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

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

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  7 Bert Jones 15 Mike Kirkland 12 Bill Troup Running backs 36 Don Hardeman FB 48 Roosevelt Leaks FB 34 Ron Lee 23 Don McCauley 20 Joe Washington Wide receivers 84 Randy Burke 81 Roger Carr 35 Glenn Doughty 80 Marshall Johnson KR/PR 45 Mike Siani		Tight ends 83 Mack Alston 86 Reese McCall Offensive linemen 60 Ron Baker G 50 Forrest Blue C 69 Wade Griffin T 62 Ken Huff G 75 George Kunz T 57 Ken Mendenhall C 79 Don Morrison T 61 Robert Pratt G 67 Bob Van Duyne T		Defensive linemen 63 Mike Barnes DT 72 Fred Cook DE 78 John Dutton DE 76 Joe Ehrmann DT 66 Greg Marshall DT 88 Herb Orvis DT 71 Mike Ozdowski DE 74 Dave Rowe DT Linebackers 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 47 Tim Baylor FS/SS 44 Lyle Blackwood FS/SS 28 Dwight Harrison CB/SS 40 Bruce Laird SS 42 Lloyd Mumphord CB/FS 30 Doug Nettles CB 25 Ray Oldham CB 43 Norm Thompson CB Special teams 49 David Lee P  2 Toni Linhart K 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	Schaefer 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 2 3 4 Total • Colts 0 7 0 27 34 Patriots 6 7 0 14 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

Scoring summary 1 NE Andy Johnson 1 yard run (kick failed) NE 6–0 2 BAL Don McCauley 3 yard run (Toni Linhart kick) BAL 7–6 2 NE Stanley Morgan 62 yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick) NE 13–7 4 BAL Roger Carr 54 yard pass from Joe Washington (Toni Linhart kick) BAL 14–13 4 BAL Joe Washington 23 yard pass from Bill Troup (kick failed) BAL 20–13 4 BAL Roger Carr 67 yard pass from Bill Troup (Toni Linhart kick) BAL 27–13 4 NE Steve Grogan 4 yard run (John Smith kick) BAL 27–20 4 NE Sam Cunningham 1 yard run (John Smith kick) Tie 27–27 4 BAL Joe Washington 90 yard kickoff return (Toni Linhart kick) BAL 34–27

^[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

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

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