1978 Cleveland Browns season

1978 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Sam Rutigliano
Owner	Art Modell
Home field	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1978 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 29th season with the National Football League (NFL). After nearly three years of struggling offensively – and not making the playoffs—while posting just one winning record under ultra-strict, disciplinarian head coach Forrest Gregg, the Browns in 1978 decided to take a softer approach to liven up their attack – and their team. They did so by hiring a virtually unknown assistant at the time, New Orleans Saints receivers coach Sam Rutigliano, to replace Gregg, who was fired with one game left in the 1977 season. Rutigliano was the fourth head coach hired by Art Modell in his 18 years as club owner to that point, and it marked the first time Modell had not promoted from within the organization to fill the spot.

Although it took a while for things to develop, the idea of bringing in someone from the outside nonetheless worked. With Rutigliano, who was as progressive, innovative and forward-thinking of an offensive mind as there was in the game at the time, running the show, the once-stagnant Browns attack scored 30 or more points four times in eight games in the second half of that season. More importantly, Rutigliano was able to jump-start the career of embattled quarterback Brian Sipe, which would pay huge dividends for the team two years later when he won the NFL MVP award and led the Browns to the AFC Central title. He finished with 21 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions in 1978 for a quarterback rating of 80.7, by far his best numbers in his five seasons with the Browns.

The Browns started well, winning their first three games over the San Francisco 49ers (24–7), Cincinnati Bengals (13–10 in overtime) and Atlanta Falcons (24–16). They then stood 4–2 after beating the Saints 24–16 three games later.

But in the process of the Browns offense getting revved up, the defense soon started to come unglued. Yes, the Browns were scoring a lot of points in those final eight games, but they were giving up a lot, too. In fact, they surrendered 34 or more points in three successive games at the very end of the year. The end result was an 8–8 finish in which the Browns were outscored by 22 points overall, 356 to 334, in the first year that the NFL expanded from a 14- to a 16-game regular season. The Browns top draft choice that year, future Hall of Fame TE Ozzie Newsome, fresh off of a NCAA National Championship with Paul "Bear" Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide team, had a solid rookie season, snaring 38 passes for 589 yards and two TDs.

Offseason

NFL draft

The following were selected in the 1978 NFL draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	12	Clay Matthews	Linebacker	USC
1	23	Ozzie Newsome	Tight end	Alabama
2	39	Johnny Evans	Punter	North Carolina State
3	67	Larry Collins	Running back	Texas A&I
3	68	Mark Miller	Quarterback	Bowling Green
4	103	Pete Pullara	Offensive Guard	Tennessee-Chattanooga
5	122	Keith Wright	Wide receiver	Memphis St.
6	149	Al Pitts	Center	Michigan State
8	205	Jesse Turnbow	Defensive tackle	Tennessee
9	234	Jon Kramer	Guard	Baylor
10	261	Brent Watson	Offensive tackle	Tennessee
11	290	Larry Gillard	Defensive tackle	Mississippi State
12	317	Leo Biedermann	Offensive tackle	California

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Personnel

Staff

1978 Cleveland Browns staff
	Front office Owner and President – Art Modell Executive Vice President/General Manager – Peter Hadhazy Head coaches Head Coach – Sam Rutigliano Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Jim Shofner Offensive backfield – Jim Garrett Receivers – Rich Kotite Offensive line – Rod Humenuik			Defensive coaches Defensive line – Buck Buchanan Linebackers – Dick MacPherson Defensive backfield – Chuck Weber Special teams coaches Special Teams – John Petercuskie

Roster

1978 Cleveland Browns roster
	Quarterbacks 17 Brian Sipe 15 Mark Miller Running backs 23 Larry Collins 35 Calvin Hill 30 Cleo Miller FB 34 Greg Pruitt 43 Mike Pruitt FB 26 Tom Sullivan Wide receivers 83 Ricky Feacher 85 Dave Logan 33 Reggie Rucker 89 Keith Wright KR/PR		Tight ends 82 Ozzie Newsome 84 Gary Parris 81 Oscar Roan Offensive linemen 69 Leo Biedermann T 62 George Buehler G 63 Barry Darrow T 54 Tom DeLeone C 73 Doug Dieken T 61 Greg Fairchild G 68 Robert Jackson G 65 Henry Sheppard G 79 Gerry Sullivan G/C 51 Leo Tierney C		Defensive linemen 66 Earl Edwards DT 64 Joe Jones DE 70 Mack Mitchell DE 72 Jerry Sherk DT 78 Mickey Sims DT 74 Mike St. Clair DE 71 Jesse Turnbow DT Linebackers 52 Dick Ambrose MLB 60 Bob Babich MLB 55 Dave Graf OLB 59 Charlie Hall OLB 86 Gerald Irons OLB 56 Robert Jackson MLB 57 Clay Matthews OLB		Defensive backs 28 Ron Bolton CB/FS 27 Thom Darden FS 21 Oliver Davis CB 47 Ricky Jones SS 40 Tom London CB 20 Tony Peters SS 24 Randy Rich CB 22 Clarence Scott CB Special teams 12 Don Cockroft K  8 Johnny Evans P/QB Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 3, 1978	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–7	68,973
2	September 10, 1978	Cincinnati Bengals	W 13–10	72,691
3	September 17, 1978	at Atlanta Falcons	W 24–16	56,648
4	September 24, 1978	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 15–9	49,573
5	October 1, 1978	Houston Oilers	L 16–13	72,776
6	October 8, 1978	at New Orleans Saints	W 24–16	50,158
7	October 15, 1978	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 34–14	81,302
8	October 22, 1978	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–3	41,157
9	October 29, 1978	Buffalo Bills	W 41–20	51,409
10	November 5, 1978	at Houston Oilers	L 14–10	45,827
11	November 12, 1978	Denver Broncos	L 19–7	70,856
12	November 19, 1978	at Baltimore Colts	W 45–24	45,341
13	November 26, 1978	Los Angeles Rams	W 30–19	55,158
14	December 3, 1978	at Seattle Seahawks	L 47–24	62,262
15	December 10, 1978	New York Jets	W 37–34	36,881
16	December 17, 1978	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 48–16	46,985

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

Game Summaries

Week 3: at Atlanta

Week 3: Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	17	0	7	24
Falcons	3	7	0	6	16

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

• Date: September 17
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 79°F, relative humidity 70%, round (wind) 6 MPH
• Game attendance: 56,648
• TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson (play–by–play) and Paul Warfield (color commentator)

Game information

First Quarter ATL – Steinfort 24 yard field goal Falcons 3, Browns 0 Second Quarter CLE – Cockroft 43 yard field goal Browns 3, Falcons 3 CLE – Newsome 2 yard pass from Sipe (Cockroft kick) Browns 10, Falcons 3 ATL – Stanback 15 yard rush (Steinfort kick) Browns 10, Falcons 10 CLE – Rucker 27 yard pass from Sipe (Cockroft kick) Browns 17, Falcons 10 Third Quarter No scoring Fourth Quarter ATL – Strong 2 yard rush (kick failed) Browns 17, Falcons 16 CLE – Sipe 2 yard rush (Cockroft kick) Browns 24, Falcons 16 Top passers CLE – Brian Sipe 20/35, 219 yds, 2 TD ATL – Steve Bartkowski 7/15, 126 yds, 2 INT Top rushers CLE – Mike Pruitt 15 carr, 65 yds ATL – Haskel Stanback 7 carr, 31 yds, 1 TD Top receivers CLE – Dave Logan 5 rec, 63 yds ATL – Billy Ryckman 3 rec, 48 yds Turnovers CLE – 3 ATL – 4

References

1. "1978 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
2. "1978 Cleveland Browns starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.

External links

• 1978 Cleveland Browns at Pro-Football-Reference.com