74 Mike St. Clair DE 71 Jesse Turnbow y DT 52 Dick Ambrose MLB 60 Bob Babich linebacker MLB 59 Charlie Hall linebacker OLB 56 Robert Jackson linebacker MLB 57 Clay Matthews Jr. y OLB 28 Ron Bolton American football CB 27 Thom Darden FS 21 Oliver Davis American football CB 47 Ricky Jones American football SS 40 Tom London no y CB 20 Tony Peters SS 24 Randy Rich CB 22 Clarence Scott CB 12 Don Cockroft K  8 Johnny Evans American football y P/QB 55 Dave Graf LB IR 86 Gerald Irons LB IR 67 Pete Pullara y no G IR 26 Tom Sullivan American football RB IR https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/1978_roster.htm 1978 Cleveland Browns starters and roster Pro-Football-Reference.com November 11, 2014 Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 3 San Francisco 49ers W 24–7 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 68,973 Recap 2 September 10 Cincinnati Bengals W 13–10 2–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 72,691 Recap 3 September 17 at Atlanta Falcons W 24–16 3–0 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 56,648 Recap 4 September 24 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–15 3–1 Three Rivers Stadium 49,573 Recap 5 October 1 Houston Oilers L 13–16 3–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 72,776 Recap 6 October 8 at New Orleans Saints W 24–16 4–2 Louisiana Superdome 50,158 Recap 7 October 15 Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–34 4–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 81,302 Recap 8 October 22 at Kansas City Chiefs L 3–17 4–4 Arrowhead Stadium 41,157 Recap 9 October 29 Buffalo Bills W 41–20 5–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,409 Recap 10 November 5 at Houston Oilers L 10–14 5–5 Houston Astrodome 45,827 Recap 11 November 12 Denver Broncos L 7–19 5–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,856 Recap 12 November 19 at Baltimore Colts W 45–24 6–6 Memorial Stadium 45,341 Recap 13 November 26 Los Angeles Rams W 30–19 7–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 55,158 Recap 14 December 3 at Seattle Seahawks L 24–47 7–7 Kingdome 62,262 Recap 15 December 10 New York Jets W 37–34 8–7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 36,881 Recap 16 December 17 at Cincinnati Bengals L 16–48 8–8 Riverfront Stadium 46,985 RecapNote: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings Game summaries Week 3: at Atlanta Cleveland Browns 2;text-align:center; autocollapse Week 3: Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary September 17 1:00 p.m. EDT Browns 0 17 0 7 Falcons 3 7 0 6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta 56,648 79 F, relative humidity 70%, round (wind) 6 mph on Gene Barth NBC Jim Simpson (play–by–play) and Paul Warfield (color commentator) First quarter ATL – Steinfort 24 yard field goal Falcons 3, Browns 0 Second quarter CLE – Cockroft 43 yard field goal Browns 3, Falcons 3 CLE – Newsome 2 yard pass from Sipe (Cockroft kick) Browns 10, Falcons 3 ATL – Stanback 15 yard rush (Steinfort kick) Browns 10, Falcons 10 CLE – Rucker 27 yard pass from Sipe (Cockroft kick) Browns 17, Falcons 10 Third quarter No scoring plays Fourth quarter ATL – Strong 2 yard rush (kick failed) Browns 17, Falcons 16 CLE – Sipe 2 yard rush (Cockroft kick) Browns 24, Falcons 16 Top passers CLE – Brian Sipe 20/35, 219 yds, 2 TD ATL – Steve Bartkowski 7/15, 126 yds, 2 INT Top rushers CLE – Mike Pruitt 15 carr, 65 yds ATL – Haskel Stanback 7 carr, 31 yds, 1 TD Top receivers CLE – Dave Logan 5 rec, 63 yds ATL – Billy Ryckman 3 rec, 48 yds Turnovers CLE – 3 ATL – 4 References External links 1978 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 1978 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com 1978 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com 1978 Cleveland Browns at Pro-Football-Reference.com Cleveland Category:Cleveland Browns seasons Cleveland Browns