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1978 Chicago Bears

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Record: 7-9-0, Finished 3rd in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 253 points (15.8/g), 20th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 274 points (17.1/g), 9th.
 Differential of -21 points (-1.3/g), 19th.
 Expected W-L: 7.2-8.8.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -3 (-0.2/g), 17th.

Coached by Neill Armstrong (7-9-0)

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 St. Louis Cardinals 17 10 19 243 49 194 16 236 137 99 2
2 Sun September 10 box W 2-0 @ San Francisco 49ers 16 13 11 212 101 111 1 19 307 112 195 4
3 Sun September 17 box W 3-0 @ Detroit Lions 19 0 15 326 141 185 2 15 237 94 143 2
4 Mon September 25 box L 3-1 Minnesota Vikings 20 24 23 278 188 90 3 17 295 142 153 2
5 Sun October 1 box L 3-2 Oakland Raiders 19 25 17 278 122 156 2 26 411 255 156
6 Sun October 8 box L 3-3 @ Green Bay Packers 14 24 21 357 210 147 5 8 166 68 98 2
7 Mon October 16 box L 3-4 @ Denver Broncos 7 16 15 347 137 210 3 18 308 173 135 3
8 Sun October 22 box L 3-5 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19 33 15 323 203 120 3 21 319 173 146 1
9 Sun October 29 box L 3-6 Detroit Lions 17 21 21 358 191 167 2 23 315 181 134 1
10 Sun November 5 box L 3-7 Seattle Seahawks 29 31 26 401 227 174 3 23 389 165 224 1
11 Sun November 12 box L 3-8 @ Minnesota Vikings 14 17 15 233 47 186 4 18 313 223 90 3
12 Sun November 19 box W 4-8 Atlanta Falcons 13 7 13 183 72 111 21 344 195 149 2
13 Sun November 26 box W 5-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 3 17 301 50 251 1 6 92 -7 99 1
14 Mon December 4 box L 5-9 @ San Diego Chargers 7 40 7 112 32 80 3 24 481 331 150 3
15 Sun December 10 box W 6-9 Green Bay Packers 14 0 17 293 119 174 1 11 161 83 78 3
16 Sat December 16 box W 7-9 @ Washington Redskins 14 10 10 214 44 170 3 16 305 181 124 3

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 253 4459 1020 4.4 262 186 352 1933 7 28 5.0 99 634 2526 19 4.0 136 36 8 27
Team Defense 274 4680 1044 4.5 436 239 436 2506 16 17 5.3 134 568 2174 15 3.8 282 33 16 20
Lg Rank Offense 20 22 21 28 26 27 21 22 4 4 5 14 9 1
Lg Rank Defense 9 12 14 15 15 12 24 11 14 12 11 14 26 18

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS 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%
Bob Avellini 25 QB 13 12 141 264 53.4 1718 5 1.9 16 6.1 61 6.5 4.0 12.2 132.2 54.8 26 208 5.2 2.9 9.0
Mike Phipps 31 6 4 44 83 53.0 465 2 2.4 10 12.0 35 5.6 0.4 10.6 77.5 38.1 6 55 4.6 -0.2 6.7
Vince Evans 23 3 0 1 3 33.3 38 0 0.0 1 33.3 38 12.7 -2.3 38.0 12.7 42.4 2 25 2.6 -6.4 40.0
Roland Harper 25 FB 16 16 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
Bob Parsons 28 P 16 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Team Total 26.1 16 186 352 52.8 2221 7 2.0 28 8.0 61 6.3 2.9 11.9 138.8 45.9 34 288 5.0 1.9 8.8
Opp Total 16 239 436 54.8 2506 16 3.7 17 3.9 5.7 4.4 10.5 156.6 67.7 40 351 5.3 3.3

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
Walter Payton* 24 RB 16 16 333 1395 11 76 4.2 87.2 20.8 50 480 9.6 0 61 3.1 30.0 1875 11 5
Roland Harper 25 FB 16 16 240 992 6 31 4.1 62.0 15.0 43 340 7.9 2 33 2.7 21.3 1332 8 2
Bob Avellini 25 QB 13 12 34 54 2 10 1.6 4.2 2.6 54 2 5
Mike Phipps 31 6 4 13 34 0 10 2.6 5.7 2.2 34 0 0
Vince Evans 23 3 0 6 23 0 13 3.8 7.7 2.0 23 0 0
Robin Earl 23 16 0 3 17 0 9 5.7 1.1 0.2 1 1 1.0 0 1 0.1 0.1 18 0 0
Brian Baschnagel 24 RET 16 1 2 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 2 29 14.5 0 22 0.1 1.8 29 0 1
Art Best 25 16 0 2 11 0 6 5.5 0.7 0.1 11 0 0
Bob Parsons 28 P 16 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0 0 2
James Scott 26 WR 15 14 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 42 759 18.1 5 59 2.8 50.6 759 5 1
Golden Richards 28 WR 15 14 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 27 379 14.0 0 52 1.8 25.3 379 0 1
Greg Latta 26 TE 16 16 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 15 159 10.6 0 21 0.9 9.9 159 0 0
Steve Schubert 27 RET 13 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 4 51 12.8 0 19 0.3 3.9 51 0 0
Mike Cobb 23 13 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 7 7.0 0 7 0.1 0.5 7 0 0
Bo Rather 28 6 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 16 16.0 0 16 0.2 2.7 16 0 0
Team Total 26.1 16 634 2526 19 76 4.0 157.9 39.6 186 2221 11.9 7 61 11.6 138.8 4747 26 22
Opp Total 16 568 2174 15 3.8 135.9 35.5 239 2506 10.5 16 14.9 156.6 4680 31 32

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
Steve Schubert 27 RET 13 0 27 229 1 73 8.5 4 80 0 27 20.0 360
Brian Baschnagel 24 RET 16 1 1 2 0 2 2.0 20 455 0 6 22.8 486
Len Walterscheid 24 14 3 3 24 0 11 8.0 11 335 0 81 30.5 359
Wentford Gaines 25 11 0 10 240 0 37 24.0 240
Virgil Livers 26 RCB 13 13 10 31 0 13 3.1 31
Mike Morgan 22 5 0 5 110 0 24 22.0 110
Robin Earl 23 16 0 3 48 0 20 16.0 66
John Skibinski 23 16 0 3 36 0 20 12.0 36
Greg Latta 26 TE 16 16 2 14 0 8 7.0 173
Mike Spivey 24 16 3 2 34 0 23 17.0 34
Jerry Muckensturm 25 16 0 1 6 0 6 6.0 6
Team Total 26.1 16 41 286 1 73 7.0 61 1358 0 81 22.3 6391
Opp Total 16 45 0 52 1146 0 22.0

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
Bob Parsons 28 P 16 0 96 3549 54 0 37.0
Bob Thomas 26 K 16 0 7 7 11 9 4 1 22 17 77.3% 28 26 92.9%
Team Total 26.1 16 7 7 11 9 4 1 22 17 77.3% 28 26 92.9% 96 3549 54 0 37.0
Opp Total 16 19 16 84.2% 32 28 87.5% 96 3437 35.8

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
Ted Albrecht 24 LT 15 15 0 1 0 0
Bob Avellini 25 QB 13 12 5 0 -11 0
Brian Baschnagel 24 RET 16 1 1 2 0 0
Doug Buffone 34 LLB 15 15 3 22 0 16 1 0 0 0
Gary Campbell 26 RLB 16 16 0 2 0 0
Gary Fencik 24 SS 16 16 4 77 0 59 0 2 13 0
Wentford Gaines 25 11 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Roland Harper 25 FB 16 16 2 0 0 0
Mike Hartenstine 25 RDE 16 0 0 3 10 0
Tom Hicks 26 MLB 9 9 0 1 3 0
Noah Jackson 27 LG 16 16 0 1 0 0
Virgil Livers 26 RCB 13 13 3 86 1 60 0 1 0 0
Jerry Meyers 24 16 0 0 1 0 0
Jon Morris 36 10 0 2 0 -50 0
Bob Parsons 28 P 16 0 2 2 -17 0
Walter Payton* 24 RB 16 16 5 2 0 0
Doug Plank 25 FS 14 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Bo Rather 28 6 2 0 1 0 0
Golden Richards 28 WR 15 14 1 0 0 0
Don Rives 27 mlb 16 7 2 8 0 8 0 2 0 0
Terry Schmidt 26 LCB 16 16 2 23 0 23 0 1 0 0
James Scott 26 WR 15 14 1 0 0 0
John Skibinski 23 16 0 0 1 0 0
Revie Sorey 25 RG 16 16 0 1 0 0
Mike Spivey 24 16 3 0 1 0 0
Len Walterscheid 24 14 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Team Total 26.1 16 17 216 1 60 22 28 -52 0 1
Opp Total 16 34 32 16

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
Bob Thomas 26 K 16 0 26 17 77
Walter Payton* 24 RB 16 16 11 66
Roland Harper 25 FB 16 16 6 2 48
James Scott 26 WR 15 14 5 30
Bob Avellini 25 QB 13 12 2 12
Virgil Livers 26 RCB 13 13 1 6
Steve Schubert 27 RET 13 0 1 6
Mike Spivey 24 16 3 1 6
Tommy Hart 34 LDE 16 16 1 2
Team Total 26.1 16 19 7 1 1 1 26 17 1 253
Opp Total 16 15 16 28 16 274