19th season in franchise history
The1978 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 9th season in theNational Football League , and the 19th overall. The Bills werecoming off a season in which they only won three games, making 1978 a slight improvement.
Head coachChuck Knox began his first season with the team, havingcoached the Los Angeles Rams for the previous five seasons.[ note 1] running back O. J. Simpson , who was traded toSan Francisco for five draft picks in the offseason.
The Bills offense acquired a pair of weapons for quarterbackJoe Ferguson : wide receiverFrank Lewis , who had spent the previous 7 seasons inPittsburgh , and rookie running backTerry Miller , who ended the season with over 1,000 yards.[ note 2]
The 1978 Bills' run defense allowed anNFL record 3,228 rushing yards; the 677 rushing attempts the Bills faced in 1978 is also an NFL record.[ 1] [ 2]
Buffalo's week eight victory over theCincinnati Bengals produced the second 5-0 final score in modern NFL history (since1933 ); the other was a1970 NFC divisional playoff between theDallas Cowboys andDetroit Lions .
[ 3]
1978 Buffalo Bills staff Front office Coaching staff
Offensive coaches
Defensive/special teams coaches
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 3 Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–280–1 Rich Stadium 64,147 2 September 10 New York Jets L 20–210–2 Rich Stadium 40,985 3 September 17 atMiami Dolphins L 24–310–3 Miami Orange Bowl 48,373 4 September 24 Baltimore Colts W 24–171–3 Rich Stadium 55,270 5 October 1 Kansas City Chiefs W 28–132–3 Rich Stadium 47,310 6 October 8 atNew York Jets L 14–452–4 Shea Stadium 44,545 7 October 15 atHouston Oilers L 10–172–5 Astrodome 47,727 8 October 22 Cincinnati Bengals W 5–03–5 Rich Stadium 47,754 9 October 29 atCleveland Browns L 20–413–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,409 10 November 5 New England Patriots L 10–143–7 Rich Stadium 44,897 11 November 12 Miami Dolphins L 24–253–8 Rich Stadium 48,623 12 November 19 atTampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–313–9 Tampa Stadium 61,383 13 November 26 New York Giants W 41–174–9 Rich Stadium 28,496 14 December 3 atKansas City Chiefs L 10–144–10 Arrowhead Stadium 25,781 15 December 10 atNew England Patriots L 24–264–11 Schaefer Stadium 59,598 16 December 17 atBaltimore Colts W 21–145–11 Memorial Stadium 25,415 Note: Intra-division opponents are inbold text.
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Steelers 0 14 0 14 28 Bills 0 0 0 17 17
Team 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 14 3 0 17 • Bills 14 10 0 0 24
Date: September 24Location: Rich StadiumGame start: 1:00 p.m.EST Game weather: 56 °F or 13.3 °C; wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn)Referee: Cal Lepore
Scoring summary Q1 BUF Gant 19 yard pass fromFerguson (Dempsey kick)BUF 7–0 Q1 BUF Lewis 28 yard pass from Ferguson (Dempsey kick)BUF 14–0 Q2 BAL Leaks 17 yard pass fromTroup (Linhart kick)BUF 14–7 Q2 BAL McCall 5 yard blocked punt return (Linhart kick)Tie 14–14 Q2 BUF Brown 102 yard kickoff return (Dempsey kick)BUF 21–14 Q2 BUF Dempsey 21 yard field goal BUF 24–14 Q3 BAL Linhart 21 yard field goal BUF 24–17
[ 4]
Game information First quarter
KC –Jan Stenerud 42-yard field goal.Chiefs 3–0. KC – Jan Stenerud 27-yard field goal.Chiefs 6–0. Second quarter
Third quarter
BUF –Curtis Brown 22-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick).Bills 28–6. Fourth quarter
KC –Ted McKnight 41-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick).Bills 28–13. Top passers Top rushers Top receivers
Team 1 2 3 4 Total • Patriots 0 7 7 0 14 Bills 3 0 0 7 10
[ 5]
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
NYG – Joe Danelo 27-yard field goal.Giants 10–7. Third quarter
NYG –Doug Kotar 19-yard pass from Joe Pisarcik (Joe Danelo kick).Giants 17–7. BUF –Roland Hooks 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick).Giants 17–14. Fourth quarter
BUF – Curtis Brown 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick).Bills 21–17. BUF –Lou Piccone 9-yard pass fromJoe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick).Bills 28–17. BUF –Terry Miller 39-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick).Bills 35–17. BUF – Terry Miller 13-yard run (kick failed).Bills 41–17. Top passers Top rushers Top receivers
Game information First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
Top passers Top rushers Top receivers
Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions
Player Games Completions Attempts Yards TD INT Rating Joe Ferguson 16 175 330 2136 16 15 70.5
[ 6]
Note: FGA = Field Goals Attempted; FGM = Field Goals Made; FG% = Field goal percentage; XPA = Extra Points Attempted; XPM = Extra Points Made; XP% = Extra Points Percentage
Player Games FGA FGM FG % XPA XPM XP % Tom Dempsey 16 13 10 76.9% 38 36 94.7%
[ 6]
^ Knox would coach the Bills for five seasons – throughthe 1982 season – before leaving forSeattle . ^ Miller's 1,060 yards would be the only 1,000-yard total of his three year career in Buffalo.
Franchise Stadiums Culture Lore Rivalries Division championships (15) Conference championships (4) League championships (2) Wall of Fame Media Owners Current league affiliations Former league affiliation
