1978 Baltimore Colts season

1978 Baltimore Colts season
Head coach Ted Marchibroda
General manager Dick Szymanski
Owner Robert Irsay
Home field Memorial Stadium
Results
Record 5–11
Division place T-4th AFC East
Playoff finish did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season Next season
< 1977 1979 >

The 1978 Baltimore Colts season was the 26th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). The Colts finished the 1978 season with a record of 5 wins and 11 losses, and tied for fourth in the AFC East division with the Buffalo Bills. The Colts lost the tiebreaker to Buffalo based on head-to-head series (0–2).

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, a Week Three victory 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 17.5 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.[1] 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.[2]

Personnel

Staff

colspan="7" style="background: #003b7b; color:white; border: 2px solid " text-align: center;" | 1978 Baltimore Colts staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Receivers – Dick Bielski
  • Offensive Line – Whitey Dovell
 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – George Boutselis

Roster

colspan="10" style="background: #003b7b; color:white; border:2px solid " text-align:center;" | 1978 Baltimore Colts roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

 Tight ends

Offensive linemen

 Defensive linemen

Linebackers

 Defensive backs

Special teams


Rookies in italics

[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance
1 September 4, 1978 at Dallas Cowboys L 0–38 0–1 Texas Stadium
64,224
2 September 10, 1978 Miami Dolphins L 0–42 0–2 Memorial Stadium
47,730
3 September 18, 1978 at New England Patriots W 34–27 1–2 Schaeffer Stadium
57,284
4 September 24, 1978 at Buffalo Bills L 17–24 1–3 Rich Stadium
55,270
5 October 1, 1978 Philadelphia Eagles L 14–17 1–4 Memorial Stadium
50,314
6 October 8, 1978 at St. Louis Cardinals W 30–17 2–4 Busch Memorial Stadium
47,479
7 October 15, 1978 New York Jets L 10–33 2–5 Memorial Stadium
45,563
8 October 22, 1978 Denver Broncos W 7–6 3–5 Memorial Stadium
54,057
9 October 29, 1978 at Miami Dolphins L 8–26 3–6 Miami Orange Bowl
53,524
10 November 6, 1978 Washington Redskins W 21–17 4–6 Memorial Stadium
57,631
11 November 12, 1978 at Seattle Seahawks W 17–14 5–6 Kingdome
61,905
12 November 19, 1978 Cleveland Browns L 24–45 5–7 Memorial Stadium
45,341
13 November 26, 1978 New England Patriots L 14–35 5–8 Memorial Stadium
42,828
14 December 3, 1978 at New York Jets L 17–30 5–9 Shea Stadium
50,248
15 December 9, 1978 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–35 5–10 Three Rivers Stadium
41,957
16 December 17, 1978 Buffalo Bills L 14–21 5–11 Memorial Stadium
25,415

Results

Week 3

1 234Total
• Colts 0 7027 34
Patriots 6 7014 27
  • Date: September 18
  • Location: Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts
  • Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 58°F; Wind 9
  • Television network: ABC

[4]


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
Baltimore Colts 5 11 0 .313 1–7 3–9 239 421 L5
Buffalo Bills 5 11 0 .313 2–6 4–10 302 354 W1

See also

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: Baltimore Colts 34 at New England Patriots 27, Monday, September 18, 1978
  3. ↑ "1978 Baltimore Colts starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com