# 1978 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1978 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League, and the 11th overall.
Ken Anderson missed the first four games with a broken bone in his right hand, and Homer Rice replaced Bill Johnson as head coach after the Bengals started 0–5. The team dipped to marks of 0–8 and 1–12 before rebounding under Rice to win the last three games. In the season finale, the Bengals blasted Cleveland, 48–16, setting series records for points and victory margin.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1978 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 8 | Ross Browner | Defensive end | Notre Dame |
| 1 | 16 | Blair Bush | Center | Washington |
| 2 | 35 | Ray Griffin | Defensive back | Ohio State |
| 2 | 45 | Deacon Turner | Running back | San Diego State |
| 3 | 72 | Ted Vincent | Defensive tackle | Wichita State |
| 3 | 83 | Don Bass | Wide receiver | Houston |
| 4 | 99 | Dennis Law | Wide receiver | East Tennessee State |
| 5 | 126 | Tom Dinkel | Linebacker | Kansas |
| 5 | 131 | Rob Hertel | Quarterback | USC |
| 6 | 155 | Steve Geise | Running back | Penn State |
| 7 | 182 | Joe Branson | Defensive back | Livingstone |
| 7 | 193 | Danny Bass | Guard | Elon |
| 8 | 211 | Bill Miller | Offensive tackle | Western Illinois |
| 9 | 238 | Ron Shumon | Linebacker | Wichita State |
| 10 | 267 | Tom DePaso | Linebacker | Penn State |
| 11 | 292 | Cal Prince | Running back | Louisville |
| 11 | 294 | Mark Donahue | Guard | Michigan |
| 12 | 323 | Kim Featsent | Wide receiver | Kent State |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 3 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 23–24 | 0–1 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 10 | at Cleveland Browns | L 10–13 (OT) | 0–2 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 3–28 | 0–3 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | September 24 | New Orleans Saints | L 18–20 | 0–4 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 1 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 12–28 | 0–5 | Candlestick Park | Recap |
| 6 | October 9 | at Miami Dolphins | L 0–21 | 0–6 | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap |
| 7 | October 15 | New England Patriots | L 3–10 | 0–7 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 22 | at Buffalo Bills | L 0–5 | 0–8 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | October 29 | Houston Oilers | W 28–13 | 1–8 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 5 | at San Diego Chargers | L 13–22 | 1–9 | San Diego Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 13 | Oakland Raiders | L 21–34 | 1–10 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 19 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 6–7 | 1–11 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | November 26 | at Houston Oilers | L 10–17 | 1–12 | Astrodome | Recap |
| 14 | December 3 | Atlanta Falcons | W 37–7 | 2–12 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 11 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 20–19 | 3–12 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| 16 | December 17 | Cleveland Browns | W 48–16 | 4–12 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Pittsburgh Steelers$^{(1)}$ | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 5–1 | 11–1 | 356 | 195 | W5 |
| Houston Oilers$^{(5)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 283 | 298 | L1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 1–5 | 4–8 | 334 | 356 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–4 | 2–10 | 252 | 284 | W3 |

### Team leaders

* Passing: Ken Anderson (319 Att, 173 Comp, 2219 Yds, 54.2 Pct, 10 TD, 22 Int, 58.0 Rating)
* Rushing: Pete Johnson (180 Att, 762 Yds, 4.2 Avg, 50 Long, 7 TD)
* Receiving: Isaac Curtis (47 Rec, 737 Yds, 15.7 Avg, 57 Long, 3 TD)
* Scoring: Chris Bahr, 74 points (16 FG; 26 PAT)

## Awards and records
### Pro Bowl selection

* For the first time in team history, the Bengals did not have any players selected to the Pro Bowl.