1978 Houston Oilers season

The 1978 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 19th overall and the 9th 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. In the playoffs, the Oilers would stun the Miami Dolphins, 17-9, in the two teams first playoff meeting, then defeated the New England Patriots 31-14 in New England to advance to their first ever AFC Championship game, but in that game, they would score a mere 5 points in a 34-5 blowout loss to the eventual champion Steelers.

1978 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
Head coach	Bum Phillips
General manager	Bum Phillips
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Dolphins) 17–9 Won Divisional Playoffs (at Patriots) 31–14 Lost AFC Championship (at Steelers) 34–5

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

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 11 Tom Duniven 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		Reserve lists Practice squad 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 and 4 touchdowns. This would be the start of Luv Ya Blue.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	NFL.com recap
1	September 3	at Atlanta Falcons	L 14–20	0–1	Fulton County Stadium	Recap
2	September 10	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 20–17	1–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
3	September 17	San Francisco 49ers	W 20–19	2–1	Astrodome	Recap
4	September 24	Los Angeles Rams	L 6–10	2–2	Astrodome	Recap
5	October 1	at Cleveland Browns	W 16–13	3–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	Recap
6	October 8	at Oakland Raiders	L 17–21	3–3	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	Recap
7	October 15	Buffalo Bills	W 17–10	4–3	Astrodome	Recap
8	October 23	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–17	5–3	Three Rivers Stadium	Recap
9	October 29	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 13–28	5–4	Riverfront Stadium	Recap
10	November 5	Cleveland Browns	W 14–10	6–4	Astrodome	Recap
11	November 12	at New England Patriots	W 26 –23	7–4	Schaefer Stadium	Recap
12	November 20	Miami Dolphins	W 35– 30	8–4	Astrodome	recap
13	November 26	Cincinnati Bengals	W 17 –10	9–4	Astrodome	Recap
14	December 3	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–13	9–5	Astrodome	Recap
15	December 10	at New Orleans Saints	W 17–12	10–5	Louisiana Superdome	Recap
16	December 17	San Diego Chargers	L 24–45	10–6	Astrodome	Recap

[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

Miami Dolphins (8–3) at Houston Oilers (7–4)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	7	7	7	9	30
Oilers	7	7	7	14	35

at Astrodome • Houston, Texas

• Date: November 20
• Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Referee: Gene Barth
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Dolphins Bob Griese 23/33, 349 Yds, 2 TD, INT Delvin Williams 18 Rush, 73 Yds, TD Nat Moore 3 Rec, 84 Yds, TD Oilers Dan Pastorini 10/15, 156 Yds, TD Earl Campbell 28 Rush, 199 Yds, 4 TD Mike Barber 3 Rec, 56 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MIA HOU 1 Dolphins Moore 10-yard touchdown reception from Griese, Yepremian kick good 7 0 1 Oilers Campbell 1-yard touchdown run, Fritsch kick good 7 7 2 Oilers Barber 15-yard touchdown reception from Pastorini, Fritsch kick good 7 14 2 Dolphins Williams 1-yard touchdown run, Yepremian kick good 14 14 3 Oilers Campbell 6-yard touchdown run, Fritsch kick good 14 21 3 Dolphins Harris 1-yard touchdown run, Yepremian kick good 21 21 4 Dolphins Pastorini tackled in end zone for a safety by Duhe 23 21 4 Oilers Campbell 12-yard touchdown run, Fritsch kick good 23 28 4 Oilers Campbell 81-yard touchdown run, Fritsch kick good 23 35 4 Dolphins Cefalo 11-yard touchdown reception from Griese, Yepremian kick good 30 35 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 30 35

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. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/oti/1978.htm

External links

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