# 1978 Buffalo Bills season

The 1978 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League, and the 19th overall. The Bills were coming off a season in which they only won three games, making 1978 a slight improvement.
Head coach Chuck Knox began his first season with the team, having coached the Los Angeles Rams for the previous five seasons. It was also Buffalo's first season after the departure of star running back O. J. Simpson, who was traded to San Francisco for five draft picks in the offseason.
The Bills offense acquired a pair of weapons for quarterback Joe Ferguson: wide receiver Frank Lewis, who had spent the previous 7 seasons in Pittsburgh, and rookie running back Terry Miller, who ended the season with over 1,000 yards.
The 1978 Bills' run defense allowed an NFL record 3,228 rushing yards; the 677 rushing attempts the Bills faced in 1978 is also an NFL record. Oddly, the Bills were first in the league in yards allowed on pass defense, giving up only 1,960 yards through the air.
Buffalo's week eight victory over the Cincinnati Bengals produced the second 5-0 final score in modern NFL history (since 1933); the other was a 1970 NFC divisional playoff between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.

## Offseason
### Draft

1978 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 5 | Terry Miller | Running back | Oklahoma State |
| 2 | 32 | Dee Hardison | Defensive end | North Carolina |
| 2 | 38 | Scott Hutchinson | Defensive end | Florida |
| 3 | 59 | Dennis Johnson | Running back | Mississippi State |
| 3 | 65 | Danny Fulton | Wide receiver | Nebraska–Omaha |
| 4 | 89 | Lucius Sanford | Linebacker | Georgia Tech |
| 5 | 114 | Ken Spaeth | Tight end | Nebraska |
| 6 | 145 | Eric Smith | Offensive tackle | Southern Miss |
| 7 | 171 | Mario Celotto | Linebacker | USC |
| 7 | 183 | Steve Powell | Running back | NE Missouri State |
| 10 | 255 | Will Grant | Center | Kentucky |
| 11 | 282 | Jerry Blanton | Linebacker | Kentucky |
| 12 | 309 | Richard Crump | Running back | Northeast Oklahoma A&M |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–28 | 0–1 | Rich Stadium | 64,147 |
| 2 | September 10 | New York Jets | L 20–21 | 0–2 | Rich Stadium | 40,985 |
| 3 | September 17 | at Miami Dolphins | L 24–31 | 0–3 | Miami Orange Bowl | 48,373 |
| 4 | September 24 | Baltimore Colts | W 24–17 | 1–3 | Rich Stadium | 55,270 |
| 5 | October 1 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 28–13 | 2–3 | Rich Stadium | 47,310 |
| 6 | October 8 | at New York Jets | L 14–45 | 2–4 | Shea Stadium | 44,545 |
| 7 | October 15 | at Houston Oilers | L 10–17 | 2–5 | Astrodome | 47,727 |
| 8 | October 22 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 5–0 | 3–5 | Rich Stadium | 47,754 |
| 9 | October 29 | at Cleveland Browns | L 20–41 | 3–6 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 51,409 |
| 10 | November 5 | New England Patriots | L 10–14 | 3–7 | Rich Stadium | 44,897 |
| 11 | November 12 | Miami Dolphins | L 24–25 | 3–8 | Rich Stadium | 48,623 |
| 12 | November 19 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–31 | 3–9 | Tampa Stadium | 61,383 |
| 13 | November 26 | New York Giants | W 41–17 | 4–9 | Rich Stadium | 28,496 |
| 14 | December 3 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–14 | 4–10 | Arrowhead Stadium | 25,781 |
| 15 | December 10 | at New England Patriots | L 24–26 | 4–11 | Schaefer Stadium | 59,598 |
| 16 | December 17 | at Baltimore Colts | W 21–14 | 5–11 | Memorial Stadium | 25,415 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Season summary
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Steelers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| • Bills | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 |

#### Week 5

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chiefs | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Bills | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
* Date: October 1
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT/12:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C)
* Game attendance: 47,310
* Referee: Gordon McCarter
* TV: NBC
* Box score
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
BUF – Bob Chandler 20-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 7–6.
BUF – Terry Miller 8-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 14–6.
BUF – Bob Chandler 22-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Bills 21–6.
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
KC – Tony Adams – 7/12, 80 yards
BUF – Joe Ferguson – 15/18, 210 yards, 2 TD, INT
Top rushers
KC – MacArthur Lane – 17 rushes, 144 yards
BUF – Terry Miller – 18 rushes, 67 yards, TD
Top receivers
KC – Walter White – 5 receptions, 60 yards
BUF – Bob Chandler – 7 receptions, 116 yards, 2 TD :

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Patriots | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Bills | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

#### Week 13 vs. Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Bills | 7 | 0 | 7 | 27 | 41 |
at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
* Date: November 26, 1978
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 23 °F (−5 °C)
* Game attendance: 28,496
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
NYG – Al Dixon 31-yard pass from Joe Pisarcik (Joe Danelo kick). Giants 7–0.
BUF – Curtis Brown 1-yard run (Tom Dempsey kick). Tie 7–7.
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 from Joe 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
NYG – Joe Pisarcik – 15/24, 230 yards, 2 TD, INT
BUF – Joe Ferguson – 9/15, 106 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
NYG – Bobby Hammond – 15 rushes, 60 yards
BUF – Terry Miller – 21 rushes, 208 yards, 2 TD
Top receivers
NYG – Al Dixon – 2 receptions, 78 yards, TD
BUF – Bob Chandler – 5 receptions, 75 yards :

#### Week 14 at Chiefs

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Chiefs | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
* Date: December 3
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: 24 °F (−4 °C)
* Game attendance: 25,781
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers (NBC): Jay Randolph and Mike Haffner
* Box score
Game information :
First quarter
KC – Ted McKnight 17-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick). Chiefs 7–0.
Second quarter
BUF – Frank Lewis 40-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick). Tied 7–7.
Third quarter
BUF – Tom Dempsey 22-yard field goal. Bills 10–7.
KC – Walter White 3-yard pass from Mike Livingston (Jan Stenerud kick). Chiefs 14–10.
Fourth quarter
No scoring
Top passers
BUF – Joe Ferguson – 14/25, 207 yards, TD, 3 INT
KC – Mike Livingston – 12/21, 99 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
BUF – Terry Miller – 15 rushes, 57 yards
KC – Tony Reed – 16 rushes, 97 yards
Top receivers
BUF – Frank Lewis – 7 receptions, 126 yards, TD
KC – Henry Marshall – 3 receptions, 40 yards :

### 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 |

## Player stats
### Passing

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 |

### Special teams

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% |

## Video Archives

* 1978 NFL Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills at YouTube
* 1978 NFL Week 2: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills at YouTube
* 1978 NFL Week 5: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills at YouTube
* 1978 NFL Week 6: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets at YouTube