1978 Denver Broncos season

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1978 Denver Broncos season
Head coachRed Miller
General managerFred Gehrke
Home fieldMile High Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 10–33

The 1978 Denver Broncos season was the team's 19th year in professional football and its ninth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by second-year head coach Red Miller, the Broncos were 10–6, repeated as champions of the AFC West, and made the playoffs for the second straight season.

In the AFC divisional round, Denver lost on the road to the top-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers,[1][2] whom they had lost to two weeks earlier in the regular season finale at Mile High Stadium;[3][4] the Broncos had clinched their division title six days earlier with a win over struggling Kansas City, while runners-up Oakland and Seattle both lost and fell to 8–7 with San Diego, two games back with one to play.[5] Pittsburgh went on to win Super Bowl XIII.[6]

Denver was fifteenth in the league in scoring offense, while the Broncos' defense finished second in points allowed and sixth in yards allowed. [7]

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Main article: 1978 NFL Draft
1978 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 27 Don Latimer  DT Miami (FL)
2 55 Bill Gay *  TE USC
8 221 Frank Smith  OT Alabama A&M
10 277 Vince Kinney  WR Maryland
11 305 Lacy Brumley  OT Clemson
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel[]

Staff[]

1978 Denver Broncos staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Quarterbacks – Babe Parilli
  • Offensive Backs – Paul Roach
  • Wide Receivers – Fran Polsfoot
  • Offensive Line – Ken Gray
 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator – Joe Collier
  • Defensive Line – Stan Jones
  • Linebackers – Bob Zeman
  • Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe
  • Defensive Assistant/Special Teams Assistant – Bill Belichick

Special teams coaches


[8]

Roster[]

1978 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

  • 77 Lyle Alzado DE
  • 68 Rubin Carter NT
  • 79 Barney Chavous DE
  • 70 Paul Smith DE
  • 63 John Grant DE, NT
 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season[]

Main article: 1978 NFL season

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Game site Record Attendance
1 September 3 Oakland Raiders W 14–6 Mile High Stadium 1–0
75,092
2 September 11 at Minnesota Vikings L 9–12OT Metropolitan Stadium 1–1
46,508
3 September 17 San Diego Chargers W 27–14 Mile High Stadium 2–1
74,983
4 September 24 at Kansas City Chiefs W 23–17OT Arrowhead Stadium 3–1
60,593
5 October 1 Seattle Seahawks W 28–7 Mile High Stadium 4–1
74,989
6 October 8 at San Diego Chargers L 0–23 San Diego Stadium 4–2
50,077
7 October 16 Chicago Bears W 16–7 Mile High Stadium 5–2
75,008
8 October 22 at Baltimore Colts L 6–7 Memorial Stadium 5–3
54,057
9 October 29 at Seattle Seahawks W 20–17OT Kingdome 6–3
62,948
10 November 5 New York Jets L 28–31 Mile High Stadium 6–4
74,983
11 November 12 at Cleveland Browns W 19–7 Cleveland Stadium 7–4
70,856
12 November 19 Green Bay Packers W 16–3 Mile High Stadium 8–4
74,965
13 November 23 at Detroit Lions L 14–17 Pontiac Silverdome 8–5
71,785
14 December 3 at Oakland Raiders W 21–6 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 9–5
53,932
15 December 10 Kansas City Chiefs W 24–3 Mile High Stadium 10–5  
74,149
16 December 16 Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–21 Mile High Stadium 10–6  
74,104
  • Monday night (September 11, October 16),[9][10] Thursday (November 23: Thanksgiving),[11] Saturday (December 16)[3][4]
  • This was the first NFL regular season with 16 games.

Standings[]

AFC West
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Denver Broncos(3) 10 6 0 .625 7–1 8–4 282 198 L1
Oakland Raiders 9 7 0 .563 3–5 5–7 311 283 W1
Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .563 4–4 6–6 345 358 W1
San Diego Chargers 9 7 0 .563 5–3 7–5 355 309 W3
Kansas City Chiefs 4 12 0 .250 1–7 4–10 243 327 L2

Playoffs[]

Main article: 1978–79 NFL playoffs
Round Date Opponent Result Game site Attendance
Divisional December 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–33 Three Rivers Stadium
48,921
Source:[1][2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Steelers draw their curtain on Denver, 33–10". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1978. p. 7B.
  2. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (January 8, 1979). "Wrong is just right". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  3. ^ a b Sheeley, Glenn (December 17, 1978). "Steelers avoid crushing loss". Pittsburgh Press. p. D1.
  4. ^ a b "It took Steelers until final play to nail down win over Denver". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. December 17, 1978. p. 4B.
  5. ^ "Kansas City can't handle Morton's arm". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 11, 1978. p. 3B.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Dan (January 29, 1979). "What a passing parade!". Sports Illustrated. p. 8.
  7. ^ "1978 Denver Broncos Statistics & Players".
  8. ^ 1978 Denver Broncos Media Guide. p. 4. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  9. ^ "Viks lose on call, win on field goal". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. September 12, 1978. p. 3C.
  10. ^ "Determined Broncos prevail". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. October 17, 1978. p. B3.
  11. ^ "Lions outlast Broncos on King's late score". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. November 24, 1978. p. 17.

External links[]

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