# 1978 Chicago Bears season

The 1978 season was the Chicago Bears' 59th in the National Football League, and their first under head coach Neill Armstrong. The team failed to improve on their 9–5 record from 1977 to finish at 7–9, and failed to make the playoffs for the 14th time in the past 15 seasons.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1978 Chicago Bears draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 3 | 74 | Brad Shearer | Defensive tackle | Texas |
| 6 | 139 | John Skibinski | Running back | Purdue |
| 6 | 158 | Mekeli Ieremia | Defensive end | BYU |
| 7 | 185 | Herman Jones | Wide receiver | Ohio State |
| 8 | 212 | George Freitas | Tight end | California |
| 9 | 244 | Mike Martin | Linebacker | Kentucky |
| 10 | 271 | Ben Zambiasi | Linebacker | Georgia |
| 11 | 298 | Walt Underwood | Defensive end | USC |
| 12 | 325 | Lew Sibley | Linebacker | LSU |
| Made roster ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1978 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Mike Morgan | Running back | Wisconsin |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 3 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 17–10 | 1–0 | Soldier Field | 52,791 |
| 2 | September 10 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 16–13 | 2–0 | Candlestick Park | 49,502 |
| 3 | September 17 | at Detroit Lions | W 19–0 | 3–0 | Pontiac Silverdome | 65,982 |
| 4 | September 25 | Minnesota Vikings | L 20–24 | 3–1 | Soldier Field | 53,551 |
| 5 | October 1 | Oakland Raiders | L 19–25 | 3–2 | Soldier Field | 52,848 |
| 6 | October 8 | at Green Bay Packers | L 14–24 | 3–3 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 7 | October 16 | at Denver Broncos | L 7–16 | 3–4 | Mile High Stadium | 75,008 |
| 8 | October 22 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 19–33 | 3–5 | Tampa Stadium | 68,146 |
| 9 | October 29 | Detroit Lions | L 17–21 | 3–6 | Soldier Field | 53,378 |
| 10 | November 5 | Seattle Seahawks | L 29–31 | 3–7 | Soldier Field | 50,697 |
| 11 | November 12 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 14–17 | 3–8 | Metropolitan Stadium | 43,286 |
| 12 | November 19 | Atlanta Falcons | W 13–7 | 4–8 | Soldier Field | 46,022 |
| 13 | November 26 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 14–3 | 5–8 | Soldier Field | 42,373 |
| 14 | December 4 | at San Diego Chargers | L 7–40 | 5–9 | San Diego Stadium | 48,492 |
| 15 | December 10 | Green Bay Packers | W 14–0 | 6–9 | Soldier Field | 34,306 |
| 16 | December 16 | at Washington Redskins | W 14–10 | 7–9 | RFK Stadium | 49,774 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Game summaries
### Week 2

"The 100 yards was nice, but it doesn't mean a thing since we lost." O. J. Simpson said after winning his first confrontation with Walter Payton. Simpson had 108 yards to Payton's 62. - But Simpson's fumble proved to be a pivotal one. He recovered the ball but lost 6 yards on the play, and the 49ers, leading by four points in the fourth quarter, had to go to the air to try to maintain possession. Doug Buffone then intercepts and Chicago wound up with the winning touchdown.
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bears | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 16 |
| 49ers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 |

### Week 3

* Television: CBS
* Announcers: Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris
Chicago scored three times in about four minutes in the third quarter, including a 40-yard touchdown pass from Bob Avellini to James Scott as the Bears go 3-0 to stay in first place and extend their regular season winning streak to 9. The third quarter scoring barrage began with a 28-yard field goal by Bob Thomas at 10:41. Less than Three minutes later Tommy Hart tackled quarterback Greg Landry in the end zone for a safety. Then the Bears wrapped up the scoring with Avellini's 40-yard bomb to wide receiver James Scott over the head of cornerback James Hunter.

### Week 6 at Packers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Packers | 0 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 24 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: October 8
* Game time: 2:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C)
* Game attendance: 56,267
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
GB – Chester Marcol 41-yard field goal. Packers 3–0.
Third quarter
GB – Terdell Middleton 2-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 10–0.
GB – Steve Luke 63-yard interception return (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 17–0.
Fourth quarter
CHI – James Scott 15-yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick). Packers 17–7.
GB – James Lofton 58-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 24–7.
CHI – James Scott 17-yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick). Packers 24–14.
Top passers
CHI – Bob Avellini – 23/37, 224 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
GB – David Whitehurst – 6/12, 88 yards, TD
Top rushers
CHI – Walter Payton – 19 rushes, 82 yards
GB – Terdell Middleton – 16 rushes, 64 yards, TD
Top receivers
CHI – James Scott – 9 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TD
GB – James Lofton – 2 receptions, 65 yards, TD :

### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bears | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Redskins | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

## Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Minnesota Vikings$^{(3)}$ | 8 | 7 | 1 | .531 | 5–2–1 | 7–4–1 | 294 | 306 | L2 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 7 | 1 | .531 | 5–2–1 | 6–5–1 | 249 | 269 | L2 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 290 | 300 | W2 |
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–5 | 7–5 | 253 | 274 | W2 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–6 | 3–11 | 241 | 259 | L4 |