1978 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1978 San Francisco 49ers season was their 29th season in the National Football League. The team began the season hoping to improve upon their previous output of 5–9. Instead, the team started the season 0–4 for the second straight year. The team also suffered a nine-game losing streak.[1]

1978 San Francisco 49ers season
Head coachPete McCulley
Fred O'Connor (interim)
General managerJoe Thomas
OwnerEdward J. DeBartolo, Jr.
Home fieldCandlestick Park
Results
Record2–14
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishdid not qualify

During the off-season, the 49ers acquired running back O. J. Simpson from Buffalo (himself originally from San Francisco). Although Simpson had been one of the best backs in the league over the previous decade, he was in poor physical condition and had recently undergone knee surgery. As a result, his playing ability was limited.

The 49ers finished with the worst record in the league and scored only 219 points[2] the fewest in the league in 1978. Making matters worse is that the first pick in the 1979 NFL Draft was traded to the Bills as part of the Simpson deal. The team set an NFL record with 63 turnovers.

Personnel

Staff
1978 San Francisco 49ers staff
Front office
  • Owner and President – Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr.
  • General Manager – Joe Thomas

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Roster
1978 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[3]

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 3, 1978 at Cleveland Browns L 24–7
68,973
2 September 10, 1978 Chicago Bears L 16–13
49,502
3 September 17, 1978 at Houston Oilers L 20–19
46,161
4 September 24, 1978 at New York Giants L 27–10
71,536
5 October 1, 1978 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–12
41,107
6 October 8, 1978 at Los Angeles Rams L 27–10
59,337
7 October 15, 1978 New Orleans Saints L 14–7
37,671
8 October 22, 1978 Atlanta Falcons L 20–17
44,235
9 October 29, 1978 at Washington Redskins L 38–20
53,706
10 November 5, 1978 at Atlanta Falcons L 21–10
55,468
11 November 12, 1978 St. Louis Cardinals L 16–10
33,155
12 November 19, 1978 Los Angeles Rams L 31–28
45,022
13 November 27, 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers L 24–7
51,657
14 December 3, 1978 at New Orleans Saints L 24–13
50,068
15 December 10, 1978 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 6–3
30,931
16 December 17, 1978 at Detroit Lions L 33–14
56,674

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams(1) 12 4 0 .750 4–2 10–2 316 245 W1
Atlanta Falcons(4) 9 7 0 .563 5–1 8–4 240 290 L1
New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 281 298 W1
San Francisco 49ers 2 14 0 .125 0–6 1–11 219 350 L1

References
  1. 1978 San Francisco 49ers
  2. 1978 NFL Standings
  3. "1978 San Francisco 49ers starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
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