1978 Detroit Lions season

1978 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Monte Clark
General manager	Russ Thomas
Owner	William Clay Ford, Sr.
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1978 Detroit Lions season was the 47th season in franchise history. Under new head coach and former NFL player Monte Clark, the Lions continue to struggle with mediocrity finishing in third place again with a less than stellar record of 7–9.

This season would also be the swan song for starting quarterback Greg Landry's stellar ten-year career in Detroit, as in the offseason was shipped to the Baltimore Colts for or 1979 fourth round pick (#88-Ulysses Norris), 1979 fifth round pick (#131-Walt Brown), 1980 third round pick (#62-Mike Friede), in a rebuilding process begun by head coach Monte Clark.^[1][2]

Offseason

NFL draft

1978 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	11	Luther Bradley	Cornerback	Notre Dame
2	40	Al Baker *	Defensive end	Colorado State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[3]

Personnel

Staff

1978 Detroit Lions staff
	Front office President – William Clay Ford, Sr. Executive Vice President and General Manager – Russ Thomas Director of Football Operations – Monte Clark Administrative Assistant – Doug Gerhart Head coaches Head Coach – Monte Clark Offensive coaches Quarterbacks and Receivers – Bob Schnelker Offensive Backfield – Jimmy Raye Offensive Line – Fred Hoaglin			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Floyd Reese Linebackers – Marty Schottenheimer Defensive Backfield – Billy Atkins Special teams coaches Special Teams – Don Doll

^[4]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 3, 1978	Green Bay Packers	L 13–7	51,187
2	September 9, 1978	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 15–7	64,445
3	September 17, 1978	Chicago Bears	L 19–0	65,982
4	September 24, 1978	at Seattle Seahawks	L 28–16	60,040
5	October 1, 1978	at Green Bay Packers	L 35–14	54,601
6	October 8, 1978	Washington Redskins	L 21–19	60,555
7	October 15, 1978	at Atlanta Falcons	L 14–0	51,172
8	October 22, 1978	San Diego Chargers	W 31–14	54,031
9	October 29, 1978	at Chicago Bears	W 21–17	53,378
10	November 5, 1978	at Minnesota Vikings	L 17–7	46,008
11	November 12, 1978	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 34–23	60,320
12	November 19, 1978	at Oakland Raiders	L 29–17	44,517
13	November 23, 1978	Denver Broncos	W 17–14	71,785
14	December 3, 1978	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 21–14	39,200
15	December 9, 1978	Minnesota Vikings	W 45–14	78,685
16	December 17, 1978	San Francisco 49ers	W 33–14	56,674

Game summaries

Week 9: at Chicago Bears

1 2 3 4 Total • Lions 7 14 0 0 21 Bears 3 7 7 0 17 Date: October 29 Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 48°F, wind 10 mph Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 1 Lions Horace King 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) Lions 7–0 1 Bears Bob Thomas 28 yard field goal Lions 7–3 2 Lions Jesse Thompson 8 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Benny Ricardo kick) Lions 14–3 2 Bears Bob Avellini 9 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Lions 14–10 2 Lions David Hill 2 yard pass from Gary Danielson (Benny Ricardo kick) Lions 21–10 3 Bears Roland Harper 2 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Lions 21–17

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings^(3)	8	7	1	.531	5–2–1	7–4–1	294	306	L2
Green Bay Packers	8	7	1	.531	5–2–1	6–5–1	249	269	L2
Detroit Lions	7	9	0	.438	4–4	5–7	290	300	W2
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	3–5	7–5	253	274	W2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	11	0	.313	2–6	3–11	241	259	L4

References

1. Daytona Beach Journal, sports article April 30, 1979.
2. 1979 NFL Draft Pick Transactions, ProSportsTransactions.com, accessed March 31, 2012.
3. "1978 Detroit Lions Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
4. "Executive and coaching staff profiles". 1978 Detroit Lions Media Guide. pp. 3–11.

External links

• 1978 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com