1978 Denver Broncos season
| 1978 Denver Broncos season | |
|---|---|
| General manager | Fred Gehrke |
| Head coach | Red Miller |
| Home field | Mile High Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 1st AFC West |
| Playoff finish | Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 10–33 |
The 1978 Denver Broncos season was the team's 19th year in professional football and its ninth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by second-year head coach Red Miller, the Broncos were 10–6, repeated as champions of the AFC West, and made the playoffs for the second straight season.
In the AFC divisional round, Denver lost on the road to the top-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers,[1][2] 33–10, whom they had lost to two weeks earlier in the regular season finale at Mile High Stadium;[3][4] Denver had clinched their division title six days earlier with a win over struggling Kansas City, while runners-up Oakland and Seattle both lost and fell to 8–7 with San Diego, two games back with one to play.[5]
The Broncos were fifteenth in the league in scoring offense, while the defense finished second in points allowed and sixth in yards allowed. [6]
Offseason
NFL Draft
| 1978 Denver Broncos draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Don Latimer | DT | Miami (FL) | |
| 2 | 55 | Bill Gay * | TE | USC | |
| 8 | 221 | Frank Smith | OT | Alabama A&M | |
| 10 | 277 | Vince Kinney | WR | Maryland | |
| 11 | 305 | Lacy Brumley | OT | Clemson | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Personnel
Staff
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
|
Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Reserve lists
| ||||||
- Source:
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | Oakland Raiders | W 14–6 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 75,092 | |
| 2 | September 11 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 9–12 (OT) | 1–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,508 | |
| 3 | September 17 | San Diego Chargers | W 27–14 | 2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 74,983 | |
| 4 | September 24 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 23–17 (OT) | 3–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 60,593 | |
| 5 | October 1 | Seattle Seahawks | W 28–7 | 4–1 | Mile High Stadium | 74,989 | |
| 6 | October 8 | at San Diego Chargers | L 0–23 | 4–2 | San Diego Stadium | 50,077 | |
| 7 | October 16 | Chicago Bears | W 16–7 | 5–2 | Mile High Stadium | 75,008 | |
| 8 | October 22 | at Baltimore Colts | L 6–7 | 5–3 | Memorial Stadium | 54,057 | |
| 9 | October 29 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 20–17 (OT) | 6–3 | Kingdome | 62,948 | |
| 10 | November 5 | New York Jets | L 28–31 | 6–4 | Mile High Stadium | 74,983 | |
| 11 | November 12 | at Cleveland Browns | W 19–7 | 7–4 | Cleveland Stadium | 70,856 | |
| 12 | November 19 | Green Bay Packers | W 16–3 | 8–4 | Mile High Stadium | 74,965 | |
| 13 | November 23 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–17 | 8–5 | Pontiac Silverdome | 71,785 | |
| 14 | December 3 | at Oakland Raiders | W 21–6 | 9–5 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,932 | |
| 15 | December 10 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 24–3 | 10–5 | Mile High Stadium | 74,149 | |
| 16 | December 16 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–21 | 10–6 | Mile High Stadium | 74,104 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
- Monday night (September 11, October 16),[8][9] Thursday (November 23: Thanksgiving),[10] Saturday (December 16)[3][4]
- This was the first NFL regular season with 16 games.
Standings
| AFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Denver Broncos(3) | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 7–1 | 8–4 | 282 | 198 | L1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–5 | 5–7 | 311 | 283 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 345 | 358 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 355 | 309 | W3 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–7 | 4–10 | 243 | 327 | L2 |
Playoffs
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisional | December 30 | at Pittsburgh Steelers (1) | L 10–33 | 0–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 48,921 |
References
- ^ a b "Steelers draw their curtain on Denver, 33–10". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1978. p. 7B.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (January 8, 1979). "Wrong is just right". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
- ^ a b Sheeley, Glenn (December 17, 1978). "Steelers avoid crushing loss". Pittsburgh Press. p. D1.
- ^ a b "It took Steelers until final play to nail down win over Denver". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. December 17, 1978. p. 4B.
- ^ "Kansas City can't handle Morton's arm". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 11, 1978. p. 3B.
- ^ "1978 Denver Broncos Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ 1978 Denver Broncos Media Guide. p. 4. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- ^ "Viks lose on call, win on field goal". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. September 12, 1978. p. 3C.
- ^ "Determined Broncos prevail". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. October 17, 1978. p. B3.
- ^ "Lions outlast Broncos on King's late score". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. November 24, 1978. p. 17.
External links
- Denver Broncos – 1978 media guide
- 1978 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com
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