The 1978 Dallas Cowboys season was their 19th in the National Football League (NFL). For the third consecutive season, the Cowboys finished in first place in the NFC East. The Cowboys scored 384 points, which ranked first in the league, while the defense only gave up 208 points, 3rd best in the league. Twice, the Cowboys appeared on Monday Night Football.
The Cowboys became the first franchise to appear in five Super Bowls. Their post season run included a comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons 27–20. As well as a shut out of the Los Angeles Rams 28–0.
With their loss to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XIII, they also became the first team to lose a Super Bowl after having won it the previous year.
Draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1978 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeTim AbneyDefensive backLincolnTerry AlbrittonDefensive tackleStanfordJef AllenQuarterbackNew HampshireDave BarronLinebackerTennesseeSteve BernardoOffensive LinemanWake ForestDave KraayeveldDefensive endMiltonJoe MoreinoDefensive tackleIdaho State
Roster
Dallas Cowboys 1978 roster Quarterbacks Glenn Carano Roger Staubach Danny White P
Running backs Alois Blackwell Larry Brinson Tony Dorsett Scott Laidlaw Robert Newhouse Preston Pearson
Wide receivers Tony Hill Butch Johnson Drew Pearson Robert Steele
Tight ends Billy Joe DuPree Jackie Smith Offensive linemen Jim Cooper C/T Pat Donovan T John Fitzgerald C Andy Frederick T Burton Lawless G Tom Rafferty G Tom Randall G Herbert Scott G Rayfield Wright T
Defensive linemen Larry Bethea DE/DT Larry Cole DT Ed Jones DE Harvey Martin DE Jethro Pugh DT Dave Stalls DE Randy White DTLinebackers Bob Breunig MLB Guy Brown OLB Mike Hegman OLB Thomas Henderson OLB Bruce Huther MLB D. D. Lewis OLB
Defensive backs Benny Barnes CB Cliff Harris FS Randy Hughes FS/SS Aaron Kyle CB Dennis Thurman CB Mark Washington CB Charlie Waters SS
Special teams Rafael Septién KReserve lists Todd Christensen RB (IR) Doug Dennison RB (IR) Jay Saldi TE (IR) Dave Hudgens T (IR) Kenny Randle CB (IR) Russ Williams S (IR)
Rookies in italics 45 active, 6 inactive
Regular season The defending Super Bowl champions were again led by quarterback Roger Staubach. Staubach finished the season as the top rated passer in the NFL (84.9) by throwing 231 out of 413 completions for 3,190 yards and 25 touchdowns, with 16 interceptions. He also rushed for 182 yards and another touchdown. Wide receivers Drew Pearson and Tony Hill provided the deep passing threats, combining for 90 receptions, 537 yards, and 7 touchdowns. Tight end Billy Joe Dupree contributed 34 receptions for 509 yards and 9 touchdowns. Running back Tony Dorsett had another fine season, recording a total of 1703 combined rushing and receiving yards, and scoring a total of 9 touchdowns. Fullback Robert Newhouse and halfback Preston Pearson also contributed from the offensive backfield, combining for 1,326 rushing and receiving yards, while Newhouse also scored 10 touchdowns. The Cowboys also had a superb offensive line, led by Herbert Scott and 6-time Pro Bowler Rayfield Wright
The Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense" finished the season as the top-ranked defense in the league against the run by only allowing 107.6 yards per game. Pro Bowl linemen Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Harvey Martin and Randy White anchored the line, while linebackers Bob Breunig, D. D. Lewis and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson provided solid support. Their secondary, led by safeties Cliff Harris and Charlie Waters, along with cornerbacks Benny Barnes and Aaron Kyle, combined for 16 interceptions.
The Cowboys started the regular season slowly, winning only six of their first ten games. Both the offense and the defense played ineffectively, including giving up interceptions and fumbles. Dallas finished strong, winning their last six regular season games to post a 12–4 record.
In the aftermath of the season, NFL Films produced its annual highlight reel as it does for every NFL team. Notable of the highlight reel was the title "America's Team". It would come to be a label that would define the Dallas Cowboys for the rest of their history. However, the label is most remembered for the Cowboys of this era, appearing in three Super Bowls in four years.
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance Recap 1 Baltimore Colts W 38–0 1–0 Texas Stadium 64,224 Recap 2 September 10 at New York Giants W 34–24 2–0 Giants Stadium 73,265 Recap 3 September 17 at Los Angeles Rams L 14–27 2–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 65,749 Recap 4 September 24 St. Louis Cardinals W 21–12 3–1 Texas Stadium 62,760 Recap 5 at Washington Redskins L 5–9 3–2 RFK Stadium 55,031 Recap 6 October 8 New York Giants W 24–3 4–2 Texas Stadium 63,420 Recap 7 October 15 at St. Louis Cardinals W 24–21 5–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,991 Recap 8 October 22 Philadelphia Eagles W 14–7 6–2 Texas Stadium 60,525 Recap 9 Minnesota Vikings L 10–21 6–3 Texas Stadium 61,848 Recap 10 November 5 at Miami Dolphins L 16–23 6–4 Orange Bowl 69,414 Recap 11 November 12 at Green Bay Packers W 42–14 7–4 Milwaukee County Stadium 55,256 Recap 12 November 19 New Orleans Saints W 27–7 8–4 Texas Stadium 57,920 Recap 13 November 23 Washington Redskins W 37–10 9–4 Texas Stadium 64,905 Recap 14 December 3 New England Patriots W 17–10 10–4 Texas Stadium 63,263 Recap 15 December 10 at Philadelphia Eagles W 31–13 11–4 Veterans Stadium 64,667 Recap 16 December 17 at New York Jets W 30–7 12–4 Shea Stadium 52,532 Recap Division opponents are in bold text
Game notes
Week 1
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 2
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 3
The week-3 contest between the Rams and Cowboys was a hard-fought early season match-up between two rivals who hated each other. Twice the Rams led by a touchdown during the game, only to have the Cowboys come back to even up the score. With the game tied at 14–14 in the 4th quarter, QB-Pat Haden connected with WR-Willie Miller for a 43-yard touchdown reception to increase the Rams lead by 6-points. But, after the Rams FG-kicker (Frank Corral) missed the easy extra point the score remained 20–14, leaving the Rams desperately clinging to a 6-point lead against a Cowboys team well known for pulling-out close games late in the 4th-quarter.
However, the Rams defense was abruptly put an end by the Cowboys. Their hopes of engineering another last minute victory after DB-Rod Perry intercepted a pass from QB-Roger Staubach and returned it for a 43-yard TD to secure the Rams a 27–14 victory. In response to Perry's game winning interception return, over 65,000 fans that filled Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that day simultaneously erupted into a bedlam of cheers. Then, what started off as a celebration developed into jeering and taunting of the Cowboys during the last few minutes of the game, by both the fans and quite a few of the Rams players too. This provoked a very rare angry response from Staubach, who was seen pointing his finger at the boisterous Rams players on the sideline, telling them that the Cowboys "will get them" the next time they meet each other.
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
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Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Team stats Dal GNB First downs 32 9 Rush-yards-TDs 58–313–4 17–66–1 Net pass yards 224 76 Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INT 21-34-234-2-0 7-26-88-1-2 Sacked-yards 2–10 3–12 Total yards 537 142 Turnovers 2 3 Penalties-yards 9-80 6-41
Week 12
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Standings
Postseason
Round Date Opponent Result Game Site Attendance Recap Wild Card First Round Bye Divisional Atlanta Falcons (4) W 27–20 Texas Stadium 60,338 Recap NFC Championship January 7, 1979 at Los Angeles Rams (1) W 28–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 67,470 Recap Super Bowl January 21, 1979 vs Pittsburgh Steelers (A 1) L 31–35 Orange Bowl 79,484 Recap
NFC Divisional Playoff
Dallas' "Doomsday Defense" limited Atlanta quarterback Steve Bartkowski to only 8 completions in 23 attempts and intercepted him 3 times en route to victory. After the Falcons led 20–13 at halftime, the Cowboys scored 14 unanswered points in the second half.
NFC Championship Game
After a scoreless first half, the Cowboys opened the floodgates in the second half while the "Doomsday Defense" kept top-seeded Rams off of the scoreboard by intercepting Pat Haden three times, including a late pick six by Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, to help Dallas advance to their second straight Super Bowl. This would be the Cowboys' last playoff win wearing their navy blue uniforms until the 2022 season.
Super Bowl XIII
Super Bowl XIII is frequently cited as one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played. In additions to Coaches Noll and Landry, 17 players would go on to enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: 10 from Pittsburgh (Bradshaw, Harris, Swann, Stallworth, Webster, Greene, Lambert, Ham, Blount, and Shell), and 7 from Dallas (Staubach, Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Randy White, Rayfield Wright, Cliff Harris and Jackie Smith).
Much of the pregame hype surrounding Super Bowl XIII centered around Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson. Henderson caused quite a stir before the NFC Championship Game by claiming that the Rams had "no class" and the Cowboys would shut them out. His prediction turned out to be very accurate; the Cowboys did shut them out, aided by Henderson's 68-yard interception return for a touchdown.
In the days leading up the Super Bowl, Henderson began talking about the Steelers in the same manner. He predicted another shutout and then made unfriendly comments about several Pittsburgh players. He put down the talent and the intelligence of Bradshaw, proclaiming "Bradshaw couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted him the 'c' and the 'a'". But the Steelers refused to get into a war of words with Henderson. Greene responded by saying the Steelers didn't need to say they were the best, they would just go out on the field and "get the job done".
Season recap There was a lot of bitter feelings between the Dallas Cowboys and the LA Rams prior to their 1978 NFC Championship contest. Both the Cowboys and Vikings shared a common recent history of eliminating the LA Rams from the playoffs the last 5 seasons in a row. This consigned the Rams to being labeled "next year's champions" for most of the 1970s. So, when the undefeated (2–0) Cowboys traveled to Los Angeles to play the undefeated (2–0) Rams during week 3 of the 1978 regular season, the Rams were looking for blood. Not only did the Rams want to beat the Cowboys for a measure of revenge and early bragging rights, but they could use a victory over last year's Super Bowl champions to make a statement to the media and the rest of the league, "That 1978 was the year the Rams finally win a championship".
The week-3 contest between the Rams and Cowboys was a hard-fought, early-season match-up between two rivals who hated each other. Twice the Rams led by a touchdown only to have the Cowboys come back to even the score. With the game tied at 14–14 in the 4th quarter, QB-Pat Haden connected with WR-Willie Miller for a 43-yard touchdown reception to increase the Rams lead by 6 points. But, after the Rams FG-kicker (Frank Corral) missed the easy extra point the score remained 20–14, leaving the Rams desperately clinging to a 6-point lead against a Cowboys team well known for pulling-out close games late in the 4th-quarter.