1978 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

1978 St. Louis Cardinals season
1978 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner	Bill Bidwill
Head coach	Bud Wilkinson
Home field	Busch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	C Tom Banks; G Bob Young; T Dan Dierdorf
	← 1977; Cardinals seasons; 1979 →;

The 1978 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 59th year with the National Football League and the 19th season in St. Louis. The controversial recruitment of 62-year-old former Oklahoma Sooners coach Bud Wilkinson was a failure, as the team, already affected by becoming the first opponent team to lose visiting the expansion Buccaneers, failed to maintain the standard of the previous four seasons. The team lost its first eight games to be out of the running for the playoffs by midseason, and even a sequence of six wins in eight games failed to move the team beyond equal last in its division.

The last of the Cardinals’ initial eight consecutive losses was the final time they played the New York Jets until 1996,^[1] by which time the franchise was based in Phoenix and provided a notorious Jets’ team with the win needed to avoid the first 0–16 record in NFL history. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team's division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.^[2]

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1978 St. Louis Cardinals draft
1	15	Steve Little	Kicker	Arkansas
1	19	Ken Greene	Safety	Washington State
2	42	John Barefield	Linebacker	Texas A&I
3	69	Doug Greene	Defensive back	Texas A&I
4	96	George Collins	Guard	Georgia
4	97	Jim Childs	Wide receiver	Cal Poly
5	124	Earl Carr	Running back	Florida
6	151	Jack Williams	Defensive end	Bowling Green
7	181	Dave Stief	Wide receiver	Portland State
9	235	Joe Mosley	Tight end	Central State (OH)
10	265	Randy Gill	Linebacker	San Jose State
12	319	Anthony Clay	Linebacker	South Carolina State
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff[]

**1978 St. Louis Cardinals staff**

	Front office Owner – Bill Bidwill Director of Operations – Joe Sullivan Assistant Director of Operations – Larry Wilson Head coaches Head Coach – Bud Wilkinson Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Harry Gilmer Offensive Backfield – Pete Elliott Offensive Line – Jim Hanifan Special Assistant – Buddy Parker			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Tom Bettis Defensive Line – Rudy Feldman Defensive Secondary – Fred Glick Special teams coaches Special Teams – Jerry Thompson

Roster[]

**1978 St. Louis Cardinals roster**

	Quarterbacks 17 Jim Hart 18 Mark Manges 15 Steve Pisarkiewicz Running backs 20 Gordon Bell 34 Steve Jones 32 Jerry Latin 24 Wayne Morris FB 35 Jim Otis FB Wide receivers 89 80 84 Dave Stief 83 Pat Tilley Tight ends 87 Al Chandler		Offensive linemen 54 Tom Banks C 66 George Collins T 72 Dan Dierdorf T 51 Tom Brahaney C 65 Brad Oates T 68 Terry Stieve G 62 Keith Wortman T 64 Bob Young G Defensive linemen 79 Bob Bell DT 73 Mike Dawson DT 70 Keith Simons DT 78 Ron Yankowski DE 63 John Zook DE		Linebackers 50 Kurt Allerman 57 Mark Arneson 58 John Barefield 56 Tim Kearney 53 Steve Neils Defensive backs 27 Carl Allen CB 40 Doug Greene 37 Ken Greene SS 38 Lee Nelson FS 45 Perry Smith 22 Roger Wehrli CB Special teams 25 Jim Bakken K 12 Steve Little K 16 Mike Wood P		Reserve lists {{{reserve_lists}}} Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Game Recap
1	September 3	at Chicago Bears	L 10–17	0–1	Soldier Field	52,791	Recap
2	September 10	New England Patriots	L 6–16	0–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,233	Recap
3	September 17	Washington Redskins	L 10–28	0–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	49,282	Recap
4	September 24	at Dallas Cowboys	L 12–21	0–4	Texas Stadium	62,760	Recap
5	October 1	at Miami Dolphins	L 10–24	0–5	Miami Orange Bowl	43,882	Recap
6	October 8	Baltimore Colts	L 17–30	0–6	Busch Memorial Stadium	47,479	Recap
7	October 15	Dallas Cowboys	L 21–24 (OT)	0–7	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,991	Recap
8	October 22	at New York Jets	L 10–23	0–8	Shea Stadium	49,244	Recap
9	October 29	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 16–10	1–8	Veterans Stadium	62,989	Recap
10	November 5	New York Giants	W 20–10	2–8	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,820	Recap
11	November 12	at San Francisco 49ers	W 16–10	3–8	Candlestick Park	33,155	Recap
12	November 19	at Washington Redskins	W 27–17	4–8	RFK Stadium	52,460	Recap
13	November 26	Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–14	4–9	Busch Memorial Stadium	39,693	Recap
14	December 3	Detroit Lions	W 21–14	5–9	Busch Memorial Stadium	39,200	Recap
15	December 10	at New York Giants	L 0–17	5–10	Giants Stadium	52,226	Recap
16	December 17	Atlanta Falcons	W 42–21	6–10	Busch Memorial Stadium	40,022	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings[]

NFC East
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys⁽²⁾	12	4	0	.750	7–1	9–3	384	208	W6
Philadelphia Eagles⁽⁵⁾	9	7	0	.563	4–4	6–6	270	250	W1
Washington Redskins	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	273	283	L5
St. Louis Cardinals	6	10	0	.375	3–5	6–6	248	296	W1
New York Giants	6	10	0	.375	2–6	5–9	264	298	L1

Awards and records[]

References[]

[1] Arizona Cardinals v New York Jets

[2] History of the NFL's Structure and Formats

[1]

[2]

v t Arizona Cardinals
Founded in 1898 Played in Chicago (1920–1959), St. Louis (1960–1987), and formerly the Phoenix Cardinals (1988–1993) Based in Glendale, Arizona Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona
Franchise	History in Chicago in St. Louis Seasons Head coaches Players Quarterbacks First-round draft picks
Stadiums	Normal Park Comiskey Park Wrigley Field Forbes Field Soldier Field Busch Stadium Busch Memorial Stadium Sun Devil Stadium State Farm Stadium
Culture	Charles Bidwill Bill Bidwill Cheerleaders Big Red (mascot) Jerry Maguire
Lore	1925 Chicago Cardinals–Milwaukee Badgers scandal 1925 NFL Championship controversy Card-Pitt Million Dollar Backfield Chicago Cardinals–Toronto Argonauts exhibition game Fútbol Americano 2006 game vs. Chicago Bears Hail Murray
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Kansas City Chiefs
Division championships (7)	1947 1948 1974 1975 2008 2009 2015
Conference championships (1)	2008
League championships (2)	1925 1947
Retired numbers	8 40 77 88 99
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: West Division
Category

v t Arizona Cardinals seasons
Played in Chicago (1920–1959), St. Louis (1960–1987), and formerly the Phoenix Cardinals (1988–1993)
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance