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You Are Here > Pro-Football-Reference.com > Boxscores > Houston Oilers at New England Patriots - December 31st, 1978
Houston Oilers 31 at New England Patriots 14
Sunday, December 31, 1978
Houston Oilers 31, New England Patriots 14| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Oilers (12-6-0) | 0 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 31 |
| New England Patriots (11-6-0) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
Scoring
| HOU | NWE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | HOU | Ken Burrough 71 yard pass from Dan Pastorini (Toni Fritsch kick) | 7 | 0 |
| HOU | Mike Barber 19 yard pass from Dan Pastorini (Toni Fritsch kick) | 14 | 0 | |
| HOU | Mike Barber 13 yard pass from Dan Pastorini (Toni Fritsch kick) | 21 | 0 | |
| 3rd | HOU | Toni Fritsch 30 yard field goal | 24 | 0 |
| NWE | Harold Jackson 24 yard pass from Andy Johnson (David Posey kick) | 24 | 7 | |
| 4th | NWE | Russ Francis 24 yard pass from Tom Owen (David Posey kick) | 24 | 14 |
| HOU | Earl Campbell 2 yard rush (Toni Fritsch kick) | 31 | 14 |
Team Stats
| HOU | NWE | |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 21 | 15 |
| Rush-yards-TDs | 54-174-1 | 20-83-0 |
| Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INT | 12-15-200-3-1 | 16-35-206-2-3 |
| Sacked-yards | 3-30 | 4-26 |
| Net pass yards | 170 | 180 |
| Total yards | 344 | 263 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 3 |
| Penalties-yards | 2-25 | 8-92 |
Rushing & Receiving
| Passing | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tm | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Lng | Att | Yds | TD | Lng | Rec | Yds | TD | Lng | |
| Earl Campbell | HOU | 27 | 118 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| Dan Pastorini | HOU | 12 | 15 | 200 | 3 | 1 | 71 | ||||||||
| Ken Burrough | HOU | 3 | 91 | 1 | 71 | ||||||||||
| Mike Barber | HOU | 5 | 83 | 2 | 22 | ||||||||||
| Tim Wilson | HOU | 14 | 26 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Ronnie Coleman | HOU | 7 | 19 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Rich Caster | HOU | 2 | 12 | 0 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Brian Duncan | HOU | 2 | 7 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Larry Poole | HOU | 3 | 7 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Robert Woods | HOU | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Gifford Nielsen | HOU | 1 | -3 | 0 | -3 | ||||||||||
| Passing | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||
| Tm | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Lng | Att | Yds | TD | Lng | Rec | Yds | TD | Lng | |
| Russ Francis | NWE | 8 | 101 | 1 | 24 | ||||||||||
| Tom Owen | NWE | 12 | 22 | 144 | 1 | 1 | 18 | ||||||||
| Sam Cunningham | NWE | 10 | 42 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 28 | 0 | 15 | ||||||
| Andy Johnson | NWE | 1 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 11 |
| Stanley Morgan | NWE | 2 | 37 | 0 | 19 | ||||||||||
| Steve Grogan | NWE | 3 | 12 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 | ||||
| Harold Jackson | NWE | 1 | 24 | 1 | 24 | ||||||||||
| Horace Ivory | NWE | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||
Defense & Returns
| Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Kick Returns | Punt Returns | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tm | Sk | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FR | Yds | TD | Rt | Yds | TD | Lng | Ret | Yds | TD | Lng | |||
| Gregg Bingham | HOU | 1 | 19 | 0 | 19 | ||||||||||||||
| Johnnie Dirden | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 22 | |||||||||
| Kurt Knoff | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | -1 | |||||||||
| Dan Pastorini | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Reinfeldt | HOU | 2 | 27 | 0 | 27 | ||||||||||||||
| Robert Woods | HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 7 | ||||
| Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Kick Returns | Punt Returns | ||||||||||||||||
| Tm | Sk | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FR | Yds | TD | Rt | Yds | TD | Lng | Ret | Yds | TD | Lng | |||
| Raymond Clayborn | NWE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 68 | 34.0 | 0 | 47 | |||||||||
| Tim Fox | NWE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Leon Gray | NWE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Mike Haynes | NWE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| James McAlister | NWE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 68 | 22.7 | 0 | 28 | |||||||||
| Stanley Morgan | NWE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 6 | |||||||||
| Don Westbrook | NWE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Houston Oilers Starting Lineup
| Dan Pastorini | QB |
| Earl Campbell | RB |
| Tim Wilson | FB |
| Ken Burrough | WR |
| Rich Caster | WR |
| Mike Barber | TE |
| Greg Sampson | LT |
| George Reihner | LG |
| Carl Mauck | C |
| Ed Fisher | RG |
| Conway Hayman | RT |
| Jim Young | LDE |
| Curley Culp | NT |
| Elvin Bethea | RDE |
| Robert Brazile | LOLB |
| Ted Washington | LOLB |
| Steve Kiner | LILB |
| Gregg Bingham | RILB |
| Willie Alexander | LCB |
| Greg Stemrick | RCB |
| Bill Currier | SS |
| Mike Reinfeldt | FS |
New England Patriots Starting Lineup
| Steve Grogan | QB |
| Andy Johnson | RB |
| Sam Cunningham | FB |
| Stanley Morgan | WR |
| Harold Jackson | WR |
| Russ Francis | TE |
| Leon Gray | LT |
| John Hannah | LG |
| Bill Lenkaitis | C |
| Sam Adams | RG |
| Shelby Jordan | RT |
| Mel Lunsford | LDE |
| Ray Hamilton | NT |
| Richard Bishop | RDE |
| Steve Zabel | LOLB |
| Steve Nelson | LILB |
| Sam Hunt | RILB |
| Rod Shoate | ROLB |
| Raymond Clayborn | LCB |
| Mike Haynes | RCB |
| Doug Beaudoin | SS |
| Tim Fox | FS |