1978 Cincinnati Bengals season

1978 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Bill Johnson and Homer Rice
Home field	Riverfront
Results
Record	4-12
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

QB Ken Anderson missed the first four games with a broken bone in his right hand, and Homer Rice replaced Bill Johnson as head coach after the Bengals started 0-5. The team dipped to marks of 0-8 and 1-12 before rebounding under Rice to win the last three games. In the season finale, the Bengals blasted Cleveland, 48-16, setting series records for points and victory margin.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1978 Cincinnati Bengals Draft
Round	Pick #	Overall	Name	Position	College
1	8	8	Ross Browner	Defensive End	Notre Dame
1	16	16	Blair Bush	Center	Washington
2	7	35	Ray Griffin	Defensive Back	Ohio State
2	17	45	Dave Turner	Running Back	San Diego State
3	16	72	Ted Vincent	Defensive Tackle	Wichita State
3	27	83	Don Bass	Wide Receiver	Houston
4	15	99	Dennis Law	Wide Receiver	East Tennessee State
5	16	126	Tom Dinkel	Linebacker	Kansas
5	21	131	Rob Hertel	Quarterback	USC
6	17	155	Steve Geise	Running Back	Penn State
7	16	182	Joe Branson	Defensive Back	Livingstone College
7	27	193	Danny Bass	Offensive Tackle	Elon
8	17	211	Bill Miller	Offensive Tackle	Western Illinois
9	16	238	Ron Shumon	Linebacker	Wichita State
10	17	267	Tom DePaso	Linebacker	Penn State
11	14	292	Cal Prince	Running Back	Louisville
11	16	294	Mark Donahue	Guard	Michigan
12	17	323	Kim Featsent	Wide Receiver	Kent State

Regular season

Schedule

1978 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule
Date	Opponent	W-L	Score	Att.	Stadium
September 3	Kansas City Chiefs	L	23-24	41,810	Riverfront
September 10	at Cleveland Browns	L	10-13(OT)	72,691	Cleveland
September 17	Pittsburgh Steelers	L	3-28	50,260	Riverfront
September 24	New Orleans Saints	L	18-20	40,455	Riverfront
October 1	at San Francisco 49ers	L	12-28	41,107	Candlestick Park
October 9	at Miami Dolphins	L	0-21	54,729	Orange Bowl
October 15	New England Patriots	L	3-10	48,699	Riverfront
October 22	at Buffalo Bills	L	0-5	47,754	Rich
October 29	Houston Oilers	W	28-13	50,532	Riverfront
November 5	at San Diego Chargers	L	13-22	43,639	San Diego
November 13	Oakland Raiders	L	21-34	51,374	Riverfront
November 19	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L	6-7	47,578	Three Rivers
November 26	at Houston Oilers	L	10-17	43,245	Astrodome
December 3	Atlanta Falcons	W	37-7	25,336	Riverfront
December 11	at Los Angeles Rams	W	20-19	47,471	Los Angeles Coliseum
December 17	Cleveland Browns	W	48-16	46,985	Riverfront

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

Team stats

1978 Cincinnati Bengals Team Stats
TEAM STATS	Bengals	Opponents
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
TOTAL NET YARDS
Avg Per Game
Total Plays
Avg. Per Play
NET YARDS RUSHING
Avg. Per Game
Total Rushes
NET YARDS PASSING
Avg. Per Game
Sacked Yards Lost
Gross Yards
Att. Completions
Completion Pct.
Intercepted
PUNTS-AVERAGE
PENALTIES-YARDS
FUMBLES-BALL LOST
TOUCHDOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Returns

Score by Periods	1	2	3	4	Tot
Bengals
Opponents

Team leaders

• Passing: Ken Anderson (319 Att, 173 Comp, 2219 Yds, 54.2 Pct, 10 TD, 22 Int, 58.0 Rating)
• Rushing: Pete Johnson (180 Att, 762 Yds, 4.2 Avg, 50 Long, 7 TD)
• Receiving: Isaac Curtis (47 Rec, 737 Yds, 15.7 Avg, 57 Long, 3 TD)
• Scoring: Chris Bahr, 74 points (16 FG; 26 PAT)

Roster

Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks 11 John Reaves 14 Ken Anderson 16 Rob Hertel Running Backs 22 Deacon Turner 36 Lenvil Elliott 35 Tony Davis 42 Boobie Clark 45 Archie Griffin 46 Pete Johnson FB Wide Receivers 82 Billy Brooks 83 Dennis Law 85 Isaac Curtis 84 Don Bass Tight Ends 81 Jim Corbett 88 Rick Walker		Offensive Linemen 54 Bob Johnson C 58 Blair Bush C 62 Dave Lapham G 66 Mark Donahue G 71 Rufus Mayes T 72 Ron Hunt T 74 Glenn Bujnoch G 76 Vernon Holland T 77 Mike Wilson T Defensive Linemen 67 Gary Burley DE 68 Dave Pureifory DT 73 Eddie Edwards DE 75 Wilson Whitley DT 78 Ted Vincent DT 79 Ross Browner DE		Linebackers 50 Glenn Cameron 51 Chris Devlin 52 Tom Dinkel 53 Bo Harris 55 Jim LeClair 56 Tom DePaso 57 Reggie Williams 59 Ron Shumon 51 Tom Ruud 59 Ray Phillips Defensive Backs 13 Ken Riley CB 21 Melvin Morgan CB 24 Marvin Cobb S 30 Dick Jauron S 32 Scott Perry CB 34 Louis Breeden CB 44 Ray Griffin CB Special Teams 10 Chris Bahr K 87 Pat McInally P

Awards and records

Pro Bowl Selection

• For the first time in team history, the Bengals did not have any players selected to the Pro Bowl.

References

• Bengals on Pro Football Reference
• Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com
• Bengals History on Official Site