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1978 Detroit Lions: 7-9-0
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Home record: 5-3-0 (186 points scored, 132 allowed) Road record: 2-6-0 (104 points scored, 168 allowed) Head Coach: Monte Clark

290 points scored (13th of 28 teams), 300 points allowed (19th) 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:   247   429   2,302   (19)   4.84   19   18    525   2,163   (17)    4.1   12    4,465    (21)      33
Defense:   191   350   2,299   ( 6)   5.68   19   22    565   2,184   (14)    3.9   18    4,483    ( 7)      41

Team roster (starters in bold):
 #   Player              Pos   GP   Hgt   Wgt  Age  Exp   College
 1  Benny Ricardo        K     16   5'10  175   24    2   San Diego State
11  Greg Landry          QB     5   6'4   205   31   11   Massachusetts
14  Joe Reed             QB     1   6'1   195   30    7   Mississippi State
15  Tom Skladany         P     16   6'0   180   23    1   Ohio State
16  Gary Danielson       QB    16   6'2   195   27    3   Purdue
21  Walt Williams        DB    15   6'0   185   24    2   New Mexico State
24  Dexter Bussey        RB    16   6'1   210   26    5   Texas-Arlington
25  Horace King          RB    15   5'10  210   25    4   Georgia
26  Anthony Leonard      DB     3   5'11  165   25    3   Virginia Union
27  Luther Bradley       DB    16   6'2   195   23    R   Notre Dame
28  James Hunter         DB     9   6'3   195   24    3   Grambling
29  Mike Burns           DB    15   6'0   180   24    2   Southern California
30  Nat Terry            DB     4   5'11  165   22    R   Florida State
31  Ken Callicutt        RB    13   6'0   190   23    R   Clemson
31  Tony Sumler          DB     1   5'10  185   22    R   Wichita State
32  Rick Kane            RB    15   5'11  200   23    2   San Jose State
33  Bruce Rhodes         DB    15   6'0   190   26    2   San Francisco State
38  Lawrence Gaines      RB    13   6'1   240   24    2   Wyoming
39  Leonard Thompson     WR    16   5'10  190   26    4   Oklahoma State
40  Jimmy Allen          DB    14   6'2   195   26    5   UCLA
42  Reggie Pinkney       DB    13   5'11  190   23    2   East Carolina
43  Andy Bolton          RB     6   6'1   205   24    3   Fisk
45  Ray Jarvis           WR     2   6'1   190   29    8   Norfolk State
50  Paul Naumoff         LB    15   6'1   215   33   12   Tennessee
52  Dave Washington      LB    16   6'6   230   30    9   Alcorn State
53  John Sokolosky       C     11   6'2   240   22    R   Wayne State (MI)
53  Willie Brock         C      4   6'3   246   23    R   Colorado
54  Larry Tearry         C     14   6'3   260   22    R   Wake Forest
55  Ed O'Neil            LB    16   6'3   235   26    5   Penn State
57  Dan Dickel           LB     4   6'3   230   26    5   Iowa
58  Tony Daykin          LB    16   6'1   215   23    2   Georgia Tech
59  Charlie Weaver       LB    16   6'2   225   29    8   Southern California
60  Gary Anderson        OG     1   6'3   250   23    2   Stanford
60  Al Baker             DE    16   6'6   260   21    R   Colorado State
61  Homer Elias          OG    16   6'3   255   23    R   Tennessee State
62  Lynn Boden           OG    16   6'5   260   25    4   South Dakota State
63  Mike Montler         C      4   6'4   250   34   10   Colorado
63  Donnie Hickman       OG     7   6'2   260   23    1   Southern California
64  Dan Gray             DT    14   6'6   240   22    R   Rutgers
65  Amos Fowler          OG    16   6'3   250   22    R   Southern Mississippi
66  Karl Chandler        C     11   6'5   250   26    5   Princeton
67  Donnie Green         OT     7   6'7   261   30    8   Purdue
70  Bill Fifer           OT     8   6'4   250   23    R   West Texas State
71  Dave Gallagher       DT     1   6'4   256   26    4   Michigan
72  Ernie Price          DE     3   6'4   245   28    6   Texas A&I
72  Bill Cooke           DT    12   6'5   250   27    4   Massachusetts
74  Brad Oates           OT    16   6'6   274   25    3   Brigham Young
75  Dave Pureifory       DE     8   6'1   255   29    7   Eastern Michigan
76  Karl Baldischwiler   OT    16   6'5   265   22    R   Oklahoma
77  John Woodcock        DT    16   6'3   240   24    3   Hawaii
78  Doug English         DT    14   6'5   255   25    4   Texas
81  David Hill           TE    16   6'2   220   24    3   Texas A&I
82  Ken Sanders          DE     7   6'5   245   28    7   Howard Payne
83  William Gay          TE    16   6'5   225   23    R   Southern California
84  Jesse Thompson       WR    11   6'1   185   22    R   California
86  Willie McGee         WR     4   5'11  178   28    6   Alcorn State
87  Freddie Scott        WR    16   6'2   175   26    5   Amherst
89  Luther Blue          WR    16   5'11  190   24    2   Iowa State

                                               Per   Per
Passing              Att  Cmp    Pct  Yards    Att   Cmp  TD   TD%  Int  Int%  Sack  Loss  Rating
Gary Danielson       351  199   56.7  2,294   6.54  11.5  18   5.1   17   4.8    25   237    73.5
Greg Landry           77   48   62.3    452   5.87   9.4   1   1.3    1   1.3    21   205    77.4
Tom Skladany           1    0    0.0      0   0.00   0.0   0   0.0    0   0.0     0     0    39.6
Horace King            0    0    0.0      0   0.00   0.0   0   0.0    0   0.0     1     2     0.0
Receiving             Rec  Yards    Avg   TD
David Hill             53    633   11.9    4
Horace King            48    396    8.2    2
Freddie Scott          37    564   15.2    2
Luther Blue            31    350   11.3    2
Dexter Bussey          31    275    8.9    1
Jesse Thompson         18    175    9.7    4
Rick Kane              16    161   10.1    0
Leonard Thompson       10    167   16.7    4
Lawrence Gaines         2     16    8.0    0
Ray Jarvis              1      9    9.0    0
Rushing               Att  Yards    Avg   TD
Dexter Bussey         225    924    4.1    5
Horace King           155    660    4.3    4
Lawrence Gaines        54    178    3.3    1
Rick Kane              44    153    3.5    2
Gary Danielson         22     93    4.2    0
Freddie Scott           4     53   13.2    0
Greg Landry             5     29    5.8    0
Ed O'Neil               1     25   25.0    0
David Hill              3     12    4.0    0
Luther Blue             5      9    1.8    0
Tony Daykin             1      8    8.0    0
Leonard Thompson        1      7    7.0    0
Jesse Thompson          2      7    3.5    0
Andy Bolton             2      5    2.5    0
Joe Reed                1      0    0.0    0
Kickoff Returns       Att  Yards    Avg   TD
Jesse Thompson         14    346   24.7    0
Leonard Thompson        8    207   25.9    0
Rick Kane               8    156   19.5    0
Luther Blue             7    170   24.3    0
Nat Terry               7    145   20.7    0
Freddie Scott           3     72   24.0    0
Ken Callicutt           2     12    6.0    0
James Hunter            1     21   21.0    0
Willie McGee            1      0    0.0    0
Punt Returns          Att  Yards    Avg   FC   TD
Jesse Thompson         16    161   10.1    2    0
Anthony Leonard        10    114   11.4    0    0
Freddie Scott           8     55    6.9    1    0
Luther Blue             7     59    8.4    7    0
Leonard Thompson        3     19    6.3    1    0
James Hunter            2     21   10.5    0    0
Walt Williams           1      1    1.0    0    0
Punting Punts Yards Avg TB In20 Blk Ret Yards Net Tom Skladany 86 3,654 42.5 7 19 1 54 467 35.0 Kicking 0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Total PAT Pts Benny Ricardo 3/3 7/7 6/8 4/9 0/1 20/28 32/33 92 Defense Sacks Ints Yards TD Jimmy Allen 5 70 0 Al Baker 23.0 Luther Bradley 3 85 1 Mike Burns 1 0 0 Doug English 7.0 Dave Gallagher 1.0 James Hunter 2 -4 0 Paul Naumoff 1 12 0 Ed O'Neil 2.0 4 49 0 Reggie Pinkney 1 22 0 Dave Pureifory 3.5 Bruce Rhodes 1 24 0 Ken Sanders 2.0 Dave Washington 1.5 Charlie Weaver 3.5 3 32 0 Walt Williams 1 2 0 John Woodcock 10.5

1978 Draft:
NFL Rnd Ovr Pos Player Games College 1 11 DB Luther Bradley 56 Notre Dame 2 40 DE Al Baker 181 Colorado State 4 94 OT Bill Fifer 12 West Texas State 4 107 OG Homer Elias 96 Tennessee State [pick acquired from BAL] 4 109 C Larry Tearry 25 Wake Forest [pick acquired from DEN] 5 121 OG Amos Fowler 97 Southern Mississippi 5 123 DE Dan Gray 14 Rutgers [pick acquired from SD] 6 150 DB Dwight Hicks 105 Michigan 6 153 OG Tony Ardizzone 16 Northwestern [pick acquired from SD] 6 165 WR Jesse Thompson 22 California [pick acquired from DEN] 7 177 RB Bruce Gibson Pacific 8 206 K Jim Breech 197 California 10 262 LB Fred Arrington Purdue 11 289 DT Richard Murray Oklahoma 12 318 DB Mark Patterson Washington State

Traded draft picks: #3 to CLE (Larry Collins), #9 to SF (Dean Moore)


Transactions:

04-27-1978traded Detroit's #5 pick in the 1979 draft to 49ers for Dave Washington
04-27-1978traded Detroit's #3 pick in the 1978 draft and #7 pick in the 1979 draft to Browns for the rights to Tom Skladany
05-01-1978traded Herb Orvis to Colts for Freddie Scott and Baltimore's #4 pick in the 1978 draft
05-02-1978traded Jim Laslavic to Chargers for San Diego's #5 and #6 picks in the 1978 draft
05-10-1978traded Rockne Freitas to Buccaneers for Tampa's #4 pick in the 1979 draft
06-07-1978Eagles claimed Mitch Hoopes on waivers
07-20-1978traded Tampa's #4 pick in the 1979 draft to Steelers for Jimmy Allen
08-02-1978traded Detroit's #8 pick in the 1979 draft to Giants for Dave Gallagher
08-02-1978traded Detroit's #11 pick in the 1979 draft to Giants for Marsh White
08-14-1978traded Charlie West and Detroit's #6 pick in the 1979 draft to Broncos for William Gay and the rights to 2 of the first 5 players cut by Denver before 8/29/1978
08-14-1978traded Jim Mitchell to Patriots for Bob McKay
08-15-1978traded future considerations to Bills for Stan Winfrey
08-16-1978traded Eddie Payton to Chiefs for John Brockington
08-16-1978traded Skip Butler to Cowboys for Dallas' #11 pick in the 1979 draft
08-16-1978placed Dave Simonson on injured reserve
08-16-1978placed Howard Fest on injured reserve
08-16-1978placed Russ Bolinger on injured reserve
08-17-197849ers claimed Bruce Gibson on waivers
08-23-1978traded Detroit's #8 pick in the 1980 draft to Broncos for Mike Montler
08-25-1978claimed Mike Burns on waivers from 49ers
08-28-1978traded Garth Ten Napel to Falcons for $500 cash
08-28-1978traded Detroit's #10 pick in the 1979 draft to Dolphins for Karl Baldischwiler
08-29-1978claimed Brad Oates on waivers from Cardinals
08-29-1978claimed Gene Washington on waivers from 49ers
09-13-1978traded Bob McKay to Patriots for New England's #12 pick in the 1979 draft
09-27-1978traded Ernie Price to Seahawks for Bill Cooke and Seattle's #8 pick in the 1979 draft
10-11-1978placed Andy Bolton on injured reserve
10-13-1978claimed Nat Terry on waivers from Steelers
10-18-1978claimed Donnie Hickman on waivers from Redskins
10-23-1978placed Ken Sanders on injured reserve
10-26-1978Saints claimed Bill Fifer on waivers
11-27-1978claimed Tony Leonard on waivers from 49ers


1978 Regular Season Game Log:
Click on the date to view the game summary. Date Opponent Result Record
09/03/78 vs Green Bay Packers L 7-13 0-1-0 09/09/78 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 15-7 1-1-0 09/17/78 vs Chicago Bears L 0-19 1-2-0 09/24/78 at Seattle Seahawks L 16-28 1-3-0 10/01/78 at Green Bay Packers L 14-35 1-4-0 10/08/78 vs Washington Redskins L 19-21 1-5-0 10/15/78 at Atlanta Falcons L 0-14 1-6-0 10/22/78 vs San Diego Chargers W 31-14 2-6-0 10/29/78 at Chicago Bears W 21-17 3-6-0 11/05/78 at Minnesota Vikings L 7-17 3-7-0 11/12/78 vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34-23 4-7-0 11/19/78 at Oakland Raiders L 17-29 4-8-0 11/23/78 vs Denver Broncos W 17-14 5-8-0 12/03/78 at St. Louis Cardinals L 14-21 5-9-0 12/09/78 vs Minnesota Vikings W 45-14 6-9-0 12/17/78 vs San Francisco 49ers W 33-14 7-9-0

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