1978 Houston Oilers (NFL) |
| 2nd place American Football Conference Central Division 10-6-0 .625 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: Bum Phillips |
| Ed Biles | Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers |
| Andy Bourgeois | Offensive Backs |
| Joe Bugel | Offensive Line |
| Bob Gambold | Defensive Backs |
| King Hill | Receivers |
| Wade Phillips | Defensive Line |
| Ken Shipp | Offensive Coordinator |
| John Paul Young | Special Teams |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/5/1978 | H | Denver Broncos | 12-17 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 48027 | |
| Mon | 8/14/1978 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 10-28 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 49334 | |
| Sat | 8/19/1978 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 27-13 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 62242 | |
| Sat | 8/26/1978 | H | New Orleans Saints | 3-17 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 49554 | |
| Sun | 9/3/1978 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 14-20 | L | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 57328 | |
| Sun | 9/10/1978 | A | Kansas City Chiefs | 20-17 | W | Kansas City, MO | Arrowhead Stadium | 40213 | |
| Sun | 9/17/1978 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 20-19 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 46161 | |
| Sun | 9/24/1978 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 6-10 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 45749 | |
| Sun | 10/1/1978 | A | Cleveland Browns | 16-13 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 72776 | |
| Sun | 10/8/1978 | A | Oakland Raiders | 17-21 | L | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 52550 | |
| Sun | 10/15/1978 | H | Buffalo Bills | 17-10 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 47727 | |
| Mon | 10/23/1978 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 24-17 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 48021 | |
| Sun | 10/29/1978 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 13-28 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 50532 | |
| Sun | 11/5/1978 | H | Cleveland Browns | 14-10 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 45827 | |
| Sun | 11/12/1978 | A | New England Patriots | 26-23 | W | Foxborough, MA | Schaefer Stadium | 60356 | |
| Mon | 11/20/1978 | H | Miami Dolphins | 35-30 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 50290 | |
| Sun | 11/26/1978 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 17-10 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 43245 | |
| Sun | 12/3/1978 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 3-13 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 54261 | |
| Sun | 12/10/1978 | A | New Orleans Saints | 17-12 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 63169 | |
| Sun | 12/17/1978 | H | San Diego Chargers | 24-45 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 49554 | |
| AFC Wild Card Playoff | |||||||||
| Sun | 12/24/1978 | A | Miami Dolphins | 17-9 | W | Miami, FL | Orange Bowl | 70036 | |
| AFC Divisional Playoff | |||||||||
| Sun | 12/31/1978 | A | New England Patriots | 31-14 | W | Foxborough, MA | Schaefer Stadium | 60881 | |
| AFC Championship | |||||||||
| Sun | 1/7/1979 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-34 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 49417 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| 19 | Willie Alexander | RCB-LCB | 6-3 | 192 | 29 | Alcorn State | 16 | 15 |
| 86 | Mike Barber | TE | 6-3 | 237 | 25 | Louisiana Tech | 16 | 16 |
| 63 | Steve Baumgartner | DE | 6-7 | 245 | 27 | Purdue | 16 | 0 |
| 65 | Elvin Bethea | RDE | 6-3 | 255 | 32 | North Carolina A&T State | 16 | 16 |
| 54 | Gregg Bingham | LILB | 6-1 | 227 | 27 | Purdue | 16 | 16 |
| 52 | Robert Brazile | LOLB | 6-4 | 238 | 25 | Jackson State | 16 | 16 |
| 00 | Ken Burrough | WR | 6-3 | 215 | 30 | Texas Southern | 16 | 16 |
| 34 | Earl Campbell | RB | 5-11 | 238 | 23 | Texas | 15 | 14 |
| 26 | Rob Carpenter | RB | 6-1 | 226 | 23 | Miami (Ohio) | 11 | 2 |
| 58 | David Carter | C | 6-2 | 260 | 25 | Western Kentucky | 16 | 0 |
| 88 | Rich Caster | WR | 6-5 | 228 | 30 | Jackson State | 14 | 6 |
| 47 | Ronnie Coleman | RB | 5-10 | 197 | 27 | Alabama A&M | 15 | 2 |
| 78 | Curley Culp | MG | 6-1 | 265 | 32 | Arizona State | 16 | 16 |
| 20 | Bill Currier | SS | 6-0 | 193 | 23 | South Carolina | 14 | 11 |
| 28 | Anthony Davis | RB | 5-9 | 187 | 26 | Southern California | 2 | 0 |
| 66 | Jimmy Dean | DE | 6-4 | 252 | 23 | Texas A&M | 3 | 0 |
| 81 | Johnnie Dirden | WR | 6-0 | 190 | 26 | Sam Houston State | 16 | 0 |
| 69 | Andy Dorris | LDE | 6-4 | 248 | 27 | New Mexico State | 16 | 0 |
| 31 | Brian Duncan | RB | 6-0 | 201 | 26 | Southern Methodist | 5 | 0 |
| 60 | Ed Fisher | ROG-LOG | 6-3 | 249 | 29 | Arizona State | 16 | 15 |
| 16 | Toni Fritsch | K | 5-7 | 188 | 33 | none | 16 | 0 |
| 70 | Conway Hayman | ROT-LOG | 6-3 | 255 | 29 | Delaware | 16 | 13 |
| 15 | Al Johnson | S | 6-0 | 200 | 28 | Cincinnati | 7 | 0 |
| 84 | Billy Johnson | WR | 5-9 | 170 | 26 | Widener | 5 | 0 |
| 71 | Ken Kennard | MG | 6-2 | 255 | 24 | Angelo State | 16 | 0 |
| 57 | Steve Kiner | RILB | 6-0 | 219 | 31 | Tennessee | 16 | 16 |
| 25 | Kurt Knoff | SS | 6-2 | 188 | 24 | Kansas | 16 | 5 |
| 55 | Carl Mauck | C | 6-3 | 242 | 31 | Southern Illinois | 16 | 16 |
| 24 | Alvin Maxson | RB | 5-11 | 201 | 27 | Southern Methodist | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | Guido Merkens | S | 6-1 | 200 | 23 | Sam Houston State | 12 | 0 |
| 14 | Gifford Nielsen | QB | 6-4 | 205 | 24 | Brigham Young | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Cliff Parsley | P | 6-1 | 211 | 24 | Oklahoma State | 16 | 0 |
| 7 | Dan Pastorini | QB | 6-3 | 205 | 29 | Santa Clara | 16 | 16 |
| 39 | Larry Poole | RB | 6-1 | 195 | 26 | Kent State | 9 | 0 |
| 64 | George Reihner | LOG | 6-4 | 263 | 23 | Penn State | 9 | 9 |
| 37 | Mike Reinfeldt | WS | 6-2 | 192 | 25 | Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 16 | 16 |
| 82 | Mike Renfro | WR | 6-0 | 189 | 23 | Texas Christian | 14 | 10 |
| 87 | Conrad Rucker | TE | 6-3 | 260 | 24 | Southern University | 13 | 0 |
| 73 | Greg Sampson | LOT | 6-6 | 270 | 28 | Stanford | 16 | 16 |
| 62 | John Schuhmacher | OG | 6-3 | 275 | 23 | Southern California | 11 | 0 |
| 27 | Greg Stemrick | LCB-RCB | 5-11 | 178 | 27 | Colorado State | 16 | 16 |
| 53 | Art Stringer | ILB | 6-1 | 223 | 24 | Ball State | 7 | 0 |
| 51 | Ted Thompson | OLB | 6-1 | 218 | 25 | Southern Methodist | 16 | 0 |
| 76 | Morris Towns | ROT-ROG | 6-4 | 263 | 24 | Missouri | 16 | 12 |
| 46 | Robert Turner | RB | 5-11 | 200 | 24 | Oklahoma State | 4 | 0 |
| 59 | Ted Washington | ROLB | 6-1 | 250 | 30 | Mississippi Valley State | 16 | 16 |
| 38 | C.L. Whittington | S | 6-1 | 200 | 26 | Prairie View A&M | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | J.C. Wilson | CB | 6-0 | 177 | 22 | Tampa; Pittsburgh | 16 | 1 |
| 45 | Tim Wilson | RB | 6-3 | 235 | 24 | Maryland | 16 | 13 |
| 42 | Robert Woods | WR-RB | 5-7 | 170 | 23 | Grambling State | 3 | 0 |
| 77 | James Young | LDE | 6-2 | 260 | 28 | Texas Southern | 16 | 16 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 1 | Earl Campbell | RB | Texas |
| 3 | 73 | Gifford Nielsen | QB | Brigham Young |
| 4 | 98 | Mike Renfro | WR | Texas Christian |
| 6 | 154 | Conrad Rucker | TE | Southern University |
| 8 | 210 | J.C. Wilson | DB | Pittsburgh |
| 9 | 239 | Jim Mol | DE | Morningside |
| 10 | 266 | Steve Young | TE | Wake Forest |
| 11 | 295 | Willie Thicklen | WR | Alabama State |
| 12 | 322 | John Schuhmacher | G | Southern California |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 38 | 80 | 65 | 100 | |
| Opponents Totals | 43 | 119 | 67 | 69 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 29:44 | 276 | 135 | 119 | 22 | 100/232 43.1% | / % | 102 | 833 |
| Opponents Totals | 30:16 | 292 | 120 | 144 | 28 | 90/225 40.0% | / % | 99 | 940 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Campbell | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | ||
| Toni Fritsch | 0 | 31 | 32 | 96.9 | 14 | 18 | 77.8 | 0 | 73 |
| Rob Carpenter | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Rich Caster | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Mike Barber | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Ken Burrough | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Ronnie Coleman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Mike Renfro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Robert Woods | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Tim Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| (Team) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 35 | 31 | 35 | 88.6 | 14 | 18 | 77.8 | 0 | 283 |
| Opponents Totals | 34 | 33 | 34 | 97.1 | 19 | 32 | 59.4 | 2 | 298 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toni Fritsch | 14 | 18 | 77.8 | 0 | 49 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 7/9 | 3/4 | 0/0 |
| Team Totals | 14 | 18 | 77.8 | 0 | 49 | 2/2 | 2/3 | 7/9 | 3/4 | 0/0 |
| Opponents Totals | 19 | 32 | 59.4 | 2/2 | 4/8 | 7/10 | 6/10 | 0/2 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Campbell | 302 | 1450 | 4.8 | 81t | 13 |
| Tim Wilson | 126 | 431 | 3.4 | 24 | 0 |
| Rob Carpenter | 82 | 348 | 4.2 | 20 | 5 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 61 | 188 | 3.1 | 16 | 1 |
| Rich Caster | 5 | 32 | 6.4 | 11 | 0 |
| Mike Barber | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Dan Pastorini | 18 | 11 | 0.6 | 11 | 0 |
| Mike Renfro | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Robert Woods | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Brian Duncan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Burrough | 3 | -11 | -3.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 603 | 2476 | 4.1 | 81t | 19 |
| Opponents Totals | 556 | 2072 | 3.7 | 65 | 14 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Pastorini | 368 | 199 | 54.1 | 152 | 2473 | 6.7 | 12.4 | 80t | 16 | 4.3 | 17 | 4.6 | 15 | 123 | 2350 | 70.4 |
| Gifford Nielsen | 4 | 2 | 50.0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 12 | -12 | 56.3 |
| Ken Burrough | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Team Totals | 373 | 201 | 53.9 | 155 | 2473 | 6.6 | 12.3 | 80t | 16 | 4.3 | 17 | 4.6 | 17 | 135 | 2338 | 69.9 |
| Opponents Totals | 428 | 240 | 56.1 | 171 | 3125 | 7.3 | 13.0 | 58t | 17 | 4.0 | 17 | 4.0 | 37 | 283 | 2842 | 75.9 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Burrough | 47 | 624 | 13.3 | 44 | 2 |
| Mike Barber | 32 | 513 | 16.0 | 72t | 3 |
| Mike Renfro | 26 | 339 | 13.0 | 58t | 2 |
| Rich Caster | 20 | 316 | 15.8 | 47t | 5 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 19 | 246 | 12.9 | 33 | 1 |
| Rob Carpenter | 17 | 150 | 8.8 | 37 | 0 |
| Tim Wilson | 15 | 91 | 6.1 | 14 | 1 |
| Earl Campbell | 12 | 48 | 4.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Robert Woods | 6 | 96 | 16.0 | 80t | 2 |
| Conrad Rucker | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 22 | 0 |
| Brian Duncan | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Johnson | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Greg Sampson | 1 | -4 | -4.0 | -4 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 201 | 2473 | 12.3 | 80t | 16 |
| Opponents Totals | 240 | 3125 | 13.0 | 58t | 17 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willie Alexander | 5 | 51 | 10.2 | 29 | 0 |
| Greg Stemrick | 3 | 65 | 21.7 | 38 | 0 |
| J.C. Wilson | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Robert Brazile | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 |
| Art Stringer | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Bill Currier | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Kurt Knoff | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| C.L. Whittington | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Steve Kiner | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Mike Reinfeldt | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 17 | 199 | 11.7 | 38 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 17 | 174 | 10.2 | 33 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliff Parsley | 91 | 3539 | 38.9 | 59 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 517 | 2902 | 31.5 |
| Team Totals | 92 | 3539 | 38.5 | 59 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 517 | 2902 | 31.5 |
| Opponents Totals | 81 | 3462 | 42.7 | 65 | 0 | 10 | 19 | 416 | 2846 | 35.1 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronnie Coleman | 16 | 1 | 142 | 8.9 | 32 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 13 | 1 | 132 | 10.2 | 42 | 0 |
| Robert Woods | 9 | 0 | 82 | 9.1 | 14 | 0 |
| Billy Johnson | 8 | 0 | 60 | 7.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Ted Thompson | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Team Totals | 46 | 4 | 416 | 9.0 | 42 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 53 | 20 | 517 | 9.8 | 82t | 1 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnnie Dirden | 32 | 780 | 24.4 | 60 | 0 | |
| Larry Poole | 4 | 107 | 26.8 | 31 | 0 | |
| Anthony Davis | 4 | 98 | 24.5 | 31 | 0 | |
| Billy Johnson | 4 | 73 | 18.3 | 22 | 0 | |
| Robert Turner | 4 | 69 | 17.3 | 23 | 0 | |
| Robert Woods | 3 | 59 | 19.7 | 24 | 0 | |
| Ronnie Coleman | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 23 | 0 | |
| Brian Duncan | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 21 | 0 | |
| Tim Wilson | 2 | 29 | 14.5 | 16 | 0 | |
| Rob Carpenter | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 58 | 1304 | 22.5 | 60 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 61 | 1360 | 22.3 | 54 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Elvin Bethea | 8.0 | |
| Ted Washington | 7.5 | |
| James Young | 5.5 | |
| Robert Brazile | 5.0 | |
| Andy Dorris | 4.0 | |
| Curley Culp | 3.0 | |
| Steve Baumgartner | 1.0 | |
| Gregg Bingham | 1.0 | |
| Ken Kennard | 1.0 | |
| Art Stringer | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 37.0 | 283.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 17.0 | 135.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willie Alexander | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Barber | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Elvin Bethea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Gregg Bingham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Earl Campbell | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| David Carter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Rich Caster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ronnie Coleman | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Curley Culp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Bill Currier | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnnie Dirden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Steve Kiner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gifford Nielsen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dan Pastorini | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -19 | 0 | |
| George Reihner | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Reinfeldt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Renfro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Greg Sampson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Art Stringer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Thompson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Wilson | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Robert Woods | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| James Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 35 | 24 | 11 | 16 | 27 | -13 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 28 | 17 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 1 |
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| Last Updated: November 20, 2023 |