1978 New England Patriots season

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1978 New England Patriots season
OwnerBilly Sullivan
Head coachChuck Fairbanks
(suspended by team in Week 16, reinstated for playoffs)
Hank Bullough (co-interim)
Ron Erhardt (co-interim)
General managerChuck Fairbanks
Home fieldSchaefer Stadium
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st AFC East
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Oilers) 14–31
Pro BowlersFB Sam Cunningham
TE Russ Francis
T Leon Gray
G John Hannah
CB Mike Haynes
AP All-ProsG 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.

New England set a then NFL record in 1978 for most rushing yards in a single season, with 3,165 yards on the ground.[1] They had four players who rushed for more than 500 yards each: running back Sam "Bam" Cunningham, 768; running back Andy Johnson, 675; running back Horace Ivory, 693; and quarterback Steve Grogan, 539.[2] The team also picked up an NFL-record 181 rushing first-downs.

Staff[]

1978 New England Patriots staff
Front office
  • President – Billy Sullivan
  • Executive Vice President – Chuck Sullivan
  • Assistant General Manager – Jim Valek
  • Director of Player Personnel – Bucko Kilroy
  • Assistant Personnel Director – Mike Hickey

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Quarterbacks/Special Assistant to the Head Coach – John Polonchek
  • Offensive Backfield – Ron Erhardt
  • Receivers – Raymond Berry
  • Offensive Line – Jim Ringo
  • Offensive Assistant – Ernie Adams
Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches


Roster[]

1978 New England Patriots roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

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
55,037
Recap
2 September 10 at St. Louis Cardinals W 16–6 1–1 Busch Memorial Stadium
48,233
Recap
3 September 18 Baltimore Colts L 27–34 1–2 Schaefer Stadium
57,284
Recap
4 September 24 at Oakland Raiders W 21–14 2–2 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
52,904
Recap
5 October 1 San Diego Chargers W 28–23 3–2 Schaefer Stadium
60,781
Recap
6 October 8 Philadelphia Eagles W 24–14 4–2 Schaefer Stadium
61,016
Recap
7 October 15 at Cincinnati Bengals W 10–3 5–2 Riverfront Stadium
48,699
Recap
8 October 22 Miami Dolphins W 33–24 6–2 Schaefer Stadium
60,424
Recap
9 October 29 New York Jets W 55–21 7–2 Schaefer Stadium
60,585
Recap
10 November 5 at Buffalo Bills W 14–10 8–2 Rich Stadium
44,897
Recap
11 November 12 Houston Oilers L 23–26 8–3 Schaefer Stadium
60,356
Recap
12 November 19 at New York Jets W 19–17 9–3 Shea Stadium
55,568
Recap
13 November 26 at Baltimore Colts W 35–14 10–3 Memorial Stadium
42,828
Recap
14 December 3 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–17 10–4 Texas Stadium
63,263
Recap
15 December 10 Buffalo Bills W 26–24 11–4 Schaefer Stadium
59,598
Recap
16 December 17 at Miami Dolphins L 3–23 11–5 Miami Orange Bowl
72,071
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 December 31 Houston Oilers (5) L 14–31 Schaefer Stadium 0–1
60,881
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[]

Week Three: Baltimore Colts (0–2) at New England Patriots (1–1)
1 2 34Total
Colts 0 7 02734
Patriots 6 7 01427

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts

  • Date: September 18
  • Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C)
  • TV: ABC
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com

Hosting the Colts on Monday Night Football at a rain-soaked Schaefer Stadium the Patriots were downed 34–27 on a one-man scoring rampage by the Colts' Joe Washington, who threw a 54-yard touchdown to Roger Carr, caught a 23-yard score from Bill Troup, and after a game-tying Sam Cunningham touchdown run in the fourth returned the ensuing kick 90 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Week 4[]

1 234Total
Patriots 0 777 21
Raiders 14 000 14

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 Spygate, the Patriots exploded for eight touchdowns – Steve Grogan threw to Harold Jackson twice ( missed the PAT on Jackson's second score), Stanley Morgan, and Russ Francis, and two rushing scores apiece by Horace Ivory and James McAlister – in a 55–21 slaughter of the Jets. Jets coach Walt Michaels suspected the Patriots were deciphering his coaching staff's codes and that a rival team had tipped off the Patriots to these codes – "This will never happen to us again", Michaels stewed afterward. "I know what they did, but by the time we figured it out, it was too late."

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 Roland Hooks and Terry Miller of the Bills scored on the ground and Frank Lewis caught a 21-yard touchdown from Joe Ferguson. The Patriots also suffered when linebackers Steve Zabel and Steve Nelson were injured. They rallied, however, behind rushing scores by Sam Cunningham, Steve Grogan, and Horace Ivory and a safety when Tim Fox ran Bills punter Rusty Jackson out of the endzone; Bills coach Chuck Knox allowed a safety because he feared punting out of his team's endzone.[4] In the game's final eight seconds the Bills led 24–23 but kicked the winning field goal from 21 yards out, clinching a 26–24 win.

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[]

  1. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending Rushing Yds
  2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference: 1978 New England Patriots
  3. ^ John Hannah with Tom Hale: Offensive Conduct: My Life On The Line (Chicago: Triumph Books), pp. 139–40
  4. ^ Fox, Larry (1979) The New England Patriots: Triumph & Tragedy (New York: Atheneum), p. 283. ISBN 0-689-10992-X
  5. ^ Fox, Patriots Triumph & Tragedy, pp. 317–8.

See also[]

  • New England Patriots seasons
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