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1978 Cleveland Browns season
1978 Cleveland Browns season
Owner	Art Modell
Head coach	Sam Rutigliano
Home field	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Local radio	WHK
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	FS Thom Darden
	← 1977; Browns seasons; 1979 →;

The 1978 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 29th season with the National Football League (NFL). After nearly three years of struggling offensively – and not making the playoffs—while posting just one winning record under ultra-strict, disciplinarian head coach Forrest Gregg, the Browns in 1978 decided to take a softer approach to liven up their attack – and their team. They did so by hiring a virtually unknown assistant at the time, New Orleans Saints receivers coach Sam Rutigliano, to replace Gregg, who was fired with one game left in the 1977 season. Rutigliano was the fourth head coach hired by Art Modell in his 18 years as club owner to that point, and it marked the first time Modell had not promoted from within the organization to fill the spot.

Although it took a while for things to develop, the idea of bringing in someone from the outside nonetheless worked. With Rutigliano, who was as progressive, innovative and forward-thinking of an offensive mind as there was in the game at the time, running the show, the once-stagnant Browns attack scored 30 or more points four times in eight games in the second half of that season. More importantly, Rutigliano was able to jump-start the career of embattled quarterback Brian Sipe, which would pay huge dividends for the team two years later when he won the NFL MVP award and led the Browns to the AFC Central title. He finished with 21 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions in 1978 for a quarterback rating of 80.7, by far his best numbers in his five seasons with the Browns.

The Browns started well, winning their first three games over the San Francisco 49ers (24–7), Cincinnati Bengals (13–10 in overtime) and Atlanta Falcons (24–16). They then stood 4–2 after beating the Saints 24–16 three games later.

But in the process of the Browns offense getting revved up, the defense soon started to come unglued. Yes, the Browns were scoring a lot of points in those final eight games, but they were giving up a lot, too. In fact, they surrendered 34 or more points in three successive games at the very end of the year. The end result was an 8–8 finish in which the Browns were outscored by 22 points overall, 356 to 334, in the first year that the NFL expanded from a 14- to a 16-game regular season. The Browns top draft choice that year, future Hall of Fame TE Ozzie Newsome, fresh off of an NCAA National Championship with Paul "Bear" Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide team, had a solid rookie season, snaring 38 passes for 589 yards and two touchdowns.

Offseason

NFL draft

The following were selected in the 1978 NFL draft.

1978 Cleveland Browns Draft
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	12	Clay Matthews	Linebacker	USC
1	23	Ozzie Newsome	Tight end	Alabama
2	39	Johnny Evans	Punter	North Carolina State
3	67	Larry Collins	Running back	Texas A&I
3	68	Mark Miller	Quarterback	Bowling Green
4	103	Pete Pullara	Offensive Guard	Tennessee-Chattanooga
5	122	Keith Wright	Wide receiver	Memphis State
6	149	Al Pitts	Center	Michigan State
8	205	Jesse Turnbow	Defensive tackle	Tennessee
9	234	Jon Kramer	Guard	Baylor
10	261	Brent Watson	Offensive tackle	Tennessee
11	290	Larry Gillard	Defensive tackle	Mississippi State
12	317	Leo Biedermann	Offensive tackle	California

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Personnel

Staff / Coaches

**1978 Cleveland Browns staff**
	Front office Owner and President – Art Modell Executive Vice President/General Manager – Peter Hadhazy Head coaches Head Coach – Sam Rutigliano Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Jim Shofner Offensive backfield – Jim Garrett Receivers – Rich Kotite Offensive line – Rod Humenuik			Defensive coaches Defensive line – Buck Buchanan Linebackers – Dick MacPherson Defensive backfield – Chuck Weber Special teams coaches Special Teams – John Petercuskie Film Coordinator - Ed Ulinski Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy

Roster

**1978 Cleveland Browns roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Brian Sipe 15 Mark Miller Running backs (RB) 23 Larry Collins 35 Calvin Hill 30 Cleo Miller FB 34 Greg Pruitt 43 Mike Pruitt FB 26 Tom Sullivan Wide receivers (WR) 83 Ricky Feacher 85 Dave Logan 33 Reggie Rucker 89 Keith Wright KR/PR Tight ends (TE) 82 Ozzie Newsome 84 Gary Parris 81 Oscar Roan		Offensive linemen (OL) 69 Leo Biedermann T 62 George Buehler G 63 Barry Darrow T 54 Tom DeLeone C 73 Doug Dieken T 61 Greg Fairchild G 68 Robert Jackson G 65 Henry Sheppard G 79 Gerry Sullivan G/C 51 Leo Tierney C Defensive linemen (DL) 66 Earl Edwards DT 64 Joe Jones DE 70 Mack Mitchell DE 72 Jerry Sherk DT 78 Mickey Sims DT 74 Mike St. Clair DE 71 Jesse Turnbow DT		Linebackers (LB) 52 Dick Ambrose MLB 60 Bob Babich MLB 55 Dave Graf OLB 59 Charlie Hall OLB 86 Gerald Irons OLB 56 Robert Jackson MLB 57 Clay Matthews OLB Defensive backs (DB) 28 Ron Bolton CB/FS 27 Thom Darden FS 21 Oliver Davis CB 47 Ricky Jones SS 40 Tom London CB 20 Tony Peters SS 24 Randy Rich CB 22 Clarence Scott CB Special teams 12 Don Cockroft K 8 Johnny Evans		Practice squad Vacant - none Reserve Vacant - none Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 3	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–7	1–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	68,973	Recap
2	September 10	Cincinnati Bengals	W 13–10	2–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	72,691	Recap
3	September 17	at Atlanta Falcons	W 24–16	3–0	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	56,648	Recap
4	September 24	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 9–15	3–1	Three Rivers Stadium	49,573	Recap
5	October 1	Houston Oilers	L 13–16	3–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	72,776	Recap
6	October 8	at New Orleans Saints	W 24–16	4–2	Louisiana Superdome	50,158	Recap
7	October 15	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–34	4–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	81,302	Recap
8	October 22	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 3–17	4–4	Arrowhead Stadium	41,157	Recap
9	October 29	Buffalo Bills	W 41–20	5–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	51,409	Recap
10	November 5	at Houston Oilers	L 10–14	5–5	Houston Astrodome	45,827	Recap
11	November 12	Denver Broncos	L 7–19	5–6	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	70,856	Recap
12	November 19	at Baltimore Colts	W 45–24	6–6	Memorial Stadium	45,341	Recap
13	November 26	Los Angeles Rams	W 30–19	7–6	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	55,158	Recap
14	December 3	at Seattle Seahawks	L 24–47	7–7	Kingdome	62,262	Recap
15	December 10	New York Jets	W 37–34	8–7	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	36,881	Recap
16	December 17	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 16–48	8–8	Riverfront Stadium	46,985	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	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 3: at Atlanta

Week 3: Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	17	0	7	24
Falcons	3	7	0	6	16

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

Date: September 17
Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C), relative humidity 70%, round (wind) 6 mph (9.7 km/h)
Game attendance: 56,648
Referee: Gene Barth
TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson (play–by–play) and Paul Warfield (color commentator)
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