1978 Baltimore Colts season

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1978 Baltimore Colts season
OwnerRobert Irsay
General managerDick Szymanski
Head coachTed Marchibroda
Home fieldMemorial Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division placeT-4th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

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, Baltimore started the season in catastrophic fashion, losing their first two games by a combined score of 80–0.[1] 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.[2][3][4] 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.[5]

Offseason

NFL draft

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

Personnel

Staff

1978 Baltimore Colts staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – George Boutselis


Roster

1978 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Source:[6]

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

Week Three: Baltimore Colts (0–2) at New England Patriots (1–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Colts 0 7 02734
Patriots 6 7 01427

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts

Game information

Standings

AFC East
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

See also

References

  1. ^ "Pats have big chance to gain division start". The Day. (New London, Connecticut). Associated Press. September 18, 1978. p. 24.
  2. ^ "It was Washington's night, Pats' nightmare, 34-27". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 19, 1978. p. 3C.
  3. ^ May, Peter (September 19, 1978). "Patriots' 'D' takes fourth quarter off". Nashua Telegraph. (New Hampshire). UPI. p. 20.
  4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single game, from 1940 to 2012, in the Regular Season, team won game, requiring Underdog By >= 0, sorted by descending Underdog By.
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: Baltimore Colts 34 at New England Patriots 27, Monday, September 18, 1978
  6. ^ "1978 Baltimore Colts starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.