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Record: 8-7-1, Finished 1st in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary
Scored 249 points (15.6/g), 22nd of 28 in the NFL.
Allowed 269 points (16.8/g), 8th.
Differential of -20 points (-1.2/g), 18th.
Expected W-L: 7.3-8.7.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +5 (0.3/g), 8th.
Coached by Bart Starr (8-7-1)
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1978 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees
| 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 | @ | Detroit Lions | 13 | 7 | 16 | 212 | 31 | 181 | 11 | 122 | 40 | 82 | 1 | |
| 2 | Sun | September 10 | box | W | 2-0 | New Orleans Saints | 28 | 17 | 20 | 376 | 156 | 220 | 2 | 25 | 395 | 295 | 100 | 1 | |
| 3 | Sun | September 17 | box | L | 2-1 | Oakland Raiders | 3 | 28 | 13 | 196 | 117 | 79 | 3 | 28 | 420 | 72 | 348 | 4 | |
| 4 | Sun | September 24 | box | W | 3-1 | @ | San Diego Chargers | 24 | 3 | 9 | 127 | 9 | 118 | 2 | 20 | 245 | 154 | 91 | 11 |
| 5 | Sun | October 1 | box | W | 4-1 | Detroit Lions | 35 | 14 | 16 | 482 | 261 | 221 | 4 | 14 | 227 | 101 | 126 | 1 | |
| 6 | Sun | October 8 | box | W | 5-1 | Chicago Bears | 24 | 14 | 8 | 166 | 68 | 98 | 2 | 21 | 357 | 210 | 147 | 5 | |
| 7 | Sun | October 15 | box | W | 6-1 | Seattle Seahawks | 45 | 28 | 20 | 369 | 179 | 190 | 3 | 23 | 483 | 289 | 194 | 7 | |
| 8 | Sun | October 22 | box | L | 6-2 | @ | Minnesota Vikings | 7 | 21 | 14 | 247 | 118 | 129 | 2 | 22 | 294 | 234 | 60 | 1 |
| 9 | Sun | October 29 | box | W | 7-2 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 9 | 7 | 18 | 249 | 158 | 91 | 4 | 7 | 170 | 98 | 72 | 3 | |
| 10 | Sun | November 5 | box | L | 7-3 | @ | Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 10 | 15 | 385 | 211 | 174 | 5 | 10 | 148 | 97 | 51 | 1 |
| 11 | Sun | November 12 | box | L | 7-4 | Dallas Cowboys | 14 | 42 | 9 | 142 | 76 | 66 | 3 | 32 | 537 | 224 | 313 | 2 | |
| 12 | Sun | November 19 | box | L | 7-5 | @ | Denver Broncos | 3 | 16 | 13 | 263 | 179 | 84 | 1 | 19 | 359 | 144 | 215 | |
| 13 | Sun | November 26 | box | T | 7-5-1 | Minnesota Vikings | 10 | 10 | 16 | 318 | 164 | 154 | 3 | 15 | 293 | 182 | 111 | 5 | |
| 14 | Sun | December 3 | box | W | 8-5-1 | @ | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 17 | 7 | 11 | 173 | 108 | 65 | 1 | 20 | 321 | 144 | 177 | 3 |
| 15 | Sun | December 10 | box | L | 8-6-1 | @ | Chicago Bears | 0 | 14 | 11 | 161 | 83 | 78 | 3 | 17 | 293 | 119 | 174 | 1 |
| 16 | Sun | December 17 | box | L | 8-7-1 | @ | Los Angeles Rams | 14 | 31 | 17 | 241 | 166 | 75 | 4 | 18 | 299 | 121 | 178 | 1 |
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pts | Yds | Ply | Y/P | 1stD | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | 1stD | Att | Yds | TD | 1stD | TO | FL | 1stPy | |||
| Team Offense | 249 | 4107 | 944 | 4.4 | 226 | 180 | 357 | 2084 | 11 | 18 | 5.3 | 101 | 550 | 2023 | 16 | 3.7 | 105 | 42 | 24 | 20 |
| Team Defense | 269 | 4963 | 1131 | 4.4 | 467 | 254 | 463 | 2524 | 16 | 27 | 4.9 | 143 | 620 | 2439 | 19 | 3.9 | 302 | 47 | 20 | 22 |
| Lg Rank Offense | 22 | 24 | 28 | 27 | 23 | 24 | 8 | 18 | 19 | 24 | 12 | 21 | 19 | 26 | ||||||
| Lg Rank Defense | 8 | 19 | 21 | 27 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 4 | 7 | ||||||
| Age | Pos | G | GS | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Lng | Sk | Yds | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Whitehurst | 23 | QB | 16 | 16 | 168 | 328 | 51.2 | 2093 | 10 | 3.0 | 17 | 5.2 | 58 | 6.4 | 4.4 | 12.5 | 130.8 | 59.9 | 35 | 258 | 5.1 | 3.2 | 9.6 |
| Dennis Sproul | 22 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 38.5 | 87 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 25 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 17.4 | 14.5 | 62.0 | 1 | 7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 7.1 | |
| Bobby Douglass | 31 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 41.7 | 90 | 1 | 8.3 | 1 | 8.3 | 30 | 7.5 | 4.6 | 18.0 | 7.5 | 61.1 | 1 | 9 | 6.2 | 3.5 | 7.7 | |
| David Beverly | 28 | P | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 88 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 57 | 44.0 | 44.0 | 44.0 | 5.5 | 118.7 | 0 | 0 | 44.0 | 44.0 | 0.0 |
| James Lofton* | 22 | WR | 16 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 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 | 24.9 | 16 | 180 | 357 | 50.4 | 2358 | 11 | 3.1 | 18 | 5.0 | 58 | 6.6 | 4.6 | 13.1 | 147.4 | 60.9 | 37 | 274 | 5.3 | 3.5 | 9.4 | ||
| Opp Total | 16 | 254 | 463 | 54.9 | 2524 | 16 | 3.5 | 27 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 3.2 | 9.9 | 157.8 | 57.7 | 48 | 386 | 4.9 | 2.1 |
| Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Pos | G | GS | Att | Yds | TD | Lng | Rec | Yds | TD | Lng | YScm | RRTD | Fmb | |||||||
| Terdell Middleton* | 23 | RB | 16 | 16 | 284 | 1116 | 11 | 76 | 3.9 | 69.8 | 17.8 | 34 | 332 | 9.8 | 1 | 50 | 2.1 | 20.8 | 1448 | 12 | 8 |
| Barty Smith | 26 | FB | 16 | 0 | 154 | 567 | 4 | 33 | 3.7 | 35.4 | 9.6 | 37 | 256 | 6.9 | 0 | 24 | 2.3 | 16.0 | 823 | 4 | 5 |
| Jim Culbreath | 26 | 12 | 0 | 30 | 92 | 0 | 15 | 3.1 | 7.7 | 2.5 | 7 | 78 | 11.1 | 0 | 19 | 0.6 | 6.5 | 170 | 0 | 1 | |
| David Whitehurst | 23 | QB | 16 | 16 | 28 | 67 | 1 | 18 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 1.8 | 67 | 1 | 8 | |||||||
| Nate Simpson | 24 | 16 | 0 | 27 | 58 | 0 | 11 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 62 | 0 | 1 | |
| Walter Landers | 25 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 0 | 10 | 5.7 | 10.0 | 1.8 | 40 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Eric Torkelson | 26 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 2 | 36 | 18.0 | 0 | 31 | 0.1 | 2.6 | 54 | 0 | 0 | |
| Aundra Thompson | 25 | WR | 16 | 16 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 13 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 26 | 527 | 20.3 | 2 | 57 | 1.6 | 32.9 | 552 | 2 | 1 |
| Bobby Douglass | 31 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 0 | 17 | 6.8 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 27 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| James Lofton* | 22 | WR | 16 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 46 | 818 | 17.8 | 6 | 58 | 2.9 | 51.1 | 831 | 6 | 2 |
| Dennis Sproul | 22 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| David Beverly | 28 | P | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| Rich McGeorge | 30 | TE | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 23 | 247 | 10.7 | 1 | 25 | 1.4 | 15.4 | 247 | 1 | 0 | |
| Steve Odom | 26 | RET | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4 | 60 | 15.0 | 1 | 18 | 0.3 | 5.0 | 60 | 1 | 2 | |
| Team Total | 24.9 | 16 | 550 | 2023 | 16 | 76 | 3.7 | 126.4 | 34.4 | 180 | 2358 | 13.1 | 11 | 58 | 11.3 | 147.4 | 4381 | 27 | 35 | ||
| Opp Total | 16 | 620 | 2439 | 19 | 3.9 | 152.4 | 38.8 | 254 | 2524 | 9.9 | 16 | 15.9 | 157.8 | 4963 | 35 | 40 | |||||
| Punt Returns | Kick Returns | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Pos | G | GS | Ret | Yds | TD | Lng | Rt | Yds | TD | Lng | APYd | |||
| Steve Odom | 26 | RET | 12 | 0 | 33 | 298 | 0 | 48 | 9.0 | 25 | 677 | 1 | 95 | 27.1 | 1035 |
| Johnnie Gray | 25 | FS | 16 | 16 | 11 | 95 | 0 | 22 | 8.6 | 95 | |||||
| Aundra Thompson | 25 | WR | 16 | 16 | 6 | 124 | 0 | 31 | 20.7 | 676 | |||||
| Steve Wagner | 24 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 84 | 0 | 17 | 14.0 | 84 | ||||||
| Jim Culbreath | 26 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 58 | 0 | 20 | 14.5 | 228 | ||||||
| Estus Hood | 23 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 74 | 0 | 26 | 24.7 | 74 | ||||||
| Howard Sampson | 22 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | |
| Jim Gueno | 24 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | ||||||
| Ezra Johnson* | 23 | RDE | 16 | 16 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | |||||
| Walter Landers | 25 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 40 | ||||||
| James Lofton* | 22 | WR | 16 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 831 | |||||
| Rich McGeorge | 30 | TE | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 247 | |||||
| Terdell Middleton* | 23 | RB | 16 | 16 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 22 | 22.0 | 1470 | |||||
| Barty Smith | 26 | FB | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 823 | |||||
| Walter Tullis | 25 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | ||||||
| Team Total | 24.9 | 16 | 46 | 393 | 0 | 48 | 8.5 | 52 | 1085 | 1 | 95 | 20.9 | 5859 | ||
| Opp Total | 16 | 51 | 0 | 52 | 1015 | 0 | 19.5 | ||||||||
| 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 | XPA | XPM | Pnt | Yds | Lng | Blck | ||||
| David Beverly | 28 | P | 16 | 0 | 106 | 3759 | 57 | 0 | 35.5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Chester Marcol | 29 | K | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 11 | 57.9% | 30 | 30 | 100.0% | ||||||
| Team Total | 24.9 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 11 | 57.9% | 30 | 30 | 100.0% | 106 | 3759 | 57 | 0 | 35.5 | |||
| Opp Total | 16 | 18 | 5 | 27.8% | 36 | 36 | 100.0% | 90 | 3411 | 37.9 | |||||||||||||||
| Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Tackles | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Pos | G | GS | Sk | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | Fmb | FR | Yds | TD | Tkl | Ast | Sfty | |
| John Anderson | 22 | RLB | 13 | 12 | 5 | 27 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Bob Barber | 27 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Carl Barzilauskas | 27 | RDT | 16 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||
| David Beverly | 28 | P | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -11 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Willie Buchanon*+ | 28 | LCB | 16 | 16 | 9 | 93 | 1 | 77 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Jim Carter | 30 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Jim Culbreath | 26 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Mike Douglass | 23 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Johnnie Gray | 25 | FS | 16 | 16 | 3 | 66 | 0 | 66 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Estus Hood | 23 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Mike Hunt | 22 | MLB | 16 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ezra Johnson* | 23 | RDE | 16 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| James Lofton* | 22 | WR | 16 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Steve Luke | 25 | SS | 16 | 16 | 2 | 91 | 1 | 63 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Mike C. McCoy | 25 | RCB | 16 | 16 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Terdell Middleton* | 23 | RB | 16 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Rick Nuzum | 26 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Steve Odom | 26 | RET | 12 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Dave Roller | 29 | LDT | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Howard Sampson | 22 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Nate Simpson | 24 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Barty Smith | 26 | FB | 16 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Dennis Sproul | 22 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -5 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Aundra Thompson | 25 | WR | 16 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Eric Torkelson | 26 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Gary Weaver | 29 | LLB | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| David Whitehurst | 23 | QB | 16 | 16 | 8 | 2 | -28 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Team Total | 24.9 | 16 | 27 | 344 | 2 | 77 | 35 | 27 | -31 | 0 | ||||||||
| Opp Total | 16 | 37 | 40 | 20 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Age | Pos | G | GS | RshTD | RecTD | PR TD | KR TD | FblTD | IntTD | OthTD | 2PM | XPM | FGM | Sfty | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terdell Middleton* | 23 | RB | 16 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 72 | |||||||||
| Chester Marcol | 29 | K | 16 | 0 | 30 | 11 | 63 | |||||||||
| James Lofton* | 22 | WR | 16 | 16 | 6 | 36 | ||||||||||
| Barty Smith | 26 | FB | 16 | 0 | 4 | 24 | ||||||||||
| Steve Odom | 26 | RET | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |||||||||
| Aundra Thompson | 25 | WR | 16 | 16 | 2 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Willie Buchanon*+ | 28 | LCB | 16 | 16 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Walter Landers | 25 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Steve Luke | 25 | SS | 16 | 16 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Rich McGeorge | 30 | TE | 16 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||
| David Whitehurst | 23 | QB | 16 | 16 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Team Total | 24.9 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 11 | 249 | ||||||
| Opp Total | 16 | 19 | 16 | 36 | 5 | 1 | 269 |