1978 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1978 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League, and the 11th overall.

1978 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coachBill Johnson and Homer Rice
General managerPaul Brown
Home fieldRiverfront Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Ken Anderson missed the first four games with a broken bone in his right hand, and Homer Rice replaced Bill Johnson as head coach after the Bengals started 0–5. The team dipped to marks of 0–8 and 1–12 before rebounding under Rice to win the last three games. In the season finale, the Bengals blasted Cleveland, 48–16, setting series records for points and victory margin.

Offseason

NFL draft

1978 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 8 Ross Browner  Defensive end Notre Dame
1 16 Blair Bush  Center Washington
2 35 Ray Griffin  Defensive back Ohio State
2 45 Deacon Turner  Running back San Diego State
3 72 Ted Vincent  Defensive tackle Wichita State
3 83 Don Bass  Wide receiver Houston
4 99 Dennis Law  Wide receiver East Tennessee State
5 126 Tom Dinkel  Linebacker Kansas
5 131 Rob Hertel  Quarterback USC
6 155 Steve Geise  Running back Penn State
7 182 Joe Branson  Defensive back Livingstone
7 193 Danny Bass  Guard Elon
8 211 Bill Miller  Offensive tackle Western Illinois
9 238 Ron Shumon  Linebacker Wichita State
10 267 Tom DePaso  Linebacker Penn State
11 292 Cal Prince  Running back Louisville
11 294 Mark Donahue  Guard Michigan
12 323 Kim Featsent  Wide receiver Kent State
      Made roster  

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1978 Cincinnati Bengals staff
Front office
  • President – John Sawyer
  • General Manager – Paul Brown
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1978 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

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Practice squad {{{practice_squad}}}


Rookies in italics

[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.com
recap
1 September 3 Kansas City Chiefs L 23–24 0–1 Riverfront Stadium Recap
2 September 10 at Cleveland Browns L 10–13 (OT) 0–2 Cleveland Stadium Recap
3 September 17 Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–28 0–3 Riverfront Stadium Recap
4 September 24 New Orleans Saints L 18–20 0–4 Riverfront Stadium Recap
5 October 1 at San Francisco 49ers L 12–28 0–5 Candlestick Park Recap
6 October 9 at Miami Dolphins L 0–21 0–6 Miami Orange Bowl Recap
7 October 15 New England Patriots L 3–10 0–7 Riverfront Stadium Recap
8 October 22 at Buffalo Bills L 0–5 0–8 Rich Stadium Recap
9 October 29 Houston Oilers W 28–13 1–8 Riverfront Stadium Recap
10 November 5 at San Diego Chargers L 13–22 1–9 San Diego Stadium Recap
11 November 13 Oakland Raiders L 21–34 1–10 Riverfront Stadium Recap
12 November 19 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 6–7 1–11 Three Rivers Stadium Recap
13 November 26 at Houston Oilers L 10–17 1–12 Astrodome Recap
14 December 3 Atlanta Falcons W 37–7 2–12 Riverfront Stadium Recap
15 December 11 at Los Angeles Rams W 20–19 3–12 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap
16 December 17 Cleveland Browns W 48–16 4–12 Riverfront Stadium Recap

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(1) 14 2 0 .875 5–1 11–1 356 195 W5
Houston Oilers(5) 10 6 0 .625 4–2 8–4 283 298 L1
Cleveland Browns 8 8 0 .500 1–5 4–8 334 356 L1
Cincinnati Bengals 4 12 0 .250 2–4 2–10 252 284 W3

Team leaders

  • Passing: Ken Anderson (319 Att, 173 Comp, 2219 Yds, 54.2 Pct, 10 TD, 22 Int, 58.0 Rating)
  • Rushing: Pete Johnson (180 Att, 762 Yds, 4.2 Avg, 50 Long, 7 TD)
  • Receiving: Isaac Curtis (47 Rec, 737 Yds, 15.7 Avg, 57 Long, 3 TD)
  • Scoring: Chris Bahr, 74 points (16 FG; 26 PAT)

Awards and records

Pro Bowl selection

  • For the first time in team history, the Bengals did not have any players selected to the Pro Bowl.

References

  1. "1978 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  2. "1978 Cincinnati Bengals starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
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