1978 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerArt Modell
Head coachSam Rutigliano
Home fieldCleveland Municipal Stadium
Local radioWHK
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

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 an 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 touchdowns.

Offseason

NFL draft

The following were selected in the 1978 NFL draft.

1978 Cleveland Browns Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
112Clay MatthewsLinebackerUSC
123Ozzie NewsomeTight endAlabama
239Johnny EvansPunterNorth Carolina State
367Larry CollinsRunning backTexas A&I
368Mark MillerQuarterbackBowling Green
4103Pete PullaraOffensive GuardTennessee-Chattanooga
5122Keith WrightWide receiverMemphis St.
6149Al PittsCenterMichigan State
8205Jesse TurnbowDefensive tackleTennessee
9234Jon KramerGuardBaylor
10261Brent WatsonOffensive tackleTennessee
11290Larry GillardDefensive tackleMississippi State
12317Leo BiedermannOffensive tackleCalifornia

[1]

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1978 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – John Petercuskie
  • Film Coordinator - Ed Ulinski
  • Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy


Roster

1978 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

Vacant - none


Practice squad Vacant - none


Rookies in italics

[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 3 San Francisco 49ers W 24–7 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 68,973 Recap
2 September 10 Cincinnati Bengals W 13–10 2–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 72,691 Recap
3 September 17 at Atlanta Falcons W 24–16 3–0 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 56,648 Recap
4 September 24 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–15 3–1 Three Rivers Stadium 49,573 Recap
5 October 1 Houston Oilers L 13–16 3–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 72,776 Recap
6 October 8 at New Orleans Saints W 24–16 4–2 Louisiana Superdome 50,158 Recap
7 October 15 Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–34 4–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 81,302 Recap
8 October 22 at Kansas City Chiefs L 3–17 4–4 Arrowhead Stadium 41,157 Recap
9 October 29 Buffalo Bills W 41–20 5–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,409 Recap
10 November 5 at Houston Oilers L 10–14 5–5 Houston Astrodome 45,827 Recap
11 November 12 Denver Broncos L 7–19 5–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,856 Recap
12 November 19 at Baltimore Colts W 45–24 6–6 Memorial Stadium 45,341 Recap
13 November 26 Los Angeles Rams W 30–19 7–6 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 55,158 Recap
14 December 3 at Seattle Seahawks L 24–47 7–7 Kingdome 62,262 Recap
15 December 10 New York Jets W 37–34 8–7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 36,881 Recap
16 December 17 at Cincinnati Bengals L 16–48 8–8 Riverfront Stadium 46,985 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 0 17 0724
Falcons 3 7 0616

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

  • Date: September 17
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C), relative humidity 70%, round (wind) 6 mph (9.7 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 56,648
  • Referee: Gene Barth
  • TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson (play–by–play) and Paul Warfield (color commentator)
Game information

References

  1. ↑ "1978 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  2. ↑ "1978 Cleveland Browns starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
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