1978 New England Patriots season
| 1978 New England Patriots season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Schaefer Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–5 |
| Division place | 1st AFC East |
| Playoff finish | Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Oilers) 14–31 |
| Pro Bowlers | FB Sam Cunningham TE Russ Francis T Leon Gray G John Hannah CB Mike Haynes |
| AP All-Pros | G John Hannah (1st team) T Leon Gray (1st team) TE Russ Francis (2nd team) CB Mike Haynes (2nd team) |
The 1978 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League and 19th overall. They finished the season with a record of eleven wins and five losses, tied for first in the AFC East, and had the tiebreaker over the Miami Dolphins; it was the Patriots' second division title, and the first since 1963, the fourth year of the AFL. In the Divisional Playoffs the Patriots lost to the Houston Oilers 31–14.
New England set a then
Staff
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Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
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Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
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Regular season
Following a preseason hit in Oakland that paralyzed popular receiver Darryl Stingley for life, the Patriots staggered to a 1–2 start before upsetting the Oakland Raiders on the road. From there the Patriots stormed to win nine of their next 12 games, establishing an NFL record for rushing yards at 3,165. The Patriots clinched their first division title with a 26–24 win over the Buffalo Bills with one game remaining.
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Game Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | Washington Redskins | L 14–16 | 0–1 | Schaefer Stadium
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55,037
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Recap |
| 2 | September 10 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 16–6 | 1–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48,233
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Recap |
| 3 | September 18 | Baltimore Colts | L 27–34 | 1–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 57,284
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Recap |
| 4 | September 24 | at Oakland Raiders | W 21–14 | 2–2 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
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52,904
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Recap |
| 5 | October 1 | San Diego Chargers | W 28–23 | 3–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,781
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Recap |
| 6 | October 8 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 24–14 | 4–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 61,016
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Recap |
| 7 | October 15 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 10–3 | 5–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 48,699
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Recap |
| 8 | October 22 | Miami Dolphins | W 33–24 | 6–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,424
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Recap |
| 9 | October 29 | New York Jets | W 55–21 | 7–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,585
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Recap |
| 10 | November 5 | at Buffalo Bills | W 14–10 | 8–2 | Rich Stadium
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44,897
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Recap |
| 11 | November 12 | Houston Oilers | L 23–26 | 8–3 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,356
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Recap |
| 12 | November 19 | at New York Jets | W 19–17 | 9–3 | Shea Stadium | 55,568
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Recap |
| 13 | November 26 | at Baltimore Colts | W 35–14 | 10–3 | Memorial Stadium
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42,828
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Recap |
| 14 | December 3 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 10–17 | 10–4 | Texas Stadium | 63,263
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Recap |
| 15 | December 10 | Buffalo Bills | W 26–24 | 11–4 | Schaefer Stadium | 59,598
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Recap |
| 16 | December 17 | at Miami Dolphins | L 3–23 | 11–5 | Miami Orange Bowl | 72,071
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Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Standings
| AFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| New England Patriots(2) | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 358 | 286 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins(4) | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–3 | 8–4 | 372 | 254 | W3 |
| New York Jets | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 6–2 | 7–5 | 359 | 364 | L2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–6 | 4–10 | 302 | 354 | W1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–7 | 3–9 | 240 | 421 | L5 |
Post season
Schedule
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Game recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Divisional
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December 31 | Houston Oilers (5) | L 14–31 | Schaefer Stadium
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0–1 | 60,881
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Recap |
Notable games
Preseason
Tragedy blackened a 21–7 Patriots win over the Raiders when, late in the second quarter, Darryl Stingley jumped after a Steve Grogan throw and was crushed in the jaw by Jack Tatum of the Raiders. The hit paralyzed Stingley for life. The tragedy was also a turning point in Chuck Fairbanks' relationship with the Sullivan family; he was already upset over the previous season when the Sullivans overruled him over new contracts with John Hannah and Leon Gray, and with Stingley he had worked out an agreement on a contract extension before the team traveled to Oakland, but the Monday after the game, Stingley's attorney telephoned Chuck Sullivan about the contract and Sullivan said, "We don't have a contract with Stingley." Fairbanks, according to Hannah, "was livid. He decided right then that he wouldn't stay with an organization that treated its folks like that."[3]
Week 3
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts | 0 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 34 |
| Patriots | 6 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 27 |
at
- Date: September 18
- Game time: 9:00 p.m.
| Game information | ||
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Hosting the Colts on
Week 4
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Returning to Oakland nearly six weeks after Darryl Stingley's near-fatal injury, the Patriots rallied from a 14–0 second-quarter gap by forcing three Ken Stabler interceptions and scoring 21 unanswered points by Russ Francis, Horace Ivory, and Sam Cunningham. The team visited Stingley in the Oakland-area hospital where he was still staying and his jovial banter with the team warmed their spirits enormously.
Week 9
In a bizarre harbinger of
Week 10
- TV Network: NBC
- Announcers: Sam Nover and Len Dawson
New England, using a double tight end offense to control the ball in the second half, got past Buffalo on the running of Horace Ivory, who carried the ball 16 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns. His 19-yard touchdown run in the second period and his 5-yard touchdown run in the third period. The Bills try to come back late in the game after they recovered a Patriots fumble and took advantage as Joe Ferguson hooked up with Bob Chandler for a 11-yard touchdown connection. But a failed onsides kick gave the Ball to the Patriots who ran out the clock to secure them a 7th straight victory for the Pats.
Week 11
The Patriots' seven-game winning streak crashed to a halt as they stormed to a 23–0 lead in the second quarter but surrendered four unanswered Houston touchdowns (marred by two missed PATs by Toni Fritsch) and a 26–23 Houston win.
Week 13
The Patriots crushed the Colts 35–14, sacking Bill Troup eight times while snatching two Troup interceptions (Mike Haynes scored from Baltimore's 36-yard line with the first INT) for good measure. Harold Jackson, Andy Johnson, and Sam Cunningham rushed in touchdowns while Stanley Morgan caught a 75-yard touchdown strike from Steve Grogan.
Week 15
Playing in a snowstorm, the Patriots needed a win to clinch the AFC East. They trailed for most of this game as
Week 16
The celebration of the AFC East title was wiped out when coach Chuck Fairbanks, who'd been negotiating a head coaching position with the University of Colorado all season, was suspended just before New England's regular-season wrapup in Miami on Monday Night Football. Coordinators Hank Bullough and Ron Erhardt took over as co-head coaches for the game. The suspension of Fairbanks and elevation of Bullough and Erhardt took the team, radioman Gil Santos, and the ABC Network's Howard Cosell by surprise. The Patriots were crushed 23–3 by the Dolphins; Steve Grogan injured his knee during the game. Despite the loss the Patriots won the division on tie-breakers over the 11–5 Dolphins and secured a playoff bye.
Divisional
To the surprise of everyone, Chuck Fairbanks was reinstated as head coach for the playoffs, but by then he had lost the respect of the locker room, and in their very first home playoff game the Patriots were massacred by the Oilers 31–14 behind three Dan Pastorini touchdown throws and an Earl Campbell rushing score. Steve Grogan, unable to push off on his injured knee, threw two interceptions and was knocked out of the game; backup Tom Owen managed one touchdown (a 24-yard strike to Russ Francis) while Harold Jackson caught a 24-yard score from Andy Johnson. Following the game Fairbanks left for good amid long-running acrimony with Billy and Chuck Sullivan; a lawsuit was settled on April 2, 1979, that gave the Patriots $200,000 and made Fairbanks liable if he took another NFL job before 1983, the period when his previous contract was supposed to end.[5]
References
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending Rushing Yds
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference: 1978 New England Patriots
- ^ John Hannah with Tom Hale: Offensive Conduct: My Life On The Line (Chicago: Triumph Books), pp. 139–40
- ISBN 0-689-10992-X
- ^ Fox, Patriots Triumph & Tragedy, pp. 317–8.
See also
- New England Patriots seasons