1978 Miami Dolphins season

1978 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach Don Shula
Home field Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record 11–5
Division place 2nd AFC East
Playoff finish Lost AFC Wild Card Playoff (Oilers) 9-17
The Dolphins playing against the Houston Oilers in the 1978 AFC Wild Card game.

The 1978 Miami Dolphins season saw the team return to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1974, with an 11–5 record. Quarterback Bob Griese missed the first seven games due to a knee injury. The Dolphins got off to a 5-2 start behind back-up Don Strock. Upon Griese's return the Dolphins earned a birth to the playoffs as a Wild Card. Helping to lead the Dolphins back to the postseason was Running Back Delvin Williams who set a team record with 1,258 yards rushing on the season. In the first playoff game involving two Wild Cards the Dolphins were stunned 17-9 by the Houston Oilers at the Orange Bowl. In the process the Dolphins set two notable records: scoring first in all but one of their sixteen regular season games,[1] and never trailing at any point in eleven games.[2] The former record was equalled by the 2004 Patriots, and the latter was beaten by the 2005 Colts.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1978 Miami Dolphins draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 51 Guy Benjamin  Quarterback Stanford
3 64 Lyman Smith  Defensive Tackle Duke
3 81 Jimmy Cefalo  Wide Receiver Penn State
4 93 Gerald Small  Cornerback an Jose State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1977 Miami Dolphins staff
Front office

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Don Shula

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Carl Taseff
  • Punting – Tom Keane

Roster

1977 Miami Dolphins roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Rookies in italics

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
New England Patriots(2) 11 5 0 .688 6–2 9–3 358 286 L1
Miami Dolphins(4) 11 5 0 .688 5–3 8–4 372 254 W3
New York Jets 8 8 0 .500 6–2 7–5 359 364 L2
Buffalo Bills 5 11 0 .313 2–6 4–10 302 354 W1
Baltimore Colts 5 11 0 .313 1–7 3–9 240 421 L5

Regular season

Schedule

GameDateOpponentResultDolphins pointsOpponentsRecordAttendance
1Sep 3at New York JetsLoss20330–1
49,598
2Sep 10at Baltimore ColtsWin4201–1
47,730
3Sep 17Buffalo BillsWin31242–1
48,373
4Sep 24at Philadelphia EaglesLoss3172–2
62,998
5Oct 1St. Louis CardinalsWin24103–2
43,882
6Oct 9Cincinnati BengalsWin2104–2
54,729
7Oct 15at San Diego ChargersWin28215–2
50,637
8Oct 22at New England PatriotsLoss24335–3
60,424
9Oct 29Baltimore ColtsWin2686–3
53,524
10Nov 5Dallas CowboysWin23167–3
69,414
11Nov 12at Buffalo BillsWin25248–3
48,623
12Nov 20at Houston OilersLoss30358–4
50,290
13Nov 26New York JetsLoss13248–5
49,255
14Dec 3at Washington RedskinsWin1609–5
52,860
15Dec 10Oakland RaidersWin23610–5
73,003
16Dec 18New England PatriotsWin23311–5
72,071

Results

Week 3

1 234Total
Bills 0 7314 24
• Dolphins 7 7107 31

[3]

Playoffs

AFC Wildcard Playoff (Sunday December 24, 1978): vs. Houston Oilers

Game summary
1 2 34Total
Oilers 7 0 01017
Dolphins 7 0 029

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

Awards and honors

Notes and references

  1. ↑ In a single season, from 1940 to 2012, in the regular season, team scored first
  2. ↑ In a single season, from 1940 to 2012, in the regular season, team never trailed during game
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
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