1978 St. Louis Cardinals season
OwnerBill Bidwill
Head coachBud Wilkinson
Home fieldBusch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record6–10
Division place4th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersC Tom Banks
G Bob Young
T Dan Dierdorf

The 1978 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 59th year with the National Football League and the 19th season in St. Louis. The controversial recruitment of 62-year-old former Oklahoma Sooners coach Bud Wilkinson was a failure, as the team, already affected by becoming the first opponent team to lose visiting the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in December 1977), failed to maintain the standard of the previous four seasons. St. Louis lost its first eight games to be out of the running for the playoffs by midseason, and even a sequence of six wins in eight games failed to move them beyond a tie for last in its division.

The last of the Cardinals’ initial eight consecutive losses was the final time they played the New York Jets until 1996,[1] by which time the franchise was based in Phoenix and provided a notorious Jets’ team with the win needed to avoid the first 0–16 record in NFL history. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team's division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.[2]

Wilkinson was hired in early March,[3][4] following the release of Don Coryell in February.[5][6] Wilkinson had last coached at Oklahoma in 1963, and had since been an analyst on college football telecasts.[3][4]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1978 St. Louis Cardinals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 15 Steve Little  Kicker Arkansas
1 19 Ken Greene  Safety Washington State
2 42 John Barefield  Linebacker Texas A&I
3 69 Doug Greene  Defensive back Texas A&I
4 96 George Collins  Guard Georgia
4 97 Jimmy Childs  Wide receiver Cal Poly
5 124 Earl Carr  Running back Florida
6 151 Jack Williams  Defensive end Bowling Green
7 181 Dave Stief  Wide receiver Portland State
9 235 Joe Mosley  Tight end Central State (OH)
10 265 Randy Gill  Linebacker San Jose State
12 319 Anthony Clay  Linebacker South Carolina State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1978 St. Louis Cardinals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Jerry Thompson


Roster

1978 St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 5 at Miami Dolphins L 7–28 0–1 Miami Orange Bowl 46,557
2 August 12 at Chicago Bears W 26–14 1–1 Soldier Field 52,732
3 August 19 at Green Bay Packers L 17–23 1–2 Lambeau Field 50,423
4 August 26 at Kansas City Chiefs W 12–7 2–2 Arrowhead Stadium 40,884

[7]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 3 at Chicago Bears L 10–17 0–1 Soldier Field 52,791 Recap
2 September 10 New England Patriots L 6–16 0–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,233 Recap
3 September 17 Washington Redskins L 10–28 0–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 49,282 Recap
4 September 24 at Dallas Cowboys L 12–21 0–4 Texas Stadium 62,760 Recap
5 October 1 at Miami Dolphins L 10–24 0–5 Miami Orange Bowl 43,882 Recap
6 October 8 Baltimore Colts L 17–30 0–6 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,479 Recap
7 October 15 Dallas Cowboys L 21–24 (OT) 0–7 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,991 Recap
8 October 22 at New York Jets L 10–23 0–8 Shea Stadium 49,244 Recap
9 October 29 at Philadelphia Eagles W 16–10 1–8 Veterans Stadium 62,989 Recap
10 November 5 New York Giants W 20–10 2–8 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,820 Recap
11 November 12 at San Francisco 49ers W 16–10 3–8 Candlestick Park 33,155 Recap
12 November 19 at Washington Redskins W 27–17 4–8 RFK Stadium 52,460 Recap
13 November 26 Philadelphia Eagles L 10–14 4–9 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,693 Recap
14 December 3 Detroit Lions W 21–14 5–9 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,200 Recap
15 December 10 at New York Giants L 0–17 5–10 Giants Stadium 52,226 Recap
16 December 17 Atlanta Falcons W 42–21 6–10 Busch Memorial Stadium 40,022 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Dallas Cowboys(2) 12 4 0 .750 7–1 9–3 384 208 W6
Philadelphia Eagles(5) 9 7 0 .563 4–4 6–6 270 250 W1
Washington Redskins 8 8 0 .500 4–4 6–6 273 283 L5
St. Louis Cardinals 6 10 0 .375 3–5 6–6 248 296 W1
New York Giants 6 10 0 .375 2–6 5–9 264 298 L1

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ Arizona Cardinals v New York Jets
  2. ↑ History of the NFL's Structure and Formats
  3. 1 2 "Wilkinson named Cardinals' coach". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. March 2, 1978. p. C1.
  4. 1 2 "Big Red names Wilkinson". Southeast Missourian. (Cape Girardeau). March 2, 1978. p. 11.
  5. ↑ "Coryell won't coach Cards". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 11, 1978. p. 4C.
  6. ↑ "Wanted: 'A talented coach'". Southeast Missourian. (Cape Girardeau). Associated Press. February 12, 1978. p. 16.
  7. ↑ "1978 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
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