| 1978 Detroit Lions season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | William Clay Ford Sr. |
| General manager | Russ Thomas |
| Head coach | Monte Clark |
| Home field | Pontiac Silverdome |
| Results | |
| Record | 7–9 |
| Division place | 3rd NFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | 3
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| AP All-Pros | 1
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The 1978 Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 49th season in the National Football League. 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 Landry was shipped to the Baltimore Colts for a 1979 fourth round pick (#88—Ulysses Norris), a 1979 fifth round pick (#131—Walt Brown), and a 1980 third round pick (#62—Mike Friede), in a rebuilding process begun by head coach Monte Clark.[1][2]
| 1978 Detroit Lions draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Luther Bradley | CB | Notre Dame | |
| 2 | 40 | Al Baker * | DE | Colorado State | |
| 4 | 94 | Bill Fifer | OT | West Texas State | |
| 4 | 107 | Homer Elias | G | Tennessee State | from Baltimore |
| 4 | 109 | Larry Tearry | C | Wake Forest | from Denver |
| 5 | 121 | Amos Fowler | G | Southern Mississippi | |
| 5 | 123 | Dan Gray | DE | Rutgers | from San Diego |
| 6 | 150 | Dwight Hicks * | S | Michigan | |
| 6 | 153 | Tony Ardizzone | C | Northwestern | |
| 6 | 165 | Jesse Thompson | WR | California | from Denver |
| 7 | 177 | Bruce Gibson | RB | Pacific | |
| 8 | 206 | Jim Breech | K | California | |
| 10 | 262 | Fred Arrington | LB | Purdue | |
| 11 | 289 | Richard Murray | DT | Oklahoma | |
| 12 | 318 | Mark Patterson | DB | Washington State | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Notes
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Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
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Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
Practice squad
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| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | Green Bay Packers | L 7–13 | 0–1 | Pontiac Silverdome | 51,187 |
| 2 | September 9 | atTampa Bay Buccaneers | W 15–7 | 1–1 | Tampa Stadium | 64,445 |
| 3 | September 17 | Chicago Bears | L 0–19 | 1–2 | Pontiac Silverdome | 65,982 |
| 4 | September 24 | atSeattle Seahawks | L 16–28 | 1–3 | Kingdome | 60,040 |
| 5 | October 1 | atGreen Bay Packers | L 14–35 | 1–4 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,601 |
| 6 | October 8 | Washington Redskins | L 19–21 | 1–5 | Pontiac Silverdome | 60,555 |
| 7 | October 15 | atAtlanta Falcons | L 0–14 | 1–6 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 51,172 |
| 8 | October 22 | San Diego Chargers | W 31–14 | 2–6 | Pontiac Silverdome | 54,031 |
| 9 | October 29 | atChicago Bears | W 21–17 | 3–6 | Soldier Field | 53,378 |
| 10 | November 5 | atMinnesota Vikings | L 7–17 | 3–7 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,008 |
| 11 | November 12 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 34–23 | 4–7 | Pontiac Silverdome | 60,320 |
| 12 | November 19 | atOakland Raiders | L 17–29 | 4–8 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 44,517 |
| 13 | November 23 | Denver Broncos | W 17–14 | 5–8 | Pontiac Silverdome | 71,785 |
| 14 | December 3 | atSt. Louis Cardinals | L 14–21 | 5–9 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 39,200 |
| 15 | December 9 | Minnesota Vikings | W 45–14 | 6–9 | Pontiac Silverdome | 78,685 |
| 16 | December 17 | San Francisco 49ers | W 33–14 | 7–9 | Pontiac Silverdome | 56,674 |
| Note: Intra-division games are in bold text | ||||||
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| NFC Central | |||||||||
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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 |
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| Lore |
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| Rivalries |
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| Division championships (9) |
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| League championships (4) |
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Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1930–1933) | |
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Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–present) victory |
