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The 1978 Buffalo Bills season was the 19th season for the club and its ninth in the National Football League. The Bills were coming off a season in which they only won three games, making 1978 a slight improvement. Head coach Chuck Knox began his first season with the team, having coached the Los Angeles Rams for the previous five seasons.[1] It was also Buffalo's first season after the departure of star running back O.J. Simpson, who had left for San Francisco in the offseason. The Bills offense acquired a pair of weapons for quarterback Joe Ferguson: wide receiver Frank Lewis, who had spent the previous 7 seasons in Pittsburgh, and rookie running back Terry Miller, who ended the season with over 1,000 yards.[2] The 1978 Bills' run defense allowed an NFL record 3,228 rushing yards; the 677 rushing attempts the Bills faced in 1978 is also an NFL record.[3] Oddly, the Bills were first in the league in yards allowed on pass defense, giving up only 1960 yards through the air.[4]
Offseason NFL Draft Running back Terry Miller had finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in 1977, but made little impact with Buffalo, as he left after the 1980 season. Tenth round pick Will Grant became the starting center in the 1980 season, and remained the starter until 1985. Regular season Schedule | Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance | | 1 | September 3, 1978 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 28 17 | 64,147 | | 2 | September 10, 1978 | New York Jets | L 21 20 | 40,985 | | 3 | September 17, 1978 | at Miami Dolphins | L 31 24 | 48,373 | | 4 | September 24, 1978 | Baltimore Colts | W 24 17 | 55,270 | | 5 | October 1, 1978 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 28 13 | 47,310 | | 6 | October 8, 1978 | at New York Jets | L 45 14 | 44,545 | | 7 | October 15, 1978 | at Houston Oilers | L 17 10 | 47,727 | | 8 | October 22, 1978 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 5 0 | 47,754 | | 9 | October 29, 1978 | at Cleveland Browns | L 41 20 | 51,409 | | 10 | November 5, 1978 | New England Patriots | L 14 10 | 44,897 | | 11 | November 12, 1978 | Miami Dolphins | L 25 24 | 48,623 | | 12 | November 19, 1978 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 31 10 | 61,383 | | 13 | November 26, 1978 | New York Giants | W 41 17 | 28,496 | | 14 | December 3, 1978 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 14 10 | 25,781 | | 15 | December 10, 1978 | at New England Patriots | L 26 24 | 59,598 | | 16 | December 17, 1978 | at Baltimore Colts | W 21 14 | 25,415 | Standings Roster Player stats Passing Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions | Player | Games | Comp | Att | Yards | TD | INT | Rating | | Joe Ferguson | 16 | 175 | 330 | 2136 | 16 | 15 | 70.5 | Special Teams Note: FGA = Field Goals Attempted; FGM = Field Goals Made; FG% = Field Goal Percentage; XPA = Extra Points Attempted; XPM = Extra Points Made; XP% = Extra Points Percentage | Player | Games | FGA | FGM | FG % | XPA | XPM | XP % | | Tom Dempsey | 16 | 13 | 10 | 76.9% | 38 | 36 | 94.7% | Awards and honors All-Pros External Links Video Archives References
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