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1978 Atlanta Falcons

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Record: 9-7-0, Finished 2nd in NFC West Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 240 points (15.0/g), 26th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 290 points (18.1/g), 14th.
 Differential of -50 points (-3.1/g), 24th.
 Expected W-L: 6.2-9.8.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -4 (-0.2/g), 19th.

Coached by Leeman Bennett (9-7-0)

1978 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 3 box W 1-0 Houston Oilers 20 14 11 171 71 100 1 13 261 105 156 4
2 Sun September 10 box L 1-1 @ Los Angeles Rams 0 10 7 73 3 70 3 23 358 216 142 4
3 Sun September 17 box L 1-2 Cleveland Browns 16 24 17 234 147 87 4 17 308 198 110 3
4 Sun September 24 box L 1-3 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 14 13 217 69 148 3 10 176 82 94 1
5 Sun October 1 box W 2-3 New York Giants 23 20 22 350 198 152 3 8 146 59 87 1
6 Sun October 8 box L 2-4 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 7 31 20 257 144 113 4 28 387 206 181 3
7 Sun October 15 box W 3-4 Detroit Lions 14 0 15 248 122 126 13 169 147 22 3
8 Sun October 22 box W 4-4 @ San Francisco 49ers 20 17 16 330 216 114 2 21 261 53 208 2
9 Mon October 30 box W 5-4 Los Angeles Rams 15 7 9 185 87 98 2 14 234 140 94 5
10 Sun November 5 box W 6-4 San Francisco 49ers 21 10 16 246 184 62 3 13 168 50 118 3
11 Sun November 12 box W 7-4 @ New Orleans Saints 20 17 16 284 210 74 1 22 347 181 166 2
12 Sun November 19 box L 7-5 @ Chicago Bears 7 13 21 344 195 149 2 13 183 72 111
13 Sun November 26 box W 8-5 New Orleans Saints 20 17 25 385 255 130 4 13 335 205 130 2
14 Sun December 3 box L 8-6 @ Cincinnati Bengals 7 37 10 174 91 83 3 20 360 137 223
15 Sun December 10 box W 9-6 Washington Redskins 20 17 17 253 140 113 15 311 165 146 2
16 Sun December 17 box L 9-7 @ St. Louis Cardinals 21 42 18 311 270 41 6 24 427 348 79 2
Playoffs
WildCard Sun December 24 box W 10-7 Philadelphia Eagles 14 13
Division Sat December 30 box L 10-8 @ Dallas Cowboys 20 27

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 240 4062 1038 3.9 253 221 449 2402 11 23 4.8 133 533 1660 13 3.1 90 41 18 30
Team Defense 290 4431 1069 4.1 417 215 444 2364 11 12 4.8 113 578 2067 21 3.6 267 37 25 37
Lg Rank Offense 26 26 24 8 16 24 18 25 23 27 21 27 17 15
Lg Rank Defense 14 5 7 23 9 4 28 4 16 8 24 3 20 2

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 8-5-0 187 369 50.7 2489 10 2.7 18 4.9 71 6.7 4.8 13.3 177.8 61.1 39 349 5.2 3.5 9.6
June Jones 25 7 3 1-2-0 34 79 43.0 394 1 1.3 4 5.1 38 5.0 2.8 11.6 56.3 41.9 17 132 2.7 1.0 17.7
Bubba Bean 24 FB 15 15 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 -45.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 -45.0 0.0
Team Total 25.5 16 9-7-0 221 449 49.2 2883 11 2.4 23 5.1 71 6.4 4.4 13.0 180.2 56.7 56 481 4.8 2.9 11.1
Opp Total 16 215 444 48.4 2364 11 2.5 12 2.7 5.3 4.4 11.0 147.8 61.6 47 425 4.8 3.1

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
Bubba Bean 24 FB 15 15 193 707 3 25 3.7 47.1 12.9 31 209 6.7 1 38 2.1 13.9 916 4 7
Haskel Stanback 26 RB 15 0 188 588 5 26 3.1 39.2 12.5 12 108 9.0 0 20 0.8 7.2 696 5 5
Ricky Patton 24 16 1 68 206 1 15 3.0 12.9 4.3 10 90 9.0 1 32 0.6 5.6 296 2 6
Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 33 60 2 8 1.8 4.3 2.4 60 2 7
Ray Strong 22 14 1 30 99 2 14 3.3 7.1 2.1 7 56 8.0 0 21 0.5 4.0 155 2 1
June Jones 25 7 3 10 -3 0 17 -0.3 -0.4 1.4 -3 0 4
Mike Esposito 25 16 0 7 21 0 7 3.0 1.3 0.4 3 10 3.3 0 4 0.2 0.6 31 0 0
Wallace Francis 27 WR 16 16 2 -11 0 -5 -5.5 -0.7 0.1 45 695 15.4 3 54 2.8 43.4 684 3 0
Dennis Pearson 23 RET 13 0 1 1 0 1 1.0 0.1 0.1 5 71 14.2 0 23 0.4 5.5 72 0 0
George Franklin 24 15 0 1 -8 0 -8 -8.0 -0.5 0.1 1 19 19.0 0 19 0.1 1.3 11 0 1
Billy Ryckman 23 WR 16 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 45 679 15.1 2 59 2.8 42.4 679 2 4
Jim R. Mitchell 31 TE 16 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 32 366 11.4 2 24 2.0 22.9 366 2 2
Alfred Jackson 23 15 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 26 526 20.2 2 71 1.7 35.1 526 2 3
Alfred Jenkins 26 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 28 14.0 0 22 2.0 28.0 28 0 0
James Wright 22 15 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 26 13.0 0 18 0.1 1.7 26 0 0
Team Total 25.5 16 533 1660 13 26 3.1 103.8 33.3 221 2883 13.0 11 71 13.8 180.2 4543 24 41
Opp Total 16 578 2067 21 3.6 129.2 36.1 215 2364 11.0 11 13.4 147.8 4431 32 46

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Billy Ryckman 23 WR 16 15 28 227 0 38 8.1 906
Dennis Pearson 23 RET 13 0 25 662 1 100 26.5 734
Alfred Jackson 23 15 0 11 89 0 32 8.1 11 225 0 30 20.5 840
George Franklin 24 15 0 11 258 0 33 23.5 269
Tom Pridemore 22 FS 16 14 4 71 0 20 17.8 71
Ray Strong 22 14 1 3 50 0 23 16.7 205
Rick Byas 28 RCB 16 0 2 12 0 12 6.0 12
Edgar Fields 24 16 2 2 21 0 20 10.5 21
James Wright 22 15 0 2 31 0 16 15.5 57
Rolland Lawrence 27 LCB 16 16 1 17 0 17 17.0 17
Jim R. Mitchell 31 TE 16 0 1 14 0 14 14.0 380
Team Total 25.5 16 42 345 0 38 8.2 59 1332 1 100 22.6 6220
Opp Total 16 54 0 49 1141 0 23.3

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0--19 20--29 30--39 40--49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
John James 29 P 16 0 109 4227 57 1 38.8
Tim Mazzetti 22 K 10 0 7 7 9 6 16 13 81.3% 18 18 100.0%
Fred Steinfort 26 6 0 1 1 5 1 4 1 10 3 30.0% 9 8 88.9%
Team Total 25.5 16 8 8 14 7 4 1 26 16 61.5% 27 26 96.3% 109 4227 57 1 38.8
Opp Total 16 23 13 56.5% 36 35 97.2% 108 3953 36.6

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Jim Bailey 30 LDT 16 0 0 1 0 0
Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 7 3 -9 0
Bubba Bean 24 FB 15 15 7 4 0 0
Greg Brezina 32 RLB 16 0 0 1 0 0
Warren Bryant 23 RT 13 11 0 1 0 0
Rick Byas 28 RCB 16 0 2 37 0 32 0 2 0 0
Ray Easterling 29 2 0 1 1 0 1
Mike Esposito 25 16 0 0 1 0 0
Wilson Faumuina 24 16 0 1 7 0 7
Wallace Francis 27 WR 16 16 0 1 0 0
George Franklin 24 15 0 1 1 0 0
Bob Glazebrook 22 8 0 0 1 0 0
Claude Humphrey 34 4 0 0 1 0 0
Alfred Jackson 23 15 0 3 0 0 0
June Jones 25 7 3 4 0 -12 0
Mike Kenn 22 LT 16 16 0 2 0 0
Fulton Kuykendall 25 LLB 16 16 0 1 0 0
Rolland Lawrence 27 LCB 16 16 6 76 0 44 1 2 16 0
Mike Lewis 29 RDT 16 0 0 1 0 0
Ron McCartney 24 15 0 0 1 0 0
Dewey McClain 24 16 0 0 4 0 0 1
Phil McKinnely 24 14 4 0 1 0 0
Jim R. Mitchell 31 TE 16 0 2 1 10 0
Ralph Ortega 25 15 0 0 1 0 0
Ricky Patton 24 16 1 6 0 0 0
Robert Pennywell 24 MLB 15 15 0 2 0 0
Tom Pridemore 22 FS 16 14 1 0 0 0 0 3 -7 0
Frank Reed 24 SS 16 16 1 38 0 38 0 5 13 0 1
Billy Ryckman 23 WR 16 15 4 2 0 0
Dave Scott 25 LG 16 16 0 2 0 0
Haskel Stanback 26 RB 15 0 5 0 0 0
Ray Strong 22 14 1 1 0 0 0
R.C. Thielemann 23 RG 16 16 0 2 0 0
Team Total 25.5 16 12 159 0 44 41 47 11 0 2
Opp Total 16 56 46 21

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
Tim Mazzetti 22 K 10 0 18 13 57
Haskel Stanback 26 RB 15 0 5 30
Bubba Bean 24 FB 15 15 3 1 24
Wallace Francis 27 WR 16 16 3 18
Fred Steinfort 26 6 0 8 3 17
Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 2 12
Alfred Jackson 23 15 0 2 12
Jim R. Mitchell 31 TE 16 0 2 12
Ricky Patton 24 16 1 1 1 12
Billy Ryckman 23 WR 16 15 2 12
Ray Strong 22 14 1 2 12
Rick Byas 28 RCB 16 0 1 6
Tom Moriarty 25 14 0 1 6
Dennis Pearson 23 RET 13 0 1 6
Dewey McClain 24 16 0 1 2
Frank Reed 24 SS 16 16 1 2
Team Total 25.5 16 13 11 1 2 26 16 2 240
Opp Total 16 21 11 35 13 290