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1978 Detroit Lions

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

Scored 290 points (18.1/g), 13th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 300 points (18.8/g), 19th.
 Differential of -10 points (-0.6/g), 11th.
 Expected W-L: 7.7-8.3.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +8 (0.5/g), 6th.

Coached by Monte Clark (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 L 0-1 Green Bay Packers 7 13 11 122 40 82 1 16 212 31 181
2 Sat September 9 box W 1-1 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 15 7 11 196 47 149 2 10 109 -31 140 6
3 Sun September 17 box L 1-2 Chicago Bears 0 19 15 237 94 143 2 15 326 141 185 2
4 Sun September 24 box L 1-3 @ Seattle Seahawks 16 28 15 261 129 132 21 245 158 87 1
5 Sun October 1 box L 1-4 @ Green Bay Packers 14 35 14 227 101 126 1 16 482 261 221 4
6 Sun October 8 box L 1-5 Washington Redskins 19 21 19 374 143 231 1 12 284 208 76 2
7 Sun October 15 box L 1-6 @ Atlanta Falcons 0 14 13 169 147 22 3 15 248 122 126
8 Sun October 22 box W 2-6 San Diego Chargers 31 14 29 461 188 273 2 16 304 215 89 6
9 Sun October 29 box W 3-6 @ Chicago Bears 21 17 23 315 181 134 1 21 358 191 167 2
10 Sun November 5 box L 3-7 @ Minnesota Vikings 7 17 11 175 105 70 3 22 312 188 124 5
11 Sun November 12 box W 4-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34 23 20 404 193 211 3 18 202 89 113
12 Sun November 19 box L 4-8 @ Oakland Raiders 17 29 18 328 208 120 4 24 280 119 161 1
13 Thu November 23 box W 5-8 Denver Broncos 17 14 15 244 105 139 1 16 233 105 128 1
14 Sun December 3 box L 5-9 @ St. Louis Cardinals 14 21 16 224 119 105 5 18 284 151 133 1
15 Sat December 9 box W 6-9 Minnesota Vikings 45 14 22 507 350 157 2 16 235 213 22 3
16 Sun December 17 box W 7-9 San Francisco 49ers 33 14 17 221 152 69 2 20 369 138 231 7

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 290 4465 1001 4.5 269 247 429 2302 19 18 4.8 141 525 2163 12 4.1 105 33 15 23
Team Defense 300 4483 970 4.6 437 191 350 2299 19 22 5.7 125 565 2184 18 3.9 276 41 19 36
Lg Rank Offense 13 21 20 14 19 8 8 24 26 17 22 9 3 7
Lg Rank Defense 19 7 16 2 6 18 13 9 13 14 18 15 14 11

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%
Gary Danielson 27 QB 16 11 199 351 56.7 2294 18 5.1 17 4.8 47 6.5 4.9 11.5 143.4 73.5 25 237 5.5 3.9 6.6
Greg Landry 32 qb 5 5 48 77 62.3 452 1 1.3 1 1.3 20 5.9 5.4 9.4 90.4 77.4 21 205 2.5 2.2 21.4
Tom Skladany 23 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 25.3 16 247 429 57.6 2746 19 4.4 18 4.2 47 6.4 5.0 11.1 171.6 74.0 47 444 4.8 3.5 9.9
Opp Total 16 191 350 54.6 2299 19 5.4 22 6.3 6.6 4.3 12.0 143.7 66.8 55 482 5.7 2.5

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
Dexter Bussey 26 RB 16 16 225 924 5 36 4.1 57.8 14.1 31 275 8.9 1 18 1.9 17.2 1199 6 9
Horace King 25 FB 15 15 155 660 4 75 4.3 44.0 10.3 48 396 8.3 2 34 3.2 26.4 1056 6 3
Lawrence Gaines 25 13 1 54 178 1 12 3.3 13.7 4.2 2 16 8.0 0 9 0.2 1.2 194 1 1
Rick Kane 24 15 0 44 153 2 19 3.5 10.2 2.9 16 161 10.1 0 26 1.1 10.7 314 2 1
Gary Danielson 27 QB 16 11 22 93 0 25 4.2 5.8 1.4 93 0 5
Luther Blue 24 WR 16 15 5 9 0 10 1.8 0.6 0.3 31 350 11.3 2 26 1.9 21.9 359 2 2
Greg Landry 32 qb 5 5 5 29 0 19 5.8 5.8 1.0 29 0 3
Freddie Scott 26 WR 16 13 4 53 0 36 13.3 3.3 0.3 37 564 15.2 2 47 2.3 35.3 617 2 1
David Hill* 24 TE 16 16 3 12 0 13 4.0 0.8 0.2 53 633 11.9 4 32 3.3 39.6 645 4 1
Jesse Thompson 22 RET 11 1 2 7 0 10 3.5 0.6 0.2 18 175 9.7 4 21 1.6 15.9 182 4 4
Andy Bolton 24 6 0 2 5 0 3 2.5 0.8 0.3 5 0 0
Leonard Thompson 26 16 1 1 7 0 7 7.0 0.4 0.1 10 167 16.7 4 45 0.6 10.4 174 4 2
Tony Daykin 23 16 0 1 8 0 8 8.0 0.5 0.1 8 0 0
Ed O'Neil 26 MLB 16 16 1 25 0 25 25.0 1.6 0.1 25 0 0
Joe Reed 30 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0 0 1
Ray Jarvis 29 2 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 9 9.0 0 9 0.5 4.5 9 0 0
Team Total 25.3 16 525 2163 12 75 4.1 135.2 32.8 247 2746 11.1 19 47 15.4 171.6 4909 31 35
Opp Total 16 565 2184 18 3.9 136.5 35.3 191 2299 12.0 19 11.9 143.7 4483 37 41

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
Jesse Thompson 22 RET 11 1 16 161 0 35 10.1 14 346 0 42 24.7 689
Luther Blue 24 WR 16 15 7 59 0 15 8.4 7 170 0 60 24.3 588
Freddie Scott 26 WR 16 13 8 55 0 15 6.9 3 72 0 29 24.0 744
Leonard Thompson 26 16 1 3 19 0 9 6.3 8 207 0 31 25.9 400
Tony Leonard 25 3 0 10 114 0 24 11.4 114
Rick Kane 24 15 0 8 156 0 27 19.5 470
Nat Terry 22 4 0 7 145 0 30 20.7 145
James Hunter 24 lcb 9 5 2 21 0 19 10.5 1 21 0 21 21.0 42
Ken Callicutt 23 13 0 2 12 0 10 6.0 12
Willie McGee 28 4 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Walt Williams 24 LCB 15 11 1 1 0 1 1.0 1
Team Total 25.3 16 47 430 0 35 9.1 51 1129 0 60 22.1 6468
Opp Total 16 54 0 69 1424 0 20.6

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
Tom Skladany 23 P 16 0 86 3654 63 1 42.5
Benny Ricardo 24 K 16 0 3 3 7 7 8 6 9 4 1 28 20 71.4% 33 32 97.0%
Team Total 25.3 16 3 3 7 7 8 6 9 4 1 28 20 71.4% 33 32 97.0% 86 3654 63 1 42.5
Opp Total 16 13 8 61.5% 39 38 97.4% 87 3497 40.2

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
Jimmy Allen 26 FS 14 14 5 70 0 27 1 2 64 1
Al Baker*+ 22 RDE 16 16 0 1 0 0
Luther Blue 24 WR 16 15 2 0 0 0
Luther Bradley 23 RCB 16 16 3 85 1 76
Mike Burns 24 SS 15 11 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Dexter Bussey 26 RB 16 16 9 2 0 0
Ken Callicutt 23 13 0 1 1 0 0
Karl Chandler 26 11 0 0 2 0 0
Gary Danielson 27 QB 16 11 5 2 -12 0
Tony Daykin 23 16 0 0 1 0 0
Homer Elias 23 LG 16 16 0 2 0 0
Amos Fowler 22 16 0 0 1 0 0
Lawrence Gaines 25 13 1 1 2 0 0
William Gay 23 16 0 0 1 0 0
Dan Gray 22 14 0 0 1 0 0
David Hill* 24 TE 16 16 1 1 0 0
James Hunter 24 lcb 9 5 2 -4 0 0
Rick Kane 24 15 0 1 0 0 0
Horace King 25 FB 15 15 3 3 0 0
Greg Landry 32 qb 5 5 3 2 0 0
Paul Naumoff 33 LLB 15 13 1 12 0 12
Ed O'Neil 26 MLB 16 16 4 49 0 31 0 1 0 0
Brad Oates 25 RT 16 15 0 1 0 0
Reggie Pinkney 23 13 0 1 22 0 22 0 1 0 0
Joe Reed 30 1 0 1 0 -3 0
Bruce Rhodes 26 ss 15 5 1 24 0 24 0 1 0 0
Freddie Scott 26 WR 16 13 1 0 0 0
Jesse Thompson 22 RET 11 1 4 0 0 0
Leonard Thompson 26 16 1 2 4 0 0
Charlie Weaver 29 RLB 16 16 3 32 0 22 0 2 0 0
Walt Williams 24 LCB 15 11 1 2 0 2
John Woodcock 24 LDT 16 14 0 4 0 0
Team Total 25.3 16 22 292 1 76 35 39 49 1
Opp Total 16 47 41 22 2

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
Benny Ricardo 24 K 16 0 32 20 92
Dexter Bussey 26 RB 16 16 5 1 36
Horace King 25 FB 15 15 4 2 36
David Hill* 24 TE 16 16 4 24
Jesse Thompson 22 RET 11 1 4 24
Leonard Thompson 26 16 1 4 24
Luther Blue 24 WR 16 15 2 12
Rick Kane 24 15 0 2 12
Freddie Scott 26 WR 16 13 2 12
Jimmy Allen 26 FS 14 14 1 6
Luther Bradley 23 RCB 16 16 1 6
Lawrence Gaines 25 13 1 1 6
Team Total 25.3 16 12 19 1 1 32 20 290
Opp Total 16 18 19 38 8 2 300