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 ); the other was a NFC divisional playoff between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
Offseason
Draft
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
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
Week 4
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-Oct-09.
Week 5
Week 10
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-Sep-07.
Week 13 vs. Giants
Week 14 at Chiefs
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 70.5
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
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