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

^[1]

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

Tight ends

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

^[2]

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

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

External links

1978 Cleveland Browns at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Cleveland Browns

Founded in 1946 Based in Cleveland, Ohio Headquartered in Berea, Ohio

Franchise	History Players Head coaches Seasons Logos and uniforms First-round draft picks 1999 expansion draft

Stadiums	Cleveland Stadium FirstEnergy Stadium

Key personnel	Owners: Jimmy Haslam Dee Haslam President (de facto): Paul DePodesta General manager (de facto): Sashi Brown Head coach: Hue Jackson

Culture and lore	Art Modell Cleveland sports curse Dawg Pound Draft Day Hot Tub Time Machine Kardiac Kids Paul Brown Marty Ball Red Right 88 Relocation controversy "The Best Man" The Drive The Express The Fortune Cookie The Fumble

Rivalries	Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers

Playoff appearances (28)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1958 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1971 1972 1980 1982 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1994 2002

Division titles (12)	1946 1947 1948 1967 1968 1969 1971 1980 1985 1986 1987 1989

Conference titles (11)	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1964 1965 1968 1969

League titles (8)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1954 1955 1964

Retired numbers	14 32 45 46 76

Hall of Fame inductees	Players: Brown DeLamielleure Ford Gatski Graham Groza Hickerson Kelly Lavelli McCormack Mitchell Motley Newsome Warfield Willis Coach: Brown

Media	Broadcasters Radio network Flagships: WKNR WKRK-FM WNCX Television: WEWS-TV

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1950–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: North Division

Former league affiliation	League: All-America Football Conference (1946–1949)

Seasons (67)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Cleveland Browns seasons

1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates AAFC championship (through 1949) or NFL championship

1978 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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