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1978 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics

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Team Defense

Passing Rushing
Rk Tm G Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FR 1stPy
1 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 195 4168 999 4.2 265 221 442 2394 10 27 4.9 119 513 1774 11 3.5 106 48 21 40
2 Denver Broncos 16 198 4449 1017 4.4 251 246 438 2470 9 31 5.3 120 549 1979 12 3.6 106 44 13 25
3 Dallas Cowboys 16 208 4009 967 4.1 232 202 432 2288 11 23 4.7 128 477 1721 13 3.6 83 36 13 21
4 Los Angeles Rams 16 245 3893 951 4.1 229 188 399 2048 15 28 4.6 113 505 1845 11 3.7 89 43 15 27
5 Philadelphia Eagles 16 250 4635 977 4.7 248 228 443 2773 17 28 5.9 136 505 1862 11 3.7 92 48 20 20
6 Miami Dolphins 16 254 5169 1021 5.1 298 256 437 2908 15 32 6.1 156 543 2261 15 4.2 120 53 21 22
7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 259 4328 1047 4.1 256 241 419 2279 13 29 5.0 131 595 2049 12 3.4 109 43 14 16
8 Green Bay Packers 16 269 4963 1131 4.4 302 254 463 2524 16 27 4.9 143 620 2439 19 3.9 137 47 20 22
9 Chicago Bears 16 274 4680 1044 4.5 282 239 436 2506 16 17 5.3 134 568 2174 15 3.8 128 33 16 20
10 Washington Redskins 16 283 4914 1069 4.6 283 197 409 2378 11 22 5.4 133 625 2536 15 4.1 131 32 10 19
11 Oakland Raiders 16 283 4894 1060 4.6 299 234 448 2711 17 28 5.7 140 583 2183 15 3.7 125 43 15 34
12 Cincinnati Bengals 16 284 4632 1036 4.5 269 193 396 2236 14 20 5.2 118 607 2396 16 3.9 121 37 17 30
13 New England Patriots 16 286 4615 971 4.8 258 235 425 2763 21 22 6.0 143 511 1852 14 3.6 100 43 21 15
14 Atlanta Falcons 16 290 4431 1069 4.1 267 215 444 2364 11 12 4.8 113 578 2067 21 3.6 117 37 25 37
15 St. Louis Cardinals 16 296 4747 1053 4.5 286 212 428 2351 19 26 5.1 131 588 2396 15 4.1 131 42 16 24
16 New Orleans Saints 16 298 4884 1025 4.8 286 215 418 2464 21 21 5.5 130 574 2420 9 4.2 129 41 20 27
17 New York Giants 16 298 5042 1112 4.5 316 210 443 2386 10 21 5.1 127 640 2656 25 4.2 155 39 18 34
18 Houston Oilers 16 298 4914 1021 4.8 292 240 428 2842 17 17 6.1 144 556 2072 14 3.7 120 34 17 28
19 Detroit Lions 16 300 4483 970 4.6 276 191 350 2299 19 22 5.7 125 565 2184 18 3.9 115 41 19 36
20 Minnesota Vikings 16 306 4806 1034 4.6 278 240 442 2690 15 22 5.7 137 559 2116 20 3.8 120 43 21 21
21 San Diego Chargers 16 309 4559 1005 4.5 273 237 441 2351 23 22 4.7 141 510 2208 12 4.3 114 38 16 18
22 Kansas City Chiefs 16 327 4966 996 5.0 284 219 365 2582 17 21 6.6 122 602 2384 21 4.0 138 35 14 24
23 San Francisco 49ers 16 350 5024 1097 4.6 298 219 413 2659 20 18 5.9 133 649 2365 17 3.6 128 45 27 37
24 Buffalo Bills 16 354 5188 1016 5.1 305 167 317 1960 20 14 5.8 104 677 3228 23 4.8 171 30 16 30
25 Cleveland Browns 16 356 5352 1083 4.9 329 265 489 3203 20 27 6.2 175 563 2149 19 3.8 116 45 18 38
26 Seattle Seahawks 16 358 5518 1036 5.3 331 263 460 3005 21 22 6.2 160 551 2513 20 4.6 153 39 17 18
27 New York Jets 16 364 5524 1069 5.2 324 260 447 2823 21 23 6.0 146 600 2701 20 4.5 157 40 17 21
28 Baltimore Colts 16 421 5911 1049 5.6 291 191 357 2901 29 17 7.5 119 662 3010 21 4.5 153 37 20 19
Avg Team 293.3 4810.6 1033.0 4.7 282.4 224.2 422.5 2541.4 16.7 22.8 5.5 132.9 574.1 2269.3 16.2 4.0 123.7 40.6 17.8 25.8
League Total 8213 134698 28925 4.7 7908 6278 11829 71158 468 639 5.5 3721 16075 63540 454 4.0 3464 1136 497 723
Avg Tm/G 18.3 300.7 64.6 4.7 17.7 14.0 26.4 158.8 1.0 1.4 5.5 8.3 35.9 141.8 1.0 4.0 7.7 2.5 1.1 1.6

Passing Defense

Rk Tm G 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%
1 Buffalo Bills 16 167 317 52.7 1960 20 6.3 14 4.4 6.8 6.1 12.9 122.5 77.0 22 196 5.8 5.1 6.5
2 Los Angeles Rams 16 188 399 47.1 2048 15 3.8 28 7.0 6.1 3.7 13.0 128.0 50.2 47 401 4.6 2.4 10.5
3 Cincinnati Bengals 16 193 396 48.7 2236 14 3.5 20 5.1 6.4 4.8 13.1 139.8 60.0 33 284 5.2 3.8 7.7
4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 241 419 57.5 2279 13 3.1 29 6.9 6.1 3.6 10.5 142.4 56.7 33 256 5.0 2.7 7.3
5 Dallas Cowboys 16 202 432 46.8 2288 11 2.5 23 5.3 6.3 4.4 13.5 143.0 53.7 58 442 4.7 3.0 11.8
6 Detroit Lions 16 191 350 54.6 2299 19 5.4 22 6.3 7.9 6.2 14.6 143.7 72.6 55 482 5.7 4.2 13.6
7 St. Louis Cardinals 16 212 428 49.5 2351 19 4.4 26 6.1 6.2 4.3 12.5 146.9 58.6 37 290 5.1 3.4 8.0
8 San Diego Chargers 16 237 441 53.7 2351 23 5.2 22 5.0 6.4 5.2 11.9 146.9 70.2 54 474 4.7 3.7 10.9
9 Atlanta Falcons 16 215 444 48.4 2364 11 2.5 12 2.7 6.3 5.6 13.0 147.8 65.6 47 425 4.8 4.2 9.6
10 Washington Redskins 16 197 409 48.2 2378 11 2.7 22 5.4 6.6 4.7 13.7 148.6 56.3 35 323 5.4 3.6 7.9
11 New York Giants 16 210 443 47.4 2386 10 2.3 21 4.7 6.0 4.3 12.6 149.1 54.2 29 251 5.1 3.5 6.1
12 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 221 442 50.0 2394 10 2.3 27 6.1 6.2 3.9 12.5 149.6 51.8 44 361 4.9 2.8 9.1
13 New Orleans Saints 16 215 418 51.4 2464 21 5.0 21 5.0 6.5 5.2 12.6 154.0 67.7 33 236 5.5 4.3 7.3
14 Denver Broncos 16 246 438 56.2 2470 9 2.1 31 7.1 6.2 3.4 11.0 154.4 52.0 30 242 5.3 2.7 6.4
15 Chicago Bears 16 239 436 54.8 2506 16 3.7 17 3.9 6.6 5.5 12.0 156.6 71.1 40 351 5.3 4.3 8.4
16 Green Bay Packers 16 254 463 54.9 2524 16 3.5 27 5.8 6.3 4.4 11.5 157.8 61.2 48 386 4.9 3.2 9.4
17 Kansas City Chiefs 16 219 365 60.0 2582 17 4.7 21 5.8 7.7 6.1 12.9 161.4 75.8 29 238 6.6 5.0 7.4
18 San Francisco 49ers 16 219 413 53.0 2659 20 4.8 18 4.4 7.1 6.1 13.5 166.2 74.0 35 289 5.9 5.0 7.8
19 Minnesota Vikings 16 240 442 54.3 2690 15 3.4 22 5.0 6.6 5.0 12.2 168.1 65.4 33 227 5.7 4.2 6.9
20 Oakland Raiders 16 234 448 52.2 2711 17 3.8 28 6.3 6.5 4.5 12.5 169.4 59.3 29 205 5.7 3.8 6.1
21 New England Patriots 16 235 425 55.3 2763 21 4.9 22 5.2 7.2 5.9 13.0 172.7 73.1 35 296 6.0 4.8 7.6
22 Philadelphia Eagles 16 228 443 51.5 2773 17 3.8 28 6.3 6.7 4.7 13.1 173.3 59.5 29 213 5.9 3.9 6.1
23 New York Jets 16 260 447 58.2 2823 21 4.7 23 5.1 6.8 5.5 11.7 176.4 73.2 22 229 6.0 4.7 4.7
24 Houston Oilers 16 240 428 56.1 2842 17 4.0 17 4.0 7.3 6.3 13.0 177.6 75.9 37 283 6.1 5.2 8.0
25 Baltimore Colts 16 191 357 53.5 2901 29 8.1 17 4.8 8.8 8.2 16.4 181.3 90.4 30 224 7.5 7.0 7.8
26 Miami Dolphins 16 256 437 58.6 2908 15 3.4 32 7.3 7.4 4.8 12.7 181.8 62.8 41 343 6.1 3.7 8.6
27 Seattle Seahawks 16 263 460 57.2 3005 21 4.6 22 4.8 7.0 5.8 12.3 187.8 74.2 25 220 6.2 5.0 5.2
28 Cleveland Browns 16 265 489 54.2 3203 20 4.1 27 5.5 7.0 5.4 13.0 200.2 67.1 31 232 6.2 4.6 6.0
Avg Team 224.2 422.5 53.1 2541.4 16.7 4.0 22.8 5.4 65 6.7 5.1 12.7 158.8 62.1 36.5 300.0 5.5 4.0 7.9
League Total 6278 11829 53.1 71158 468 4.0 639 5.4 92 6.7 5.1 12.7 158.8 62.1 1021 8399 5.5 4.0 7.9
Avg Tm/G 14.0 26.4 53.1 158.8 1.0 4.0 1.4 5.4 6.7 5.1 12.7 158.8 62.1 2.3 18.7 5.5 4.0 7.9

Rushing Defense

Rk Tm G Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G Fmb
1 Dallas Cowboys 16 477 1721 13 3.6 107.6
2 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 513 1774 11 3.5 110.9
3 Los Angeles Rams 16 505 1845 11 3.7 115.3
4 New England Patriots 16 511 1852 14 3.6 115.8
5 Philadelphia Eagles 16 505 1862 11 3.7 116.4
6 Denver Broncos 16 549 1979 12 3.6 123.7
7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 595 2049 12 3.4 128.1
8 Atlanta Falcons 16 578 2067 21 3.6 129.2
9 Houston Oilers 16 556 2072 14 3.7 129.5
10 Minnesota Vikings 16 559 2116 20 3.8 132.3
11 Cleveland Browns 16 563 2149 19 3.8 134.3
12 Chicago Bears 16 568 2174 15 3.8 135.9
13 Oakland Raiders 16 583 2183 15 3.7 136.4
14 Detroit Lions 16 565 2184 18 3.9 136.5
15 San Diego Chargers 16 510 2208 12 4.3 138.0
16 Miami Dolphins 16 543 2261 15 4.2 141.3
17 San Francisco 49ers 16 649 2365 17 3.6 147.8
18 Kansas City Chiefs 16 602 2384 21 4.0 149.0
19 Cincinnati Bengals 16 607 2396 16 3.9 149.8
20 St. Louis Cardinals 16 588 2396 15 4.1 149.8
21 New Orleans Saints 16 574 2420 9 4.2 151.3
22 Green Bay Packers 16 620 2439 19 3.9 152.4
23 Seattle Seahawks 16 551 2513 20 4.6 157.1
24 Washington Redskins 16 625 2536 15 4.1 158.5
25 New York Giants 16 640 2656 25 4.2 166.0
26 New York Jets 16 600 2701 20 4.5 168.8
27 Baltimore Colts 16 662 3010 21 4.5 188.1
28 Buffalo Bills 16 677 3228 23 4.8 201.8
Avg Team 574.1 2269.3 16.2 52 4.0 141.8 34.1
League Total 16075 63540 454 81 4.0 141.8 955
Avg Tm/G 35.9 141.8 1.0 4.0 141.8 2.1

Kick & Punt Returns Against

Punt Returns Kick Returns
Rk Tm G Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
1 Denver Broncos 16 48 0 52 1223 0 23.5
2 Miami Dolphins 16 42 0 70 1469 0 21.0
3 Green Bay Packers 16 51 0 52 1015 0 19.5
4 Detroit Lions 16 54 0 69 1424 0 20.6
5 New York Jets 16 52 0 64 1417 0 22.1
6 Atlanta Falcons 16 54 0 49 1141 0 23.3
7 New Orleans Saints 16 59 0 53 1035 0 19.5
8 Philadelphia Eagles 16 47 1 56 1154 0 20.6
9 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 38 0 60 1336 0 22.3
10 New England Patriots 16 29 0 69 1576 1 22.8
11 Chicago Bears 16 45 0 52 1146 0 22.0
12 Houston Oilers 16 53 1 61 1360 0 22.3
13 Minnesota Vikings 16 52 0 61 1297 0 21.3
14 Kansas City Chiefs 16 50 0 54 1087 0 20.1
15 St. Louis Cardinals 16 59 0 51 1142 2 22.4
16 Buffalo Bills 16 48 1 58 1191 0 20.5
17 Oakland Raiders 16 38 0 51 992 0 19.5
18 Seattle Seahawks 16 36 0 66 1328 1 20.1
19 New York Giants 16 61 0 55 1197 0 21.8
20 Baltimore Colts 16 53 0 52 1271 1 24.4
21 Dallas Cowboys 16 40 0 73 1709 0 23.4
22 Cleveland Browns 16 41 0 72 1469 1 20.4
23 Washington Redskins 16 48 2 55 965 0 17.5
24 San Diego Chargers 16 37 1 69 1457 0 21.1
25 Cincinnati Bengals 16 58 0 49 1105 0 22.6
26 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 62 0 49 1146 0 23.4
27 Los Angeles Rams 16 38 1 64 1335 1 20.9
28 San Francisco 49ers 16 46 0 47 928 0 19.7
Avg Team 47.8 400.8 0.3 47 8.4 58.3 1247.0 0.3 63 21.4 6458.4
League Total 1339 11223 7 82 8.4 1633 34915 7 102 21.4 180836
Avg Tm/G 3.0 25.1 0.0 8.4 3.6 77.9 0.0 21.4 403.7

Kicking & Punting Against

0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
Rk Tm G FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
1 New England Patriots 16 19 9 47.4% 38 31 81.6% 78 3081 39.5
2 Seattle Seahawks 16 27 19 70.4% 43 41 95.3% 67 2506 37.4
3 Kansas City Chiefs 16 18 14 77.8% 40 33 82.5% 76 3032 39.9
4 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 26 14 53.8% 22 21 95.5% 82 3231 39.4
5 San Diego Chargers 16 22 11 50.0% 40 36 90.0% 99 3812 38.5
6 Buffalo Bills 16 21 11 52.4% 46 43 93.5% 71 2592 36.5
7 Minnesota Vikings 16 19 13 68.4% 39 33 84.6% 92 3330 36.2
8 Oakland Raiders 16 17 14 82.4% 35 31 88.6% 90 3555 39.5
9 Baltimore Colts 16 24 14 58.3% 54 53 98.1% 80 2856 35.7
10 Philadelphia Eagles 16 26 14 53.8% 30 28 93.3% 83 3245 39.1
11 Houston Oilers 16 32 19 59.4% 34 33 97.1% 81 3459 42.7
12 San Francisco 49ers 16 38 23 60.5% 40 39 97.5% 87 3497 40.2
13 New Orleans Saints 16 33 22 66.7% 33 32 97.0% 71 2854 40.2
14 New York Jets 16 24 18 75.0% 45 40 88.9% 70 2618 37.4
15 Chicago Bears 16 19 16 84.2% 32 28 87.5% 96 3437 35.8
16 Cleveland Browns 16 29 22 75.9% 41 36 87.8% 82 3149 38.4
17 Detroit Lions 16 13 8 61.5% 39 38 97.4% 87 3497 40.2
18 Miami Dolphins 16 21 14 66.7% 30 28 93.3% 74 2738 37.0
19 Dallas Cowboys 16 22 11 50.0% 25 23 92.0% 108 4255 39.4
20 Denver Broncos 16 27 17 63.0% 21 21 100.0% 88 3511 39.9
21 New York Giants 16 26 12 46.2% 38 32 84.2% 90 3339 37.1
22 Cincinnati Bengals 16 23 16 69.6% 34 30 88.2% 108 4493 41.6
23 St. Louis Cardinals 16 18 13 72.2% 37 35 94.6% 94 3657 38.9
24 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 32 24 75.0% 27 23 85.2% 97 3919 40.4
25 Green Bay Packers 16 18 5 27.8% 36 36 100.0% 90 3411 37.9
26 Los Angeles Rams 16 26 17 65.4% 28 26 92.9% 104 3952 38.0
27 Atlanta Falcons 16 23 13 56.5% 36 35 97.2% 108 3953 36.6
28 Washington Redskins 16 34 24 70.6% 30 29 96.7% 105 3885 37.0
Avg Team 1.0 0.9 6.5 5.5 8.0 4.9 7.5 3.7 1.2 0.2 24.2 15.3 63.1% 35.5 32.6 92.0% 87.8 3424.5 62 0.9 39.0
League Total 28 26 182 155 223 136 210 104 34 6 677 427 63.1% 993 914 92.0% 2458 95885 81 26 39.0
Avg Tm/G 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.1 1.5 1.0 63.1% 2.2 2.0 92.0% 5.5 214.0 0.1 39.0

Scoring Against

Rk Tm G RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
1 San Francisco 49ers 16 17 20 39 23 1 350
2 Baltimore Colts 16 21 29 1 53 14 1 421
3 Atlanta Falcons 16 21 11 35 13 290
4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 12 13 23 24 1 259
5 Kansas City Chiefs 16 21 17 33 14 327
6 St. Louis Cardinals 16 15 19 2 35 13 296
7 Green Bay Packers 16 19 16 36 5 1 269
8 Cincinnati Bengals 16 16 14 30 16 1 284
9 Chicago Bears 16 15 16 28 16 274
10 New York Giants 16 25 10 32 12 1 298
11 Philadelphia Eagles 16 11 17 1 28 14 250
12 Washington Redskins 16 15 11 2 29 24 1 283
13 New Orleans Saints 16 9 21 32 22 1 298
14 Denver Broncos 16 12 9 21 17 198
15 Houston Oilers 16 14 17 1 33 19 2 298
16 Detroit Lions 16 18 19 38 8 2 300
17 Minnesota Vikings 16 20 15 33 13 306
18 Buffalo Bills 16 23 20 1 43 11 1 354
19 Oakland Raiders 16 15 17 31 14 283
20 Los Angeles Rams 16 11 15 1 1 26 17 245
21 Cleveland Browns 16 19 20 1 36 22 1 356
22 Seattle Seahawks 16 20 21 1 41 19 1 358
23 San Diego Chargers 16 12 23 1 36 11 309
24 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 11 10 21 14 195
25 New England Patriots 16 14 21 1 31 9 286
26 New York Jets 16 20 21 40 18 364
27 Miami Dolphins 16 15 15 28 14 2 254
28 Dallas Cowboys 16 13 11 23 11 1 208
Avg Team 16.2 16.7 0.3 0.3 0.6 1.1 0.5 32.6 15.3 0.6 293.3
League Total 454 468 7 7 18 30 13 914 427 18 8213
Avg Tm/G 1.0 1.0 0.1 2.0 1.0 18.3