1978 Cincinnati Bengals season

1978 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Bill Johnson and Homer Rice
General manager	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

QB Ken Anderson missed the first four games with a broken bone in his right hand, and Homer Rice replaced Bill Johnson as head coach after the Bengals started 0–5. The team dipped to marks of 0–8 and 1–12 before rebounding under Rice to win the last three games. In the season finale, the Bengals blasted Cleveland, 48–16, setting series records for points and victory margin.

Offseason

NFL draft

1978 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	8	Ross Browner	Defensive end	Notre Dame
1	16	Blair Bush	Center	Washington
2	35	Ray Griffin	Defensive back	Ohio State
2	45	Deacon Turner	Running back	San Diego State
3	72	Ted Vincent	Defensive tackle	Wichita State
3	83	Don Bass	Wide receiver	Houston
4	99	Dennis Law	Wide receiver	East Tennessee State
5	126	Tom Dinkel	Linebacker	Kansas
5	131	Rob Hertel	Quarterback	USC
6	155	Steve Geise	Running back	Penn State
7	182	Joe Branson	Defensive back	Livingstone
7	193	Danny Bass	Guard	Elon
8	211	Bill Miller	Offensive tackle	Western Illinois
9	238	Ron Shumon	Linebacker	Wichita State
10	267	Tom DePaso	Linebacker	Penn State
11	292	Cal Prince	Running back	Louisville
11	294	Mark Donahue	Guard	Michigan
12	323	Kim Featsent	Wide receiver	Kent State
Made roster

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Personnel

Staff

1978 Cincinnati Bengals staff
	Front office President – John Sawyer General Manager – Paul Brown Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Bill Johnson Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Homer Rice Offensive Backfield – George Sefcik Receivers – Boyd Dowler Offensive Line – Mike McCormack			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Howard Brinker Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Defensive Backfield – Charley Winner Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1978 Cincinnati Bengals roster
	Quarterbacks 14 Ken Anderson 16 Rob Hertel 11 John Reaves Running backs 42 Boobie Clark FB 35 Tony Davis FB 36 Lenvil Elliott 45 Archie Griffin 46 Pete Johnson FB 22 Deacon Turner Wide receivers 84 Don Bass 82 Billy Brooks 85 Isaac Curtis 83 Dennis Law PR		Tight ends 81 Jim Corbett 88 Rick Walker Offensive linemen 74 Glenn Bujnoch G 58 Blair Bush C 66 Mark Donahue G 76 Vernon Holland T 72 Ron Hunt T 54 Bob Johnson C 62 Dave Lapham G 71 Rufus Mayes T 77 Mike Wilson T		Defensive linemen 79 Ross Browner DE 67 Gary Burley DE 73 Eddie Edwards DT 68 Dave Pureifory DE 78 Ted Vincent DT 75 Wilson Whitley DT Linebackers 50 Glenn Cameron OLB 51 Chris Devlin OLB 56 Tom DePaso OLB 52 Tom Dinkel OLB 53 Bo Harris OLB 55 Jim LeClair MLB 59 Ray Phillips OLB 51 Tom Ruud OLB 59 Ron Shumon MLB 57 Reggie Williams OLB		Defensive backs 34 Louis Breeden CB 24 Marvin Cobb SS 44 Ray Griffin CB/KR 30 Dick Jauron S 21 Melvin Morgan CB 32 Scott Perry FS 13 Ken Riley CB Special teams 10 Chris Bahr K 87 Pat McInally P Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

1978 Cincinnati Bengals schedule
Date	Opponent	W-L	Score	Attendance	Stadium
September 3	Kansas City Chiefs	L	23–24	41,810	Riverfront Stadium
September 10	at Cleveland Browns	L	10–13(OT)	72,691	Cleveland Stadium
September 17	Pittsburgh Steelers	L	3–28	50,260	Riverfront Stadium
September 24	New Orleans Saints	L	18–20	40,455	Riverfront Stadium
October 1	at San Francisco 49ers	L	12–28	41,107	Candlestick Park
October 9	at Miami Dolphins	L	0–21	54,729	Miami Orange Bowl
October 15	New England Patriots	L	3–10	48,699	Riverfront Stadium
October 22	at Buffalo Bills	L	0–5	47,754	Rich Stadium
October 29	Houston Oilers	W	28–13	50,532	Riverfront Stadium
November 5	at San Diego Chargers	L	13–22	43,639	San Diego Stadium
November 13	Oakland Raiders	L	21–34	51,374	Riverfront Stadium
November 19	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L	6–7	47,578	Three Rivers Stadium
November 26	at Houston Oilers	L	10–17	43,245	Astrodome
December 3	Atlanta Falcons	W	37–7	25,336	Riverfront Stadium
December 11	at Los Angeles Rams	W	20–19	47,471	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
December 17	Cleveland Browns	W	48–16	46,985	Riverfront Stadium

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

Team leaders

• Passing: Ken Anderson (319 Att, 173 Comp, 2219 Yds, 54.2 Pct, 10 TD, 22 Int, 58.0 Rating)
• Rushing: Pete Johnson (180 Att, 762 Yds, 4.2 Avg, 50 Long, 7 TD)
• Receiving: Isaac Curtis (47 Rec, 737 Yds, 15.7 Avg, 57 Long, 3 TD)
• Scoring: Chris Bahr, 74 points (16 FG; 26 PAT)

Awards and records

Pro Bowl selection

• For the first time in team history, the Bengals did not have any players selected to the Pro Bowl.

References

1. "1978 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
2. "1978 Cincinnati Bengals starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.

External links

• 1978 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com