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1978 New England Patriots

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Record: 11-5-0, Finished 1st in AFC East Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 358 points (22.4/g), 4th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 286 points (17.9/g), 13th.
 Differential of 72 points (4.5/g), 5th.
 Expected W-L: 10.1-5.9.

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

Coached by Hank Bullough (0-1-0) (co-coach with Ron Erhardt), Ron Erhardt (0-1-0)and Chuck Fairbanks (11-4-0)

1978 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Day Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 3 box L 0-1 Washington Redskins 14 16 21 326 165 161 3 14 324 175 149 2
2 Sun September 10 box W 1-1 @ St. Louis Cardinals 16 6 21 441 172 269 4 9 193 136 57 3
3 Mon September 18 box L 1-2 Baltimore Colts 27 34 23 429 223 206 4 15 361 265 96 4
4 Sun September 24 box W 2-2 @ Oakland Raiders 21 14 22 404 197 207 4 14 236 153 83 3
5 Sun October 1 box W 3-2 San Diego Chargers 28 23 19 299 198 101 1 18 322 162 160 3
6 Sun October 8 box W 4-2 Philadelphia Eagles 24 14 22 394 189 205 4 17 293 186 107 4
7 Sun October 15 box W 5-2 @ Cincinnati Bengals 10 3 19 298 162 136 2 17 279 206 73 3
8 Sun October 22 box W 6-2 Miami Dolphins 33 24 24 393 168 225 2 20 333 189 144 2
9 Sun October 29 box W 7-2 New York Jets 55 21 26 529 289 240 1 20 276 172 104 2
10 Sun November 5 box W 8-2 @ Buffalo Bills 14 10 20 332 53 279 3 15 247 107 140 3
11 Sun November 12 box L 8-3 Houston Oilers 23 26 16 274 130 144 4 24 322 194 128 4
12 Sun November 19 box W 9-3 @ New York Jets 19 17 18 324 99 225 2 12 208 139 69 3
13 Sun November 26 box W 10-3 @ Baltimore Colts 35 14 15 460 232 228 2 18 300 155 145 3
14 Sun December 3 box L 10-4 @ Dallas Cowboys 10 17 16 363 150 213 3 17 329 230 99 1
15 Sun December 10 box W 11-4 Buffalo Bills 26 24 24 403 154 249 3 16 307 123 184 2
16 Mon December 18 box L 11-5 @ Miami Dolphins 3 23 16 296 219 77 4 12 285 171 114 1
Playoffs
Division Sun December 31 box L 11-6 Houston Oilers 14 31 15 263 180 83 3 21 344 170 174 1

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 358 5965 1085 5.5 322 196 390 2800 15 25 6.8 125 671 3165 30 4.7 181 46 21 16
Team Defense 286 4615 971 4.8 258 235 425 2763 21 22 6.0 143 511 1852 14 3.6 100 43 21 15
Lg Rank Offense 4 1 3 17 9 18 19 1 1 1 1 1 22 21
Lg Rank Defense 13 9 6 11 21 23 13 21 5 4 9 6 8 3

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec 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%
14 Steve Grogan 25 QB 16 16 11-5-0 181 362 50.0 2824 15 4.1 23 6.4 75 7.8 5.8 15.6 176.5 63.6 21 184 6.9 5.0 5.5
17 Tom Owen 26 2 0 15 26 57.7 182 0 0.0 2 7.7 23 7.0 3.5 12.1 91.0 47.3 3 22 5.5 2.4 10.3
32 Andy Johnson 26 RB 15 13 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 26.2 16 11-5-0 196 390 50.3 3006 15 3.8 25 6.4 75 7.7 5.6 15.3 187.9 62.2 24 206 6.8 4.8 5.8
Opp Total 16 235 425 55.3 3059 21 4.9 22 5.2 7.2 5.9 13.0 191.2 73.1 35 296 6.0 4.8

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
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
39 Sam Cunningham* 28 FB 16 14 199 768 8 52 3.9 48.0 12.4 31 297 9.6 0 31 1.9 18.6 1065 8 4
32 Andy Johnson 26 RB 15 13 147 675 3 52 4.6 45.0 9.8 26 267 10.3 0 31 1.7 17.8 942 3 4
23 Horace Ivory 24 15 3 141 693 11 28 4.9 46.2 9.4 14 122 8.7 0 18 0.9 8.1 815 11 5
14 Steve Grogan 25 QB 16 16 81 539 5 31 6.7 33.7 5.1 539 5 9
44 Don Calhoun 26 14 2 76 391 1 73 5.1 27.9 5.4 3 29 9.7 0 15 0.2 2.1 420 1 1
37 James McAlister 27 16 0 19 77 2 16 4.1 4.8 1.2 1 12 12.0 0 12 0.1 0.8 89 2 3
30 Mosi Tatupu 23 16 0 3 6 0 3 2.0 0.4 0.2 6 0 0
86 Stanley Morgan 23 WR 16 16 2 11 0 6 5.5 0.7 0.1 34 820 24.1 5 75 2.1 51.3 831 5 6
29 Harold Jackson 32 WR 16 13 1 7 0 7 7.0 0.4 0.1 37 743 20.1 6 57 2.3 46.4 750 6 0
83 Don Westbrook 26 16 0 1 -2 0 -2 -2.0 -0.1 0.1 3 38 12.7 0 19 0.2 2.4 36 0 0
4 Jerrel Wilson 37 P 14 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0 0 1
81 Russ Francis* 25 TE 15 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 39 543 13.9 4 53 2.6 36.2 543 4 1
80 Don Hasselbeck 23 16 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 7 107 15.3 0 24 0.4 6.7 107 0 0
88 Carlos Pennywell 22 16 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 28 28.0 0 28 0.1 1.8 28 0 0
Team Total 26.2 16 671 3165 30 73 4.7 197.8 41.9 196 3006 15.3 15 75 12.3 187.9 6171 45 35
Opp Total 16 511 1852 14 3.6 115.8 31.9 235 2763 11.8 21 14.7 172.7 4615 35 34

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
86 Stanley Morgan 23 WR 16 16 32 335 0 48 10.5 1 17 0 17 17.0 1183
26 Raymond Clayborn 23 LCB 16 16 27 636 0 60 23.6 636
40 Mike Haynes* 25 RCB 16 16 14 183 0 35 13.1 183
37 James McAlister 27 16 0 10 186 0 32 18.6 275
23 Horace Ivory 24 15 3 7 165 0 33 23.6 980
83 Don Westbrook 26 16 0 7 125 0 33 17.9 161
22 Dick Conn 27 15 0 1 2 0 2 2.0 1 26 0 26 26.0 28
30 Mosi Tatupu 23 16 0 1 17 0 17 17.0 23
62 Dwight Wheeler 23 2 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Team Total 26.2 16 47 520 0 48 11.1 55 1172 0 60 21.3 7863
Opp Total 16 29 0 69 1576 1 22.8

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
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 Jerrel Wilson 37 P 14 0 1 0.0% 54 1921 57 0 35.6
9 David Posey 22 K 11 0 1 1 4 3 11 5 6 2 22 11 50.0% 31 29 93.5%
7 Nick Lowery 22 2 0 1 1 0.0% 7 7 100.0%
1 John Smith 29 3 0 1 1 1 1 100.0% 7 6 85.7%
2 Mike Patrick 26 1 0 7 216 47 0 30.9
Team Total 26.2 16 1 1 5 4 11 5 7 2 24 12 50.0% 46 42 91.3% 61 2137 57 0 35.0
Opp Total 16 19 9 47.4% 38 31 81.6% 78 3081 39.5

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
27 Doug Beaudoin 24 SS 15 13 3 25 0 13
64 Richard Bishop 28 RDE 16 15 0 2 0 0 1
44 Don Calhoun 26 14 2 1 0 0 0
26 Raymond Clayborn 23 LCB 16 16 4 72 0 44 0 1 0 0
22 Dick Conn 27 15 0 1 24 0 24
55 Ray Costict 23 16 3 0 2 0 0
39 Sam Cunningham* 28 FB 16 14 4 0 0 0
48 Tim Fox 25 FS 16 16 2 10 0 10 0 1 0 0 1
81 Russ Francis* 25 TE 15 15 1 1 0 0
14 Steve Grogan 25 QB 16 16 9 2 -24 0
71 Ray Hamilton 27 NT 16 16 0 3 0 0
73 John Hannah*+ 27 LG 16 16 0 2 0 0
40 Mike Haynes* 25 RCB 16 16 6 123 1 50 1 0 0 0
63 Ernie Holmes 30 3 0 0 1 0 0
23 Horace Ivory 24 15 3 5 2 0 0
32 Andy Johnson 26 RB 15 13 4 2 0 0
37 James McAlister 27 16 0 3 0 0 0
78 Tony McGee 29 16 1 0 1 0 0
86 Stanley Morgan 23 WR 16 16 6 0 0 0
57 Steve Nelson 27 LILB 14 14 5 104 0 37 0 4 0 0
56 Rod Shoate 25 ROLB 15 15 0 3 0 0
83 Don Westbrook 26 16 0 0 1 0 0
4 Jerrel Wilson 37 P 14 0 1 1 -13 0
54 Steve Zabel 30 LOLB 11 11 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
Team Total 26.2 16 22 358 1 50 35 32 -37 0 2
Opp Total 16 24 34 13

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
23 Horace Ivory 24 15 3 11 11 66
9 David Posey 22 K 11 0 29 11 62
39 Sam Cunningham* 28 FB 16 14 8 8 48
29 Harold Jackson 32 WR 16 13 6 6 36
14 Steve Grogan 25 QB 16 16 5 5 30
86 Stanley Morgan 23 WR 16 16 5 5 30
81 Russ Francis* 25 TE 15 15 4 4 24
32 Andy Johnson 26 RB 15 13 3 3 18
37 James McAlister 27 16 0 2 2 12
1 John Smith 29 3 0 6 1 9
7 Nick Lowery 22 2 0 7 7
44 Don Calhoun 26 14 2 1 1 6
40 Mike Haynes* 25 RCB 16 16 1 1 6
64 Richard Bishop 28 RDE 16 15 1 2
48 Tim Fox 25 FS 16 16 1 2
Team Total 26.2 16 30 15 1 46 42 12 2 358
Opp Total 16 14 21 1 31 9 286