1978 Buffalo Bills: 5-11-0
Previous Season Next SeasonHome record: 4-4-0 (169 points scored, 135 allowed) Road record: 1-7-0 (133 points scored, 219 allowed) Head Coach: Chuck Knox 302 points scored (11th of 28 teams), 354 points allowed (24th) NFL Averages: 18.3 points/game (293.3 points/team) Team stats and rankings: ---------------- PASSING ---------------- ----------- RUSHING ---------- --- TOTAL --- Cmp Att Yards (Rank) Yd/Att TD Int Att Yards (Rank) Yd/Att TD Yards (Rank) Turnovers Offense: 203 388 2,249 (20) 5.38 21 17 556 2,381 (10) 4.3 15 4,630 (20) 34 Defense: 167 317 1,960 ( 1) 5.78 20 14 677 3,228 (28) 4.8 23 5,188 (24) 30
Team roster (starters in bold): # Player Pos GP Hgt Wgt Age Exp College 4 Rusty Jackson P 16 6'2 195 27 2 Louisiana State 6 Tom Dempsey K 16 6'1 260 37 10 Palomar J.C. (CA) 9 Bill Munson QB 4 6'2 205 37 15 Utah State 10 Dave Mays QB 1 6'1 204 29 3 Texas Southern 12 Joe Ferguson QB 16 6'1 195 28 6 Arkansas 21 Marvin Switzer DB 10 6'0 192 24 1 Kansas State 22 Steve Freeman DB 16 5'11 185 25 4 Mississippi State 23 Steve Powell RB 10 5'11 186 22 R Northeast Missouri State 24 Doug Jones DB 12 6'2 205 28 5 Cal State-Northridge 25 Roland Hooks RB 16 6'0 195 25 3 North Carolina State 26 Charles Romes DB 16 6'1 190 23 2 North Carolina Central 29 Mario Clark DB 16 6'2 195 24 3 Oregon 34 Jim Braxton RB 6 6'2 240 29 8 West Virginia 39 Dennis Johnson RB 16 6'3 220 22 R Mississippi State 40 Terry Miller RB 16 5'10 196 22 R Oklahoma State 41 Eddie McMillan DB 14 6'0 190 26 6 Florida State 43 Tony Greene DB 16 5'10 175 29 8 Maryland 46 Keith Moody DB 14 5'10 170 25 3 Syracuse 47 Curtis Brown RB 15 5'10 203 23 2 Missouri 49 Larry Walton WR 12 6'0 180 31 8 Arizona State 51 Dan Jilek LB 15 6'2 225 24 3 Michigan 52 Merv Krakau LB 5 6'2 230 27 6 Iowa State 52 Doug Becker LB 8 6'0 222 22 R Notre Dame 53 Will Grant C 16 6'3 248 24 R Kentucky 55 Tom Graham LB 11 6'2 235 28 7 Oregon 56 Tom Ehlers LB 8 6'2 218 26 4 Kentucky 57 Lucius Sanford LB 16 6'2 216 22 R Georgia Tech 58 Mario Celotto LB 4 6'3 234 22 R Southern California 58 Randy McClanahan LB 16 6'5 225 23 2 Southwestern Louisiana 59 Shane Nelson LB 16 6'1 225 23 2 Baylor 60 Bill Adams OG 6 6'2 246 28 6 Holy Cross 61 Willie Parker C 16 6'3 245 29 6 North Texas State 67 Reggie McKenzie OG 16 6'4 242 28 7 Michigan 68 Joe DeLamielleure OG 16 6'3 245 27 6 Michigan State 69 Ken Jones OT 16 6'5 250 25 3 Arkansas State 70 Joe Devlin OT 14 6'5 250 24 3 Iowa 71 Mike Kadish DT 11 6'5 270 28 6 Notre Dame 73 Mekeli Ieremia DT 2 6'2 244 24 R Brigham Young 74 Dee Hardison DE 16 6'4 269 22 R North Carolina 75 Dennis Johnson DT 14 6'4 265 27 5 Delaware 77 Ben Williams DE 16 6'3 245 24 3 Mississippi 78 Scott Hutchinson DE 16 6'4 243 22 R Florida 79 Elbert Drungo OT 13 6'5 265 35 9 Tennessee State 81 Bob Chandler WR 16 6'0 180 29 8 Southern California 82 Frank Lewis WR 15 6'1 196 31 8 Grambling 83 Sherman White DE 16 6'5 250 30 7 California 84 Mike Franckowiak TE 16 6'3 225 25 4 Central Michigan 85 Phil Dokes DT 10 6'5 255 23 2 Oklahoma State 86 Leonard Willis WR 4 5'11 185 25 3 Ohio State 87 Mike Levenseller WR 2 6'1 180 22 R Washington State 88 Reuben Gant TE 16 6'4 225 26 5 Oklahoma State 89 Lou Piccone WR 16 5'9 175 29 5 West Liberty State
Per Per Passing Att Cmp Pct Yards Att Cmp TD TD% Int Int% Sack Loss Rating Joe Ferguson 330 175 53.0 2,136 6.47 12.2 16 4.8 15 4.5 29 243 70.5 Bill Munson 43 24 55.8 328 7.63 13.7 4 9.3 2 4.7 0 0 92.0 Dave Mays 15 4 26.7 39 2.60 9.8 1 6.7 0 0.0 1 11 61.8
Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD Bob Chandler 44 581 13.2 5 Frank Lewis 41 735 17.9 7 Reuben Gant 34 408 12.0 5 Terry Miller 22 246 11.2 0 Curtis Brown 18 130 7.2 0 Roland Hooks 15 110 7.3 1 Dennis Johnson 10 83 8.3 0 Lou Piccone 7 71 10.1 2 Jim Braxton 5 38 7.6 0 Larry Walton 4 66 16.5 1 Leonard Willis 2 41 20.5 0 Joe Ferguson 1 -6 -6.0 0 | Rushing Att Yards Avg TD Terry Miller 238 1,060 4.5 7 Curtis Brown 128 591 4.6 4 Roland Hooks 76 358 4.7 2 Dennis Johnson 55 222 4.0 2 Joe Ferguson 27 76 2.8 0 Jim Braxton 30 73 2.4 0 Reuben Gant 1 14 14.0 0 Rusty Jackson 1 -13 -13.0 0 |
Kickoff Returns Att Yards Avg TD Keith Moody 18 371 20.6 0 Curtis Brown 17 428 25.2 1 Dennis Johnson 10 204 20.4 0 Roland Hooks 7 124 17.7 0 Mike Franckowiak 5 60 12.0 0 Steve Powell 3 53 17.7 0 Lou Piccone 3 51 17.0 0 Terry Miller 1 17 17.0 0 Scott Hutchinson 1 8 8.0 0 Leonard Willis 1 0 0.0 0 | Punt Returns Att Yards Avg FC TD Keith Moody 19 240 12.6 5 1 Lou Piccone 14 88 6.3 4 0 Mike Levenseller 3 35 11.7 0 0 Roland Hooks 3 12 4.0 0 0 Curtis Brown 1 0 0.0 0 0 |
1978 Draft: NFL Rnd Ovr Pos Player Games College 1 5 RB Terry Miller 48 Oklahoma State 2 32 DE Dee Hardison 122 North Carolina 2 38 DE Scott Hutchinson 69 Florida [pick acquired from SF] 3 59 RB Dennis Johnson 21 Mississippi State 3 65 WR Danny Fulton 20 Nebraska-Omaha [pick acquired from SF] 4 89 LB Lucius Sanford 129 Georgia Tech 5 114 TE Ken Spaeth Nebraska 6 145 OT Eric Smith Southern Mississippi [pick acquired from PHI] 7 171 LB Mario Celotto 25 USC 7 183 RB Steve Powell 25 N.E. Missouri State [pick acquired from HOU] 10 255 C Will Grant 129 Kentucky 11 282 LB Jerry Blanton 92 Kentucky 12 309 RB Richard Crump N.E. Oklahoma A&M
Traded draft picks: #6 to NYJ (Bobby Jackson), #8 to NE via PHI (Terry Falcon), #9 to NYJ (Reggie Grant)
Transactions:
| 01-26-1978 | Buccaneers signed Neil O'Donoghue as a free agent |
| 03-24-1978 | traded O.J. Simpson to 49ers for San Francisco's #2 and #3 picks in the 1978 draft, their #1 and #4 picks in the 1979 draft, and their #2 pick in the 1980 draft |
| 04-15-1978 | Dave Foley retired |
| 05-30-1978 | traded future considerations to Eagles for Pete Lazetich |
| 06-03-1978 | traded a 1979 draft pick to Broncos for Phil Olsen |
| 06-16-1978 | claimed Larry Harris on waivers from ? |
| 07-27-1978 | traded future considerations to Buccaneers for Robert Watts |
| 08-04-1978 | traded future considerations to 49ers for Jim Lash and Steve Lawson |
| 08-06-1978 | traded past considerations and/or future considerations to Chargers for Richard Keys |
| 08-11-1978 | traded Buffalo's #6 pick in the 1979 draft to Oilers for Elbert Drungo |
| 08-14-1978 | David Fowler retired |
| 08-15-1978 | placed Mike Kadish on injured reserve |
| 08-15-1978 | traded Paul Seymour to Steelers for Frank Lewis |
| 08-15-1978 | traded Stan Winfrey to Lions for future considerations |
| 08-18-1978 | traded Buffalo's #7 pick in the 1980 draft to Chargers for Bill Munson |
| 08-21-1978 | traded Buffalo's #8 pick in the 1979 draft to Eagles for Tom Ehlers and Tom Graham |
| 08-24-1978 | Steelers returned Paul Seymour (after faling physical) |
| 08-25-1978 | claimed Skip Thomas on waivers from Raiders |
| 08-28-1978 | traded Dwight Harrison to Colts for Baltimore's #6 pick in the 1979 draft and cash |
| 08-29-1978 | placed Mike Collier on injured reserve |
| 08-29-1978 | traded past considerations to Raiders for Errol Mann, Randy McClanahan and Mike Levenseller |
| 08-30-1978 | Giants claimed John Skorupan on waivers |
| 08-31-1978 | placed Danny Fulton on injured reserve |
| 08-31-1978 | Raiders claimed Errol Mann on waivers |
| 10-10-1978 | traded Jim Braxton to Redskins for an undisclosed draft pick |
| 10-26-1978 | placed Tom Ehlers on injured reserve |
| 12-13-1978 | placed Joe Devlin on injured reserve |
1978 Regular Season Game Log: Click on the date to view the game summary. Date Opponent Result Record 09/03/78 vs Pittsburgh Steelers L 17-28 0-1-0 09/10/78 vs New York Jets L 20-21 0-2-0 09/17/78 at Miami Dolphins L 24-31 0-3-0 09/24/78 vs Baltimore Colts W 24-17 1-3-0 10/01/78 vs Kansas City Chiefs W 28-13 2-3-0 10/08/78 at New York Jets L 14-45 2-4-0 10/15/78 at Houston Oilers L 10-17 2-5-0 10/22/78 vs Cincinnati Bengals W 5-0 3-5-0 10/29/78 at Cleveland Browns L 20-41 3-6-0 11/05/78 vs New England Patriots L 10-14 3-7-0 11/12/78 vs Miami Dolphins L 24-25 3-8-0 11/19/78 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10-31 3-9-0 11/26/78 vs New York Giants W 41-17 4-9-0 12/03/78 at Kansas City Chiefs L 10-14 4-10-0 12/10/78 at New England Patriots L 24-26 4-11-0 12/17/78 at Baltimore Colts W 21-14 5-11-0