1978 New York Jets season

The 1978 New York Jets season was the nineteenth season for the franchise and the ninth in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 3–11 record from each of the previous three seasons under head coach Walt Michaels. Following an opening-game upset over the Miami Dolphins at Shea Stadium, the Jets stayed in contention for most of the season before finishing with an 8–8 record, with Matt Robinson starting most of the season at quarterback.

1978 New York Jets season
Head coachWalt Michaels
OwnerLeon Hess
Home fieldShea Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Wesley Walker

Offseason

This photo from 1985 shows the Jets’ uniform redesigned and adopted in 1978. Note the green helmet and modified shoulder/sleeve treatment.

The Jets overhauled their uniforms and logos for the 1978 season, abandoning the jerseys they had worn since 1963 and the helmet and logo they’d used since 1965 in favor of a more modern look using the same kelly-green-and-white color scheme. The new helmets were solid green with white facemasks, and a stylized “JETS” wordmark in white on each side. The mark featured angular lettering and a silhouette of a modern jet airplane extending horizontally to the right from the top of the “J” above the “ETS”. The jerseys featured large TV numerals on the shoulders and two thick parallel stripes on the sleeves, while the pants had a single green stripe from hip to knee on each side.

NFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team
1 4 Chris Ward Offensive Tackle Ohio State
2 31 Mike Merrill Linebacker Minnesota
3 61 Mickey Shuler Tight End Penn State

Personnel

Staff

1978 New York Jets staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Dan Sekanovich – Defensive line
  • Joe Gardi – Linebackers/special teams
  • John Mazur – Defensive backs

Roster

1978 New York Jets final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists



Practice squad



Rookies in italics
53 active, 5 inactive, 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultGame siteAttendance
1 September 3, 1978Miami DolphinsW 33–20Shea Stadium
49,598
2 September 10, 1978at Buffalo BillsW 21–20Rich Stadium
40,985
3 September 17, 1978Seattle SeahawksL 17–24Shea Stadium
46,911
4 September 24, 1978at Washington RedskinsL 3–23Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
54,729
5 October 1, 1978Pittsburgh SteelersL 17–28Shea Stadium
52,058
6 October 8, 1978Buffalo BillsW 45–14Shea Stadium
44,545
7 October 15, 1978at Baltimore ColtsW 33–10Memorial Stadium
45,563
8 October 22, 1978St. Louis CardinalsW 23–10Shea Stadium
49,244
9 October 29, 1978at New England PatriotsL 21–55Schaefer Stadium
60,585
10 November 5, 1978at Denver BroncosW 31–28Mile High Stadium
74,983
11 November 12, 1978at Philadelphia EaglesL 9–17Veterans Stadium
60,249
12 November 19, 1978New England PatriotsL 17–19Shea Stadium
55,568
13 November 26, 1978at Miami DolphinsW 24–13Miami Orange Bowl
49,255
14 December 3, 1978Baltimore ColtsW 24–16Shea Stadium
50,248
15 December 10, 1978at Cleveland BrownsL 34–37 (OT)Cleveland Stadium
36,881
16 December 17, 1978Dallas CowboysL 7–30Shea Stadium
52,532

Game summaries

Week 1

1 234Total
Dolphins 0 677 20
Jets 10 1076 33
  • Date: September 3
  • Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 49,598
  • Game weather: 72 °F (22.2 °C); wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)

[1]

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

1 234Total
Bills 7 007 14
Jets 14 21100 45
  • Date: October 8
  • Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 44,545
  • Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C) • Wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn)

[2]

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

1 234Total
Jets 0 1777 31
Broncos 14 1400 28
  • Date: November 5
  • Location: Mile High Stadium
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 74,983
  • Game weather: 48 °F (8.9 °C); wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)

[3]

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

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

Awards and records

References

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