1978 Houston Oilers season

1978 Houston Oilers season
Head coach	Bum Phillips
Owner	Bud Adams
Home field	Astrodome
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Championship

Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini in the 1978 AFC Wild Card game.

The 1978 season was the Houston Oilers 19th season and their ninth in the National Football League (NFL). Led by Rookie RB Earl Campbell, who won both the Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Offensive Player of the Year, who rushed for 1,450 yards, the Oilers made the playoffs with a 10-6 record, qualifying in the newly created 5th Wild Card spot.The franchise scored 283 points while the defense gave up 298 points. Their record of 10 wins and 6 losses resulted in a second-place finish in the AFC Central Division.

Season summary

The Oilers appeared twice on Monday Night Football. In their first appearance on Monday Night Football, the Oilers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 24–17. In their second appearance, the Oilers defeated the Miami Dolphins 35–30. The Oilers number one draft pick, Earl Campbell, a 5–11, 232-pound ball-carrying dynamo from the University of Texas, joined the Houston Oilers as the first player taken in the 1978 National Football League Draft. The first player to earn All-Southwest Conference honors four years, Campbell was a consensus All-America and the Heisman Trophy winner in 1977. Campbell took the NFL by storm right from the very start. In 1978, he was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player, All-Pro, and Rookie of the Year. He won the league rushing championship with 1,450 yards and was named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad. Possibly the highlight of the Oilers' fantastic season was the contest against the Miami Dolphins, in which Campbell racked up 199 yards, 81 of them coming on a TD run in the fourth quarter.^[1]

Offseason

NFL draft

1978 Houston Oilers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Earl Campbell * ^†	Running back	Texas
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Personnel

Roster

1978 Houston Oilers roster
	Quarterbacks 14 Gifford Nielsen  7 Dan Pastorini Running backs 34 Earl Campbell 26 Rob Carpenter FB 47 Ronnie Coleman 28 Anthony Davis 31 Brian Duncan FB 24 Alvin Maxson 39 Larry Poole 46 Robert Turner 45 Tim Wilson FB Wide receivers 00 Ken Burrough 88 Rich Caster 81 Johnnie Dirden 84 Billy Johnson 29 Guido Merkens 82 Mike Renfro 42 Robert Woods		Tight ends 86 Mike Barber 87 Conrad Rucker Offensive linemen 58 David Carter C 60 Ed Fisher G 70 Conway Hayman G/T 55 Carl Mauck C 64 George Reihner G 73 Greg Sampson T 62 John Schuhmacher G 76 Morris Towns G/T		Defensive linemen 65 Elvin Bethea DE 78 Curley Culp NT 67 Jimmy Dean DE 69 Andy Dorris DE 71 Ken Kennard NT 77 James Young DE Linebackers 63 Steve Baumgartner OLB 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB 57 Steve Kiner ILB 53 Art Stringer ILB 51 Ted Thompson ILB 59 Ted Washington OLB		Defensive backs 19 Willie Alexander CB 20 Bill Currier SS 15 Al Johnson DB 25 Kurt Knoff SS 37 Mike Reinfeldt FS 27 Greg Stemrick CB 38 C. L. Whittington FS 33 J. C. Wilson CB Special teams 16 Toni Fritsch K 18 Cliff Parsley P Rookies in italics

^[3]

Regular season

On November 20, 1978, the Oilers took on the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football. In order to boost team spirit, the Oilers gave each fan a blue and white pom-pon before the game. The sight of over 70,000 fans waving the pom-pons inspired the Oilers to a 35–30 victory, behind Campbell's 199 rushing yards. This would be the start of Luv Ya Blue.

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Oilers points	Opponents	Oilers first downs	Record	Attendance
1	Sep 3	at Atlanta Falcons	Loss	14	20	13	0–1	57,328
2	Sep 10	at Kansas City Chiefs	Win	20	17	15	1–1	40,213
3	Sep 17	San Francisco 49ers	Win	20	19	23	2–1	46,161
4	Sep 24	Los Angeles Rams	Loss	6	10	10	2–2	45,749
5	Oct 1	at Cleveland Browns	Win	16	13	20	3–2	72,776
6	Oct 8	at Oakland Raiders	Loss	17	21	20	3–3	52,550
7	Oct 15	Buffalo Bills	Win	17	10	17	4–3	47,727
8	Oct 23	at Pittsburgh Steelers	Win	24	17	22	5–3	48,021
9	Oct 29	at Cincinnati Bengals	Loss	13	28	15	5–4	50,532
10	Nov 5	Cleveland Browns	Win	14	10	18	6–4	45,827
11	Nov 12	at New England Patriots	Win	26	23	24	7–4	60,356
12	Nov 20	Miami Dolphins	Win	35	30	23	8–4	50,290
13	Nov 26	Cincinnati Bengals	Win	17	10	17	9–4	43,245
14	Dec 3	Pittsburgh Steelers	Loss	3	13	9	9–5	54,261
15	Dec 10	at New Orleans Saints	Win	17	12	16	10–5	63,169
16	Dec 17	San Diego Chargers	Loss	24	45	14	10–6	49,554

^[4]

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 12

1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 7 7 7 9 30 • Oilers 7 7 7 14 35 Date: November 20 Location: Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Indoors (dome) Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q1 MIA Moore 10-yard pass from Griese (Yepremian kick) MIA 7–0 Q1 HOU Campbell 1-yard run (Fritsch kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 HOU Barber 15-yard pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick) HOU 14–7 Q2 MIA Williams 1-yard run (Yepremian kick) Tie 14–14 Q3 HOU Campbell 6-yard run (Fritsch kick) HOU 21–14 Q3 MIA Harris 1-yard run (Yepremian kick) Tie 21–21 Q4 MIA Safety, Duhe tackled Pastorini in end zone MIA 23–21 Q4 HOU Campbell 12-yard run (Fritsch kick) HOU 28–23 Q4 HOU Campbell 81-yard run (Fritsch kick) HOU 35–23 Q4 MIA Cefalo 11-yard pass from Griese (Yepremian kick) HOU 35–30

• Earl Campbell 28 Rush, 199 Yds

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card

Houston Oilers 17, Miami Dolphins 9

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	7	0	0	10	17
Dolphins	7	0	0	2	9

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

• Date: December 24, 1978
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 70,036
• Referee: Dick Jorgensen
• TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Len Dawson

Quarterback Dan Pastorini led the Oilers to an upset victory by passing for 306 yards.

AFC Divisional Playoff

Houston Oilers 31, New England Patriots 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	0	21	3	7	31
Patriots	0	0	7	7	14

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

• Date: December 31, 1978
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 60,881
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Len Dawson

Quarterback Dan Pastorini led the Oilers to a victory by throwing for 200 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Earl Campbell rushed for 118 yards and a score.

AFC Championship Game

Pittsburgh Steelers 34, Houston Oilers 5

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	0	3	2	0	5
Steelers	14	17	3	0	34

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Date: January 7, 1979
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 27 °F (−3 °C), freezing rain
• Game attendance: 49,417
• Referee: Jim Tunney
• TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy, John Brodie, and Merlin Olsen

On a wet, slick, and slippery field, the Steelers dominated the Oilers by forcing 9 turnovers and only allowing 5 points.

Awards and records

• Earl Campbell, NFL Rushing Leader, (1,450)
• Earl Campbell, All-Pro selection
• Earl Campbell, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
• Earl Campbell, PFWA NFL MVP
• Earl Campbell, NEA NFL MVP
• Earl Campbell, NFL Offensive Player of the Year
• Earl Campbell, UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year
• Earl Campbell, Pro Bowl selection 1978

Milestones

• Earl Campbell, 1st 1,000 yard rushing season
• Earl Campbell, 1st NFL rushing title

References

1. Earl Campbell HTML at Pro Football Hall of Fame website
2. "1978 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
3. "1978 Houston Oilers starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
4. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/oti/1978.htm

External links

• 1978 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com