1978 Baltimore Colts season

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.

1978 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
General manager	Dick Szymanski
Head coach	Ted Marchibroda
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	T-4th AFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1977 Colts seasons 1979 →

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 and quickly losing both starting offensive tackles for the year through 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

Main article: 1978 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 President and Treasurer – Robert Irsay General Manager – Dick Szymanski Assistant General Manager – Ernie Accorsi Head coaches Head Coach – Ted Marchibroda Offensive coaches Receivers – Dick Bielski Offensive Line – Whitey Dovell

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Maxie Baughan Defensive Line – Ed Khayat Defensive Backfield – Ralph Hawkins Special teams coaches Special Teams – George Boutselis

Roster

1978 Baltimore Colts roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Bert Jones 15 Mike Kirkland 12 Bill Troup Running backs (RB) 36 Don Hardeman 48 Roosevelt Leaks 34 Ron Lee 23 Don McCauley 20 Joe Washington Wide receivers (WR) 84 Randy Burke 81 Roger Carr 35 Glenn Doughty 80 Marshall Johnson 45 Mike Siani Tight ends (TE) 83 Mack Alston 86 Reese McCall

Offensive linemen (OL) 60 Ron Baker G 69 Wade Griffin T 62 Ken Huff G 57 Ken Mendenhall C 79 Don Morrison T 61 Robert Pratt G 59 Geoff Reece C 67 Bob Van Duyne T Defensive linemen (DL) 72 Fred Cook DE 78 John Dutton DE 76 Joe Ehrmann DT 66 Greg Marshall DT 71 Mike Ozdowski DE 74 Dave Rowe DT

Linebackers (LB) 58 Derrel Luce OLB 52 Tom MacLeod OLB 55 Stu O'Dell OLB 51 Calvin O'Neal MLB 54 Sanders Shiver OLB 56 Ed Simonini MLB 53 Stan White OLB Defensive backs (DB) 47 Tim Baylor FS 44 Lyle Blackwood FS 28 Dwight Harrison CB 40 Bruce Laird SS 42 Lloyd Mumphord CB 30 Doug Nettles CB 43 Norm Thompson CB Special teams (ST) 49 David Lee P  2 Toni Linhart K

Reserve 38 Monte Anthony RB (IR) 63 Mike Barnes DT (IR) 50 Forrest Blue C (IR) 21 Frank Dark CB (IR) 73 Ron Fernandes DE (IR) 75 George Kunz T (IR) 88 Herb Orvis DT (IR) 64 David Taylor T (IR) 59 Mike Woods LB (IR) Rookies in italics

Source:^[6]

Regular season

Schedule

Main article: 1978 NFL season

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

See also: 1978 New England Patriots season and Colts–Patriots rivalry

Week Three: Baltimore Colts (0–2) at New England Patriots (1–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	0	7	0	27	34
Patriots	6	7	0	14	27

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts

• Date: September 18
• Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C)
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter NE – Andy Johnson 1-yard run (kick failed). Patriots 6–0. Drive: Second quarter BAL – Don McCauley 3-yard run (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 7–6. Drive: NE – Stanley Morgan 62-yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick). Patriots 13–7. Drive: Fourth quarter BAL – Roger Carr 54-yard pass from Joe Washington (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 14–13. Drive: BAL – Joe Washington 23-yard pass from Bill Troup (kick failed). Colts 20–13. Drive: BAL – Roger Carr 67-yard pass from Bill Troup (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 27–13. Drive: NE – Steve Grogan 4-yard run (John Smith kick), 3:17. Colts 27–20. Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards. NE – Sam Cunningham 1-yard run (John Smith kick), 1:33. Tie 27–27. Drive: BAL – Joe Washington 90-yard kickoff return (Toni Linhart kick). Colts 34–27. Top passers BAL – Bill Troup – 10/15, 221 yards, 2 TD, INT NE – Steve Grogan – 11/33, 229 yards, TD, 3 INT Top rushers BAL – Joe Washington – 16 rushes, 53 yards NE – Andy Johnson – 27 rushes, 109 yards, TD Top receivers BAL – Roger Carr – 6 receptions, 187 yards, 2 TD NE – Stanley Morgan – 3 receptions, 125 yards, TD

Standings

1978 AFC East standings
view talk edit	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

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry