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1978 Dallas Cowboys

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Record: 12-4-0, Finished 1st in NFC East Division
NFL Season Summary

1978 NFC Champions

Scored 384 points (24.0/g), 1st of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 208 points (13.0/g), 3rd.
 Differential of 176 points (11.0/g), 1st.
 Expected W-L: 13.0-3.0.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +1 (0.1/g), 11th.

Simple Rating System: Total 11.0, Offense: 5.8, Defense: 5.2, SoS: -0.0, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Tom Landry

 Offensive Coordinator: Dan Reeves

Training Camp: California Lutheran College (Thousand Oaks, California)

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 384 5959 1107 5.4 342 251 449 3176 25 17 6.6 167 625 2783 22 4.5 146 35 18 29
Team Defense 208 4009 967 4.1 232 202 432 2288 11 23 4.7 128 477 1721 13 3.6 83 36 13 21
Lg Rank Offense 1 2 2 8 3 3 4 4 5 3 3 3 7 15
Lg Rank Defense 3 2 2 14 5 4 11 2 1 1 8 5 23 26

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 Mon September 4 boxscore W 1-0 Baltimore Colts 38 0 25 583 305 278 3 9 181 82 99 3
2 Sun September 10 boxscore W 2-0 @ New York Giants 34 24 32 401 212 189 2 22 343 243 100 4
3 Sun September 17 boxscore L 2-1 @ Los Angeles Rams 14 27 21 319 223 96 5 16 317 219 98 2
4 Sun September 24 boxscore W 3-1 St. Louis Cardinals 21 12 21 389 173 216 2 16 310 195 115
5 Mon October 2 boxscore L 3-2 @ Washington Redskins 5 9 19 309 200 109 2 16 251 124 127 1
6 Sun October 8 boxscore W 4-2 New York Giants 24 3 21 357 200 157 2 10 142 40 102 2
7 Sun October 15 boxscore W OT 5-2 @ St. Louis Cardinals 24 21 24 418 287 131 4 21 372 236 136 3
8 Sun October 22 boxscore W 6-2 Philadelphia Eagles 14 7 15 278 87 191 15 262 145 117 1
9 Thu October 26 boxscore L 6-3 Minnesota Vikings 10 21 13 239 147 92 4 21 281 137 144
10 Sun November 5 boxscore L 6-4 @ Miami Dolphins 16 23 19 328 239 89 5 13 206 152 54
11 Sun November 12 boxscore W 7-4 @ Green Bay Packers 42 14 32 537 224 313 2 9 142 76 66 3
12 Sun November 19 boxscore W 8-4 New Orleans Saints 27 7 17 304 106 198 15 277 215 62 4
13 Thu November 23 boxscore W 9-4 Washington Redskins 37 10 26 507 218 289 2 11 201 120 81 1
14 Sun December 3 boxscore W 10-4 New England Patriots 17 10 17 329 230 99 1 16 363 150 213 3
15 Sun December 10 boxscore W 11-4 @ Philadelphia Eagles 31 13 17 315 169 146 11 224 85 139 5
16 Sun December 17 boxscore W 12-4 @ New York Jets 30 7 23 346 156 190 1 11 137 69 68 4
Playoffs
Division Sat December 30 boxscore W 13-4 Atlanta Falcons 27 20 26 369 221 148 4 16 216 52 164 3
ConfChamp Sun January 7 boxscore W 14-4 @ Los Angeles Rams 28 0 16 235 109 126 3 15 277 196 81 7
SuperBowl Sun January 21 boxscore L 14-5 N Pittsburgh Steelers 31 35 20 330 176 154 3 19 357 291 66 3

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 Roger Staubach* 36 QB 15 15 11-4-0 231 413 55.9 3190 25 6.1 16 3.9 91 7.7 7.2 13.8 212.7 84.9 32 219 6.68 6.18 7.2 1 3
11 Danny White 26 P 16 1 1-0-0 20 34 58.8 215 0 0.0 1 2.9 35 6.3 5.0 10.8 13.4 65.2 1 10 5.86 4.57 2.9 0 1
33 Tony Dorsett* 24 RB 16 15 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.0
80 Tony Hill* 22 WR 16 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.0
Team Total 26.5 16 12-4-0 251 449 55.9 3405 25 5.6 17 3.8 91 7.6 7.0 13.6 212.8 83.1 33 229 6.59 6.04 6.8 1 4
Opp Total 16 202 432 46.8 2730 11 2.5 23 5.3 6.3 4.43 13.5 170.6 53.7 58 442 4.7 3.0 11.8

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
33 Tony Dorsett* 24 RB 16 15 290 1325 7 63 4.6 82.8 18.1 37 378 10.2 2 91 2.3 23.6 1703 9 12
44 Robert Newhouse 28 FB 13 12 140 584 8 24 4.2 44.9 10.8 20 176 8.8 2 24 1.5 13.5 760 10 1
35 Scott Laidlaw 25 rb 16 4 75 312 3 59 4.2 19.5 4.7 6 108 18.0 1 44 0.4 6.8 420 4 3
12 Roger Staubach* 36 QB 15 15 42 182 1 23 4.3 12.1 2.8 182 1 5
26 Preston Pearson 33 16 0 25 104 0 18 4.2 6.5 1.6 47 526 11.2 0 34 2.9 32.9 630 0 0
36 Larry Brinson 24 10 0 18 96 2 39 5.3 9.6 1.8 96 2 1
21 Doug Dennison 27 5 0 14 75 1 23 5.4 15.0 2.8 1 6 6.0 0 6 0.2 1.2 81 1 0
24 Alois Blackwell 24 13 0 9 37 0 13 4.1 2.8 0.7 37 0 0
11 Danny White 26 P 16 1 5 7 0 4 1.4 0.4 0.3 7 0 2
80 Tony Hill* 22 WR 16 0 3 17 0 14 5.7 1.1 0.2 46 823 17.9 6 54 2.9 51.4 840 6 1
88 Drew Pearson 27 WR 16 0 3 29 0 33 9.7 1.8 0.2 44 714 16.2 3 53 2.8 44.6 743 3 0
89 Billy Joe DuPree* 28 TE 16 16 1 15 0 15 15.0 0.9 0.1 34 509 15.0 9 38 2.1 31.8 524 9 3
86 Butch Johnson 24 KR/PR 16 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 12 155 12.9 0 23 0.8 9.7 155 0 5
87 Jay Saldi 24 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3 8 2.7 2 5 0.8 2.0 8 2 0
83 Golden Richards 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 2 2.0 0 2 1.0 2.0 2 0 0
Team Total 26.5 16 625 2783 22 63 4.5 173.9 39.1 251 3405 13.6 25 91 15.7 212.8 6188 47 36
Opp Total 16 477 1721 13 3.6 107.6 29.8 202 2288 11.3 11 12.6 143.0 4009 24 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
86 Butch Johnson 24 KR/PR 16 0 51 401 0 23 7.9 29 603 0 56 20.8 1159
80 Tony Hill* 22 WR 16 0 11 101 0 20 9.2 941
36 Larry Brinson 24 10 0 6 93 0 31 15.5 189
32 Dennis Thurman 22 16 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 3 42 0 20 14.0 42
24 Alois Blackwell 24 13 0 3 70 0 31 23.3 107
21 Doug Dennison 27 5 0 3 63 0 24 21.0 144
66 Burton Lawless 25 16 0 1 10 0 10 10.0 10
87 Jay Saldi 24 4 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 8
54 Randy White*+ 25 RDT 16 16 1 15 0 15 15.0 15
Team Total 26.5 16 63 502 0 23 8.0 47 896 0 56 19.1 7586
Opp Total 16 40 0 73 1709 0 23.4

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
11 Danny White 26 P 16 1 76 3076 56 1 40.5
1 Rafael Septien 25 K 16 0 3 2 8 8 5 3 10 3 26 16 61.5% 47 46 97.9%
Team Total 26.5 16 3 2 8 8 5 3 10 3 26 16 61.5% 47 46 97.9% 76 3076 56 1 40.5
Opp Total 16 22 11 50.0% 25 23 92.0% 108 4255 39.4

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
33 Tony Dorsett* 24 RB 16 15 0 12 4 54 1
31 Benny Barnes 27 LCB 14 13 5 72 0 38 0 0 0 2 14 0
12 Roger Staubach* 36 QB 15 15 0 5 2 -2 0
43 Cliff Harris*+ 30 FS 16 0 4 26 0 23 0 0 0 2 17 0
86 Butch Johnson 24 KR/PR 16 0 0 5 1 0 0
32 Dennis Thurman 22 16 0 2 35 0 23 0 0 2 2 0 0
25 Aaron Kyle 24 RCB 16 16 3 20 0 17 0 0 0 2 0 0
35 Scott Laidlaw 25 rb 16 4 0 3 2 0 0
41 Charlie Waters* 30 SS 16 0 4 61 0 22 0 1
11 Danny White 26 P 16 1 0 2 2 -8 0
89 Billy Joe DuPree* 28 TE 16 16 0 3 0 0 0
42 Randy Hughes 25 16 0 2 80 0 56 0 0 0 1 0 0
53 Bob Breunig 25 MLB 16 16 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0
62 John Fitzgerald 30 C 14 14 0 1 1 0 0
58 Mike Hegman 25 llb 16 6 0 0 2 0 0
36 Larry Brinson 24 10 0 0 1 0 0 0
63 Larry Cole 32 de 16 3 1 13 0 13 0
71 Andy Frederick 24 rt 16 5 0 0 1 0 0
56 Thomas Henderson* 25 LLB 15 13 0 0 1 0 0
80 Tony Hill* 22 WR 16 0 0 1 0 0 0
79 Harvey Martin* 28 RDE 16 0 1 7 0 7 0
44 Robert Newhouse 28 FB 13 12 0 1 0 0 0
75 Jethro Pugh 34 LDT 13 0 0 0 1 0 0
46 Mark Washington 31 13 0 0 0 1 0 0
70 Rayfield Wright 33 RT 15 11 0 0 1 0 0
Team Total 26.5 16 23 316 0 56 0 0 36 29 75 1 1
Opp Total 16 33 27 14 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
1 Rafael Septien 25 K 16 0 46 16 94
33 Tony Dorsett* 24 RB 16 15 7 2 1 10 60
44 Robert Newhouse 28 FB 13 12 8 2 10 60
89 Billy Joe DuPree* 28 TE 16 16 9 9 54
80 Tony Hill* 22 WR 16 0 6 6 36
35 Scott Laidlaw 25 rb 16 4 3 1 4 24
88 Drew Pearson 27 WR 16 0 3 3 18
36 Larry Brinson 24 10 0 2 2 12
87 Jay Saldi 24 4 0 2 2 12
21 Doug Dennison 27 5 0 1 1 6
12 Roger Staubach* 36 QB 15 15 1 1 6
41 Charlie Waters* 30 SS 16 0 1 2
Team Total 26.5 16 22 25 1 48 46 16 1 384
Opp Total 16 13 11 23 11 1 208