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1978 Buffalo Bills

Franchise Index: Previous Season / Next Season

Record: 5-11-0, Finished 4th in AFC East Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 302 points (18.9/g), 11th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 354 points (22.1/g), 24th.
 Differential of -52 points (-3.2/g), 25th.
 Expected W-L: 6.5-9.5.

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

Simple Rating System: Total -3.3, Offense: -0.1, Defense: -3.2, SoS: -0.0, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Chuck Knox

 Offensive Coordinator: Ray Prochaska

Training Camp: Niagara University (Niagara Falls, New York)

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 302 4630 974 4.8 274 203 388 2249 21 17 5.4 113 556 2381 15 4.3 132 34 17 29
Team Defense 354 5188 1016 5.1 305 167 317 1960 20 14 5.8 104 677 3228 23 4.8 171 30 16 30
Lg Rank Offense 11 20 16 18 20 7 4 16 17 10 17 6 4 10
Lg Rank Defense 24 24 24 1 1 20 27 18 28 28 27 28 28 18

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 L 0-1 Pittsburgh Steelers 17 28 16 264 164 100 1 21 359 217 142 1
2 Sun September 10 boxscore L 0-2 New York Jets 20 21 17 314 213 101 1 18 288 171 117 2
3 Sun September 17 boxscore L 0-3 @ Miami Dolphins 24 31 17 349 221 128 1 18 373 88 285 1
4 Sun September 24 boxscore W 1-3 Baltimore Colts 24 17 12 247 118 129 1 16 307 125 182 3
5 Sun October 1 boxscore W 2-3 Kansas City Chiefs 28 13 17 293 176 117 3 15 308 70 238 2
6 Sun October 8 boxscore L 2-4 @ New York Jets 14 45 16 322 185 137 4 18 278 47 231 1
7 Sun October 15 boxscore L 2-5 @ Houston Oilers 10 17 15 229 80 149 1 17 330 152 178
8 Sun October 22 boxscore W 3-5 Cincinnati Bengals 5 0 12 226 56 170 16 244 103 141 5
9 Sun October 29 boxscore L 3-6 @ Cleveland Browns 20 41 28 283 201 82 3 28 532 223 309 1
10 Sun November 5 boxscore L 3-7 New England Patriots 10 14 15 247 107 140 3 20 332 53 279 3
11 Sun November 12 boxscore L 3-8 Miami Dolphins 24 25 16 284 114 170 2 20 289 96 193 2
12 Sun November 19 boxscore L 3-9 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 31 18 211 132 79 5 20 312 107 205 2
13 Sun November 26 boxscore W 4-9 New York Giants 41 17 27 465 99 366 1 15 321 222 99 1
14 Sun December 3 boxscore L 4-10 @ Kansas City Chiefs 10 14 16 343 207 136 5 21 340 99 241 1
15 Sun December 10 boxscore L 4-11 @ New England Patriots 24 26 16 307 123 184 2 24 403 154 249 3
16 Sun December 17 boxscore W 5-11 @ Baltimore Colts 21 14 16 246 53 193 1 18 172 33 139 2

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
12 Joe Ferguson 28 QB 16 16 5-11-0 175 330 53.0 2136 16 4.8 15 4.5 92 6.5 5.4 12.2 133.5 70.5 29 243 5.27 4.28 8.1 1 1
9 Bill Munson 37 4 0 24 43 55.8 328 4 9.3 2 4.7 43 7.6 7.4 13.7 82.0 92.0 0 0 7.63 7.40 0.0
10 Dave Mays 29 1 0 4 15 26.7 39 1 6.7 0 0.0 19 2.6 3.9 9.8 39.0 61.8 1 11 1.75 3.00 6.3
Team Total 26.2 16 5-11-0 203 388 52.3 2503 21 5.4 17 4.4 92 6.5 5.6 12.3 156.4 72.3 30 254 5.38 4.56 7.2 1 1
Opp Total 16 167 317 52.7 2156 20 6.3 14 4.4 6.8 6.08 12.9 134.8 77.0 22 196 5.8 5.1 6.5

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
40 Terry Miller 22 RB 16 0 238 1060 7 60 4.5 66.3 14.9 22 246 11.2 0 52 1.4 15.4 1306 7 8
47 Curtis Brown 24 FB 15 10 128 591 4 58 4.6 39.4 8.5 18 130 7.2 0 31 1.2 8.7 721 4 7
25 Roland Hooks 25 16 0 76 358 2 66 4.7 22.4 4.8 15 110 7.3 1 21 0.9 6.9 468 3 2
39 Dennis D. Johnson 22 16 0 55 222 2 30 4.0 13.9 3.4 10 83 8.3 0 28 0.6 5.2 305 2 2
34 Jim Braxton 29 6 0 30 73 0 5 2.4 12.2 5.0 5 38 7.6 0 12 0.8 6.3 111 0 1
12 Joe Ferguson 28 QB 16 16 27 76 0 12 2.8 4.8 1.7 1 -6 -6.0 0 -6 0.1 -0.4 70 0 5
88 Reuben Gant 26 TE 16 16 1 14 0 14 14.0 0.9 0.1 34 408 12.0 5 25 2.1 25.5 422 5 1
4 Rusty Jackson 28 P 16 0 1 -13 0 -13 -13.0 -0.8 0.1 -13 0 0
81 Bob Chandler 29 WR 16 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 44 581 13.2 5 44 2.8 36.3 581 5 1
82 Frank Lewis 31 WR 15 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 41 735 17.9 7 92 2.7 49.0 735 7 0
89 Lou Piccone 29 wr 16 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 7 71 10.1 2 15 0.4 4.4 71 2 1
49 Larry Walton 31 wr 12 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 4 66 16.5 1 32 0.3 5.5 66 1 0
86 Leonard Willis 25 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 41 20.5 0 23 0.5 10.3 41 0 0
Team Total 26.2 16 556 2381 15 66 4.3 148.8 34.8 203 2503 12.3 21 92 12.7 156.4 4884 36 34
Opp Total 16 677 3228 23 4.8 201.8 42.3 167 1960 11.7 20 10.4 122.5 5188 43 27

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
46 Keith Moody 25 KR/PR 14 0 19 240 1 82 12.6 18 371 0 35 20.6 611
47 Curtis Brown 24 FB 15 10 1 0 0 0 0.0 17 428 1 102 25.2 1149
89 Lou Piccone 29 wr 16 1 14 88 0 13 6.3 3 51 0 26 17.0 210
25 Roland Hooks 25 16 0 3 12 0 11 4.0 7 124 0 25 17.7 604
39 Dennis D. Johnson 22 16 0 10 204 0 41 20.4 509
84 Mike Franckowiak 25 16 0 5 60 0 19 12.0 60
87 Mike Levenseller 22 2 0 3 35 0 15 11.7 35
23 Steve Powell 22 10 0 3 53 0 25 17.7 53
78 Scott Hutchinson 22 16 0 1 8 0 8 8.0 8
40 Terry Miller 22 RB 16 0 1 17 0 17 17.0 1323
86 Leonard Willis 25 4 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 41
Team Total 26.2 16 40 375 1 82 9.4 66 1316 1 102 19.9 6575
Opp Total 16 48 1 58 1191 0 20.5

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
4 Rusty Jackson 28 P 16 0 87 3373 70 2 38.8
6 Tom Dempsey 31 K 16 0 5 5 5 4 3 1 13 10 76.9% 38 36 94.7%
Team Total 26.2 16 5 5 5 4 3 1 13 10 76.9% 38 36 94.7% 87 3373 70 2 38.8
Opp Total 16 21 11 52.4% 46 43 93.5% 71 2592 36.5

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
40 Terry Miller 22 RB 16 0 0 8 1 0 0
47 Curtis Brown 24 FB 15 10 0 7 1 0 0
12 Joe Ferguson 28 QB 16 16 0 5 3 -3 0
29 Mario Clark 24 LCB 16 16 5 29 0 29 0
54 Randy McClanahan 24 MLB 16 10 0 0 5 58 0
26 Charles Romes 24 RCB 16 16 2 95 1 85 0 0 1 2 0 0
43 Tony Greene 29 FS 16 0 3 56 0 29 0 0 0 1 0 0
59 Shane Nelson 23 LLB 16 16 3 69 0 40 0 0 0 1 0 0
25 Roland Hooks 25 16 0 0 2 1 0 0
10 Dave Mays 29 1 0 0 2 1 0 0
81 Bob Chandler 29 WR 16 0 0 1 1 0 0
39 Dennis D. Johnson 22 16 0 0 2 0 0 0
61 Willie Parker 30 C 16 16 0 1 1 -26 0
23 Steve Powell 22 10 0 0 1 1 0 0
57 Lucius Sanford 22 RLB 16 15 1 41 0 41 0 0 0 1 0 0
34 Jim Braxton 29 6 0 0 1 0 0 0
68 Joe DeLamielleure* 27 RG 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
6 Tom Dempsey 31 K 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
70 Joe Devlin 24 RT 14 14 0 0 1 0 0
88 Reuben Gant 26 TE 16 16 0 1 0 0 0
55 Tom Graham 28 11 0 0 0 1 0 0
78 Scott Hutchinson 22 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
4 Rusty Jackson 28 P 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
51 Dan Jilek 25 lb 15 1 0 0 1 0 0
75 Dennis L. Johnson 27 14 0 0 0 1 0 0
72 Ken Jones 26 LT 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
82 Frank Lewis 31 WR 15 15 0 0 1 0 0
67 Reggie McKenzie 28 LG 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
46 Keith Moody 25 KR/PR 14 0 0 1 0 0 0
89 Lou Piccone 29 wr 16 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
21 Marvin Switzer 24 db 10 1 0 0 1 4 0
Team Total 26.2 16 14 290 1 85 0 0 34 32 33 0 1
Opp Total 16 30 27 11 1

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
6 Tom Dempsey 31 K 16 0 36 10 66
82 Frank Lewis 31 WR 15 15 7 7 42
40 Terry Miller 22 RB 16 0 7 7 42
47 Curtis Brown 24 FB 15 10 4 1 5 30
81 Bob Chandler 29 WR 16 0 5 5 30
88 Reuben Gant 26 TE 16 16 5 5 30
25 Roland Hooks 25 16 0 2 1 3 18
89 Lou Piccone 29 wr 16 1 2 2 1 14
39 Dennis D. Johnson 22 16 0 2 2 12
46 Keith Moody 25 KR/PR 14 0 1 1 6
26 Charles Romes 24 RCB 16 16 1 1 6
49 Larry Walton 31 wr 12 2 1 1 6
Team Total 26.2 16 15 21 1 1 1 39 36 10 1 302
Opp Total 16 23 20 1 43 11 1 354