1978 Denver Broncos season
General managerFred Gehrke
Head coachRed Miller
Home fieldMile High Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Steelers) 10–33

The 1978 Denver Broncos season was the team's 19th year in professional football and its ninth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by second-year head coach Red Miller, the Broncos were 10–6, repeated as champions of the AFC West, and made the playoffs for the second straight season.

In the AFC divisional round, Denver lost on the road to the top-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers,[1][2] whom they had lost to two weeks earlier in the regular season finale at Mile High Stadium;[3][4] the Broncos had clinched their division title six days earlier with a win over struggling Kansas City, while runners-up Oakland and Seattle both lost and fell to 8–7 with San Diego, two games back with one to play.[5] Pittsburgh went on to win Super Bowl XIII.[6]

Denver was fifteenth in the league in scoring offense, while the Broncos' defense finished second in points allowed and sixth in yards allowed. [7]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1978 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 27 Don Latimer  DT Miami (FL)
2 55 Bill Gay *  TE USC
8 221 Frank Smith  OT Alabama A&M
10 277 Vince Kinney  WR Maryland
11 305 Lacy Brumley  OT Clemson
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1978 Denver Broncos staff
Ownership

{{{ownership}}}

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches


[8]

Roster

1978 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • 30 Jim Jensen RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • -- Gary Silvestri DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 3 Oakland Raiders W 14–6 1–0 Mile High Stadium 75,092
2 September 11 at Minnesota Vikings L 9–12 (OT) 1–1 Metropolitan Stadium 46,508
3 September 17 San Diego Chargers W 27–14 2–1 Mile High Stadium 74,983
4 September 24 at Kansas City Chiefs W 23–17 (OT) 3–1 Arrowhead Stadium 60,593
5 October 1 Seattle Seahawks W 28–7 4–1 Mile High Stadium 74,989
6 October 8 at San Diego Chargers L 0–23 4–2 San Diego Stadium 50,077
7 October 16 Chicago Bears W 16–7 5–2 Mile High Stadium 75,008
8 October 22 at Baltimore Colts L 6–7 5–3 Memorial Stadium 54,057
9 October 29 at Seattle Seahawks W 20–17 (OT) 6–3 Kingdome 62,948
10 November 5 New York Jets L 28–31 6–4 Mile High Stadium 74,983
11 November 12 at Cleveland Browns W 19–7 7–4 Cleveland Stadium 70,856
12 November 19 Green Bay Packers W 16–3 8–4 Mile High Stadium 74,965
13 November 23 at Detroit Lions L 14–17 8–5 Pontiac Silverdome 71,785
14 December 3 at Oakland Raiders W 21–6 9–5 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 53,932
15 December 10 Kansas City Chiefs W 24–3 10–5 Mile High Stadium 74,149
16 December 16 Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–21 10–6 Mile High Stadium 74,104
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Denver Broncos(3) 10 6 0 .625 7–1 8–4 282 198 L1
Oakland Raiders 9 7 0 .563 3–5 5–7 311 283 W1
Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .563 4–4 6–6 345 358 W1
San Diego Chargers 9 7 0 .563 5–3 7–5 355 309 W3
Kansas City Chiefs 4 12 0 .250 1–7 4–10 243 327 L2

Playoffs

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance
Divisional December 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers (1) L 10–33 0–1 Three Rivers Stadium 48,921
Source:[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Steelers draw their curtain on Denver, 33–10". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1978. p. 7B.
  2. 1 2 Jenkins, Dan (January 8, 1979). "Wrong is just right". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  3. 1 2 Sheeley, Glenn (December 17, 1978). "Steelers avoid crushing loss". Pittsburgh Press. p. D1.
  4. 1 2 "It took Steelers until final play to nail down win over Denver". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. December 17, 1978. p. 4B.
  5. ↑ "Kansas City can't handle Morton's arm". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 11, 1978. p. 3B.
  6. ↑ Jenkins, Dan (January 29, 1979). "What a passing parade!". Sports Illustrated. p. 8.
  7. ↑ "1978 Denver Broncos Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  8. ↑ 1978 Denver Broncos Media Guide. p. 4. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Viks lose on call, win on field goal". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. September 12, 1978. p. 3C.
  10. ↑ "Determined Broncos prevail". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. October 17, 1978. p. B3.
  11. ↑ "Lions outlast Broncos on King's late score". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. November 24, 1978. p. 17.
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