Katana VentraIP

1978 NFL season

The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16 games, which it remained in place until 2021 when it was increased to 17 games. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference. The wild card teams played each other, with the winner advancing to the playoff round of eight teams.[1]

Regular season

September 2 –
December 18, 1978

December 24, 1978

Pittsburgh Steelers

Dallas Cowboys

January 21, 1979

Orange Bowl, Miami

Pittsburgh Steelers

January 29, 1979

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The season ended with Super Bowl XIII when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys at the Orange Bowl in Miami.


The average salary for a player in 1978 was under $62,600, up 13.2 percent over the previous year. Fran Tarkenton was the highest-paid quarterback at $360,000 and running back O. J. Simpson was the highest paid player, at just under $733,400.[2]

Draft[edit]

The 1978 NFL Draft was held from May 2 to 3 at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel. With the first pick, the Houston Oilers selected running back Earl Campbell of Texas, the Heisman Trophy winner.

New officials[edit]

Future referees Tom Dooley, Dale Hamer and Dick Hantak were among those entering the league. Bernie Ulman, the head linesman for Super Bowl I and referee for Super Bowl IX, retired prior to the season, which left the NFL with only 14 crews for the 1978 season. Dooley (103), Hamer (104) and Hantak (105) were among the first officials to wear triple-digit numbers, joined by Bob Boylston (101), Gene Carrabine (102), Al Jury (106), Jim Kearney (107), Bob McLaughlin (108), Sid Semon (109), and Jim Osborne (110).

To open up the passing game, defenders are permitted to make contact with receivers only to a point of five yards beyond the line of scrimmage. This applies only to the time before the ball is thrown, at which point any contact is pass interference. Previously, contact was allowed anywhere on the field. This is usually referred to as the " Rule"

Mel Blount

The offensive team may only make one forward pass during a play from scrimmage, but only if the ball does not cross the line and return behind the line prior to the pass.

Double touching of a forward pass is legal, but batting a pass towards the opponent's end zone is illegal. Previously, a second offensive player could not legally catch a deflected pass unless a defensive player had touched it. This is usually referred to as the " Rule". During a play in Super Bowl V, Baltimore Colts receiver Eddie Hinton tipped a pass intended for him. Renfro, the Cowboys defensive back, made a stab at the ball and it was ruled that he tipped it ever so slightly (which he denied) into the arms of Colts tight end John Mackey, who ran for a touchdown. Later, this rule was also the one in question during the Immaculate Reception in 1972. But despite these two incidents, the rule change did not occur until this season.

Mel Renfro

The pass blocking rules were extended to permit extended arms and open hands.

The penalty for intentional grounding is reduced from a loss of down and 15 yards to a loss of down and 10 yards from the previous spot (or at the spot of the foul if the spot is 10 yards or more behind the line of scrimmage). If the passer commits the foul in his own end zone, the defense scores a safety.

A five-yard penalty and ten-second runoff is to be applied if a team intentionally commits a penalty or foul to stop the clock.

Hurdling is no longer a foul.

A seventh , the Side Judge, is added to the officiating crew to help rule on legalities downfield and serve as a second umpire on field goals and extra points.[3] The addition of fifteen officials (one per crew) forced three-digit numbers to be used for the first time. (The sixth official (line judge) was added thirteen years earlier.)

official

All stadiums must have arrows by the numeric yard markers indicating the closer goal line.

The league passed major rule changes to encourage offensive scoring.[3] In 1977 – the last year of the so-called "Dead Ball Era" – teams scored an average of 17.2 points per game, the lowest total since 1942.[4]

Regular season[edit]

New interconference scheduling[edit]

The change to a 16-game season also marked the start of a new scheduling format that saw a division in one conference play a division in another conference, rotating every season and repeating the process every three years. A change was also made to non-divisional opponents in a team's own conference, which became based on divisional positions from the previous season.[1][5] Previously, teams played rotating groups of opponents in the other conference and in other divisions of their own conference, although some opponents were cut in 1976 and 1977 to allow for games against the Seahawks and Buccaneers.[6] This format remains in effect, though it has been slightly modified over the years, most recently with the addition of two more divisions in 2002.


The interconference matchups for 1978 were as follows:

New England finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better division record (6–2 to Dolphins' 5–3).

Buffalo finished ahead of Baltimore in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).

Oakland, Seattle, and San Diego finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, respectively, in the AFC West based on better record against common opponents (6–2 to Seahawks' 5–3 and Chargers' 4–4).

[7]

Minnesota finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on better head-to-head record (1–0–1).

Los Angeles was top NFC seed over Dallas based on better head-to-head record (1–0).

Detroit finished ahead of Chicago in the NFC Central based on better division record (4–4 to Bears' 3–5).

Atlanta was the first NFC Wild Card based on better record against common opponents than Philadelphia (5–2 to Eagles' 5–3).

St. Louis finished ahead of N.Y. Giants in the NFC East based on better division record (3–5 to Giants' 2–6).

: Jim Ringo was fired. Chuck Knox then joined the Bills after leaving the Los Angeles Rams.

Buffalo Bills

: Jack Pardee resigned to join the Washington Redskins. Neill Armstrong was named as the Bears' new head coach.

Chicago Bears

: Sam Rutigliano was hired as the team's new head coach. Forrest Gregg was fired before the last game of the 1977 season. Defensive coordinator Dick Modzelewski served as interim during the team's final game in 1977.

Cleveland Browns

: Tommy Hudspeth was fired and replaced by Monte Clark.

Detroit Lions

: Marv Levy was hired as head coach. After an 0–5 start in 1977, Paul Wiggin was fired and defensive backs coach Tom Bettis was named interim.

Kansas City Chiefs

: Chuck Knox left to join the Bills. George Allen, who previously coached the Rams from 1966 to 1970, was hired as Knox's replacement, but was fired after two exhibition games. Defensive coordinator Ray Malavasi was then promoted to head coach.

Los Angeles Rams

: Hank Stram was fired and replaced by Dick Nolan.

New Orleans Saints

: Don Coryell left, and Bud Wilkinson was hired as the new Cardinals head coach.

St. Louis Cardinals

: Ken Meyer was fired and replaced by Pete McCulley.

San Francisco 49ers

: George Allen was replaced by Jack Pardee.

Washington Redskins

The switched from white to gray pants. TV numbers were moved from the sleeves to the shoulders, and the Falcon logo on the helmet was repeated on the sleeves. Numbers on white jerseys changed from black to red.

Atlanta Falcons

The switched from gray to white face masks.

Baltimore Colts

The wore orange pants with their white jerseys for the first time since 1971.

Denver Broncos

The introduced new uniforms, switching from white helmets and gray face masks to green helmets and white face masks. They also unveiled a new logo featuring a stylized "JETS" with a silhouette of a modern jet airplane extending to the right from the "J".

New York Jets

The switched from gray to gold face masks.

Washington Redskins

Television[edit]

ABC, CBS, and NBC each signed four-year contracts to renew their rights to broadcast Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. The new contracts are adjusted for the expanded season, with CBS awarded the rights to the new NFC wild card game, and NBC the rights to the new AFC wild card game. The teams of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen and Curt Gowdy and John Brodie began the season as NBC's co-head crews, while Jim Simpson was demoted from #2 play-by-play. This would be Gowdy's last season on NBC as network executives wanted to promote Enberg to #1, but let Gowdy call the Super Bowl. Mike Adamle joined NBC's pregame show NFL '78 as an analyst. Meanwhile, former Miss Ohio USA Jayne Kennedy replaced Phyllis George as reporter on The NFL Today.[8]

NFL Record and Fact Book ( 1-932994-36-X)

ISBN

(Last accessed December 4, 2005)

NFL History 1971–1980

Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League ( 0-06-270174-6)

ISBN