# 1978 Baltimore Colts season

The 1978 Baltimore Colts season was the 26th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). Under fourth-year head coach Ted Marchibroda, the Colts finished with 5 wins and 11 losses, tied for fourth in the AFC East division with the Buffalo Bills. Baltimore lost the tiebreaker to Buffalo based on head-to-head series (0–2). This was the first time under Marchibroda that Baltimore did not make the postseason.
The Colts' minus-181 point differential was easily the NFL's worst, 50 points behind the next worst team, the San Francisco 49ers.
With quarterback Bert Jones out for several weeks with a shoulder injury and quickly losing both starting offensive tackles for the year through injury, Baltimore started the season in catastrophic fashion, losing their first two games by a combined score of 80–0. The Colts' first win of the season, in week three over New England on Monday Night Football, is one of the biggest regular season upsets in NFL history. The Patriots were favored by an overwhelming 17½ points, but the Colts scored 27 points in the fourth quarter, including a 90-yard kickoff return by running back Joe Washington with under a minute left to take the lead for good. In the game, Washington became the first player to throw a touchdown, catch a pass for a touchdown, and return a kickoff for a touchdown in the same game.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1978 Baltimore Colts draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 25 | Reese McCall | Tight end | Auburn |
| 2 | 52 | Mike Woods | Linebacker | Cincinnati |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### Roster

    Source:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 0–38 | 0–1 | Texas Stadium | 64,224 |
| 2 | September 10 | Miami Dolphins | L 0–42 | 0–2 | Memorial Stadium | 47,730 |
| 3 | September 18 | at New England Patriots | W 34–27 | 1–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 57,284 |
| 4 | September 24 | at Buffalo Bills | L 17–24 | 1–3 | Rich Stadium | 55,270 |
| 5 | October 1 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 14–17 | 1–4 | Memorial Stadium | 50,314 |
| 6 | October 8 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 30–17 | 2–4 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47,479 |
| 7 | October 15 | New York Jets | L 10–33 | 2–5 | Memorial Stadium | 45,563 |
| 8 | October 22 | Denver Broncos | W 7–6 | 3–5 | Memorial Stadium | 54,057 |
| 9 | October 29 | at Miami Dolphins | L 8–26 | 3–6 | Miami Orange Bowl | 53,524 |
| 10 | November 6 | Washington Redskins | W 21–17 | 4–6 | Memorial Stadium | 57,631 |
| 11 | November 12 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 17–14 | 5–6 | Kingdome | 61,905 |
| 12 | November 19 | Cleveland Browns | L 24–45 | 5–7 | Memorial Stadium | 45,341 |
| 13 | November 26 | New England Patriots | L 14–35 | 5–8 | Memorial Stadium | 42,828 |
| 14 | December 3 | at New York Jets | L 17–30 | 5–9 | Shea Stadium | 50,248 |
| 15 | December 9 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 13–35 | 5–10 | Three Rivers Stadium | 41,957 |
| 16 | December 17 | Buffalo Bills | L 14–21 | 5–11 | Memorial Stadium | 25,415 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Results
#### Week 3

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 0 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 34 |
| Patriots | 6 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 27 |
at Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
* Date: September 18
* Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C)
* TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
NE – Andy Johnson 1-yard run (kick failed). Patriots 6–0. Drive:
Second quarter
BAL – Don McCauley 3-yard run (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 7–6. Drive:
NE – Stanley Morgan 62-yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick). Patriots 13–7. Drive:
Fourth quarter
BAL – Roger Carr 54-yard pass from Joe Washington (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 14–13. Drive:
BAL – Joe Washington 23-yard pass from Bill Troup (kick failed). Colts 20–13. Drive:
BAL – Roger Carr 67-yard pass from Bill Troup (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 27–13. Drive:
NE – Steve Grogan 4-yard run (John Smith kick), 3:17. Colts 27–20. Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards.
NE – Sam Cunningham 1-yard run (John Smith kick), 1:33. Tie 27–27. Drive:
BAL – Joe Washington 90-yard kickoff return (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 34–27.
Top passers
BAL – Bill Troup – 10/15, 221 yards, 2 TD, INT
NE – Steve Grogan – 11/33, 229 yards, TD, 3 INT
Top rushers
BAL – Joe Washington – 16 rushes, 53 yards
NE – Andy Johnson – 27 rushes, 109 yards, TD
Top receivers
BAL – Roger Carr – 6 receptions, 187 yards, 2 TD
NE – Stanley Morgan – 3 receptions, 125 yards, TD :

### Standings

1978 AFC East standings :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| New England Patriots$^{(2)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 358 | 286 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins$^{(4)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–3 | 8–4 | 372 | 254 | W3 |
| New York Jets | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 6–2 | 7–5 | 359 | 364 | L2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–6 | 4–10 | 302 | 354 | W1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–7 | 3–9 | 240 | 421 | L5 |