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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.

Simple Rating System: Total -4.6, Offense: -3.7, Defense: -0.9, SoS: -1.5, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Leeman Bennett

Training Camp: Furman University (Greenville, South Carolina)

Team Stats and Rankings

Tot Yds & TO 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 4.1 267 215 444 2364 11 12 4.8 113 578 2067 21 3.6 117 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 8 23 9 4 28 4 16 8 24 3 20 2

Team Games & Schedule

Score Offense Defense
Week Day Date OT Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 3 boxscore W 1-0 Houston Oilers 20 14 11 171 71 100 1 13 261 105 156 4
2 Sun September 10 boxscore L 1-1 @ Los Angeles Rams 0 10 7 73 3 70 3 23 358 216 142 4
3 Sun September 17 boxscore L 1-2 Cleveland Browns 16 24 17 234 147 87 4 17 308 198 110 3
4 Sun September 24 boxscore L 1-3 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 14 13 217 69 148 3 10 176 82 94 1
5 Sun October 1 boxscore W 2-3 New York Giants 23 20 22 350 198 152 3 8 146 59 87 1
6 Sun October 8 boxscore L 2-4 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 7 31 20 257 144 113 4 28 387 206 181 3
7 Sun October 15 boxscore W 3-4 Detroit Lions 14 0 15 248 122 126 13 169 147 22 3
8 Sun October 22 boxscore W 4-4 @ San Francisco 49ers 20 17 16 330 216 114 2 21 261 53 208 2
9 Mon October 30 boxscore W 5-4 Los Angeles Rams 15 7 9 185 87 98 2 14 234 140 94 5
10 Sun November 5 boxscore W 6-4 San Francisco 49ers 21 10 16 246 184 62 3 13 168 50 118 3
11 Sun November 12 boxscore W 7-4 @ New Orleans Saints 20 17 16 284 210 74 1 22 347 181 166 2
12 Sun November 19 boxscore L 7-5 @ Chicago Bears 7 13 21 344 195 149 2 13 183 72 111
13 Sun November 26 boxscore W 8-5 New Orleans Saints 20 17 25 385 255 130 4 13 335 205 130 2
14 Sun December 3 boxscore L 8-6 @ Cincinnati Bengals 7 37 10 174 91 83 3 20 360 137 223
15 Sun December 10 boxscore W 9-6 Washington Redskins 20 17 17 253 140 113 15 311 165 146 2
16 Sun December 17 boxscore L 9-7 @ St. Louis Cardinals 21 42 18 311 270 41 6 24 427 348 79 2
Playoffs
WildCard Sun December 24 boxscore W 10-7 Philadelphia Eagles 14 13 14 298 223 75 5 15 217 164 53 2
Division Sat December 30 boxscore L 10-8 @ Dallas Cowboys 20 27 16 216 52 164 3 26 369 221 148 4

Passing

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate QBR Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD
10 Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 8-5-0 187 369 50.7 2489 10 2.7 18 4.9 71 6.7 5.1 13.3 177.8 61.1 39 349 5.25 3.75 9.6 5 6
14 June Jones 25 qb 7 3 1-2-0 34 79 43.0 394 1 1.3 4 5.1 38 5.0 3.0 11.6 56.3 41.9 17 132 2.73 1.06 17.7 1 1
44 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 0.00 -45.00 0.0
Team Total 25.5 16 9-7-0 221 449 49.2 2883 11 2.4 23 5.1 71 6.4 4.6 13.0 180.2 56.7 56 481 4.76 3.14 11.1 6 7
Opp Total 16 215 444 48.4 2789 11 2.5 12 2.7 6.3 5.56 13.0 174.3 65.6 47 425 4.8 4.2 9.6

Rushing & Receiving

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Rushing Receiving
No. 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
44 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
24 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
33 Ricky Patton 24 rb 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
10 Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 33 60 2 8 1.8 4.3 2.4 60 2 7
25 Ray Strong 22 rb 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
14 June Jones 25 qb 7 3 10 -3 0 17 -0.3 -0.4 1.4 -3 0 4
26 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
89 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
81 Dennis Pearson 23 KR 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
40 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
82 Billy Ryckman 23 PR/WR 16 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 45 679 15.1 2 59 2.8 42.4 679 2 4
86 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
85 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
84 Alfred Jenkins 26 wr 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 28 14.0 0 22 2.0 28.0 28 0 0
83 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

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
82 Billy Ryckman 23 PR/WR 16 15 28 227 0 38 8.1 906
81 Dennis Pearson 23 KR 13 0 25 662 1 100 26.5 734
85 Alfred Jackson 23 15 0 11 89 0 32 8.1 11 225 0 30 20.5 840
40 George Franklin 24 15 0 11 258 0 33 23.5 269
27 Tom Pridemore 22 FS 16 14 4 71 0 20 17.8 71
25 Ray Strong 22 rb 14 1 3 50 0 23 16.7 205
38 Rick Byas 28 RCB 16 0 2 12 0 12 6.0 12
77 Edgar Fields 24 dt 16 2 2 21 0 20 10.5 21
83 James Wright 22 15 0 2 31 0 16 15.5 57
22 Rolland Lawrence 27 LCB 16 16 1 17 0 17 17.0 17
86 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

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
No. 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
6 John James 29 P 16 0 109 4227 57 1 38.8
4 Tim Mazzetti 22 K 10 0 7 7 9 6 16 13 81.3% 18 18 100.0%
1 Fred Steinfort 26 k 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

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
44 Bubba Bean 24 FB 15 15 0 7 4 0 0
10 Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 0 7 3 -9 0
22 Rolland Lawrence 27 LCB 16 16 6 76 0 44 0 0 1 2 16 0
33 Ricky Patton 24 rb 16 1 0 6 0 0 0
28 Frank Reed 24 SS 16 16 1 38 0 38 0 0 0 5 13 0 1
82 Billy Ryckman 23 PR/WR 16 15 0 4 2 0 0
24 Haskel Stanback 26 RB 15 0 0 5 0 0 0
38 Rick Byas 28 RCB 16 0 2 37 0 32 0 0 0 2 0 0
14 June Jones 25 qb 7 3 0 4 0 -12 0
52 Dewey McClain 24 16 0 0 0 4 0 0 1
27 Tom Pridemore 22 FS 16 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 -7 0
85 Alfred Jackson 23 15 0 0 3 0 0 0
86 Jim R. Mitchell 31 TE 16 0 0 2 1 10 0
40 George Franklin 24 15 0 0 1 1 0 0
78 Mike Kenn 22 LT 16 16 0 0 2 0 0
59 Robert Pennywell 24 MLB 15 15 0 0 2 0 0
70 Dave Scott 25 LG 16 16 0 0 2 0 0
68 R.C. Thielemann 23 RG 16 16 0 0 2 0 0
72 Jim Bailey 30 LDT 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
50 Greg Brezina 32 RLB 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
66 Warren Bryant 23 RT 13 11 0 0 1 0 0
32 Ray Easterling 29 2 0 1 1 0 1 0
26 Mike Esposito 25 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
74 Wilson Faumuina 24 16 0 1 7 0 7 0
89 Wallace Francis 27 WR 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
36 Bob Glazebrook 22 8 0 0 0 1 0 0
87 Claude Humphrey 34 4 0 0 0 1 0 0
54 Fulton Kuykendall 25 LLB 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
69 Mike Lewis 29 RDT 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
56 Ron McCartney 24 15 0 0 0 1 0 0
73 Phil McKinnely 24 t 14 4 0 0 1 0 0
55 Ralph Ortega 25 15 0 0 0 1 0 0
25 Ray Strong 22 rb 14 1 0 1 0 0 0
Team Total 25.5 16 12 159 0 44 0 0 41 47 11 0 2
Opp Total 16 56 46 21

Scoring Summary

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
4 Tim Mazzetti 22 K 10 0 18 13 57
24 Haskel Stanback 26 RB 15 0 5 5 30
44 Bubba Bean 24 FB 15 15 3 1 4 24
89 Wallace Francis 27 WR 16 16 3 3 18
1 Fred Steinfort 26 k 6 0 8 3 17
10 Steve Bartkowski 26 QB 14 13 2 2 12
85 Alfred Jackson 23 15 0 2 2 12
86 Jim R. Mitchell 31 TE 16 0 2 2 12
33 Ricky Patton 24 rb 16 1 1 1 2 12
82 Billy Ryckman 23 PR/WR 16 15 2 2 12
25 Ray Strong 22 rb 14 1 2 2 12
38 Rick Byas 28 RCB 16 0 1 1 6
45 Tom Moriarty 25 14 0 1 1 6
81 Dennis Pearson 23 KR 13 0 1 1 6
52 Dewey McClain 24 16 0 1 2
28 Frank Reed 24 SS 16 16 1 2
Team Total 25.5 16 13 11 1 2 27 26 16 2 240
Opp Total 16 21 11 35 13 290