1978 Detroit Lions season

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1978 Detroit Lions season
OwnerWilliam Clay Ford, Sr.
Head coachMonte Clark
General managerRuss Thomas
Home fieldPontiac Silverdome
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1978 Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 49th season in the National Football League. Under new head coach and former NFL player Monte Clark, the Lions continue to struggle with mediocrity finishing in third place again with a less than stellar record of 7–9.

This season would also be the swan song for starting quarterback Greg Landry's stellar ten-year career in Detroit, as in the offseason was shipped to the Baltimore Colts for a 1979 fourth round pick (#88-Ulysses Norris), a 1979 fifth round pick (#131-), and a 1980 third round pick (#62-Mike Friede), in a rebuilding process begun by head coach Monte Clark.[1][2]

Offseason[]

NFL draft[]

Main article: 1978 NFL draft
1978 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 11 Luther Bradley  CB Notre Dame
2 40 Al Baker *  DE Colorado State
4 94 Bill Fifer  OT West Texas State
4 107 Homer Elias  G Tennessee State from Baltimore
4 109 Larry Tearry  C Wake Forest from Denver
5 121 Amos Fowler  G Southern Mississippi
5 123 Dan Gray  DE Rutgers from San Diego
6 150 Dwight Hicks *  S Michigan
6 153 Tony Ardizzone  C Northwestern
6 165 Jesse Thompson  WR California from Denver
7 177 Bruce Gibson  RB Pacific
8 206 Jim Breech  K California
10 262 Fred Arrington  LB Purdue
11 289 Richard Murray  DT Oklahoma
12 318 Mark Patterson  DB Washington State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[3]

Notes

  • Detroit traded its third-round pick (67th) and seventh-round pick in 1979 to Cleveland in exchange for the rights to K Tom Skladany.
  • Detroit traded DT Herb Orvis to Baltimore in exchange for the Colts' fourth-round pick (107th).
  • Detroit traded P Herman Weaver to Denver in exchange for the Broncos' fourth- and sixth-round picks (109th and 165th).
  • Detroit traded LB Jim Laslavic to San Diego in exchange for the Chargers' fifth- and sixth-round picks (123rd and 153rd).
  • Detroit traded its ninth-round pick (233rd) to San Francisco in exchange for K Steve Mike-Mayer.

Personnel[]

Staff[]

1978 Detroit Lions staff
Front office
  • President – William Clay Ford, Sr.
  • Executive Vice President and General Manager – Russ Thomas
  • Director of Football Operations – Monte Clark
  • Administrative Assistant – Doug Gerhart

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Monte Clark

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Line – Floyd Reese
  • Linebackers – Marty Schottenheimer
  • Defensive Backfield – Billy Atkins

Special teams coaches


[4]

Roster[]

1978 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

  • 81 David Hill
 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 3 Green Bay Packers L 13–7
51,187
2 September 9 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 15–7
64,445
3 September 17 Chicago Bears L 19–0
65,982
4 September 24 at Seattle Seahawks L 28–16
60,040
5 October 1 at Green Bay Packers L 35–14
54,601
6 October 8 Washington Redskins L 21–19
60,555
7 October 15 at Atlanta Falcons L 14–0
51,172
8 October 22 San Diego Chargers W 31–14
54,031
9 October 29 at Chicago Bears W 21–17
53,378
10 November 5 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–7
46,008
11 November 12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34–23
60,320
12 November 19 at Oakland Raiders L 29–17
44,517
13 November 23 Denver Broncos W 17–14
71,785
14 December 3 at St. Louis Cardinals L 21–14
39,200
15 December 9 Minnesota Vikings W 45–14
78,685
16 December 17 San Francisco 49ers W 33–14
56,674

Game summaries[]

Week 9: at Chicago Bears[]

1 234Total
• Lions 7 1400 21
Bears 3 770 17
  • Date: October 29
  • Location: Soldier Field, Chicago
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: 48 °F, wind 10 mph

Standings[]

NFC Central
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings(3) 8 7 1 .531 5–2–1 7–4–1 294 306 L2
Green Bay Packers 8 7 1 .531 5–2–1 6–5–1 249 269 L2
Detroit Lions 7 9 0 .438 4–4 5–7 290 300 W2
Chicago Bears 7 9 0 .438 3–5 7–5 253 274 W2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 11 0 .313 2–6 3–11 241 259 L4

References[]

  1. ^ Daytona Beach Journal, sports article April 30, 1979.
  2. ^ 1979 NFL Draft Pick Transactions, ProSportsTransactions.com, accessed March 31, 2012.
  3. ^ "1978 Detroit Lions Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  4. ^ "Executive and coaching staff profiles". 1978 Detroit Lions Media Guide. pp. 3–11.

External links[]

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