Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

1978 Chicago Bears season

1978 Chicago Bears season
OwnerGeorge Halas
General managerJim Finks
Head coachNeill Armstrong
Home fieldSoldier Field
Results
Record7–9
Division place4th NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1978 season was the Chicago Bears' 59th in the National Football League, and their first under head coach Neill Armstrong. The team failed to improve on their 9–5 record from 1977 to finish at 7–9, and failed to make the playoffs for the 14th time in the past 15 seasons.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1978 Chicago Bears draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
3 74 Brad Shearer  Defensive tackle Texas
6 139 John Skibinski  Running back Purdue
6 158 Mekeli Ieremia  Defensive end BYU
7 185 Herman Jones  Wide receiver Ohio State
8 212 George Freitas  Tight end California
9 244 Mike Martin  Linebacker Kentucky
10 271 Ben Zambiasi  Linebacker Georgia
11 298 Walt Underwood  Defensive end USC
12 325 Lew Sibley  Linebacker LSU
      Made roster  

Undrafted free agents

1978 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Mike Morgan Running back Wisconsin

Roster

1978 Chicago Bears roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve

Rookies in italics
, 5 practice squad

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 3 St. Louis Cardinals W 17–10 1–0 Soldier Field 52,791
2 September 10 at San Francisco 49ers W 16–13 2–0 Candlestick Park 49,502
3 September 17 at Detroit Lions W 19–0 3–0 Pontiac Silverdome 65,982
4 September 25 Minnesota Vikings L 20–24 3–1 Soldier Field 53,551
5 October 1 Oakland Raiders L 19–25 3–2 Soldier Field 52,848
6 October 8 at Green Bay Packers L 14–24 3–3 Lambeau Field 56,267
7 October 16 at Denver Broncos L 7–16 3–4 Mile High Stadium 75,008
8 October 22 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 19–33 3–5 Tampa Stadium 68,146
9 October 29 Detroit Lions L 17–21 3–6 Soldier Field 53,378
10 November 5 Seattle Seahawks L 29–31 3–7 Soldier Field 50,697
11 November 12 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–17 3–8 Metropolitan Stadium 43,286
12 November 19 Atlanta Falcons W 13–7 4–8 Soldier Field 46,022
13 November 26 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 14–3 5–8 Soldier Field 42,373
14 December 4 at San Diego Chargers L 7–40 5–9 San Diego Stadium 48,492
15 December 10 Green Bay Packers W 14–0 6–9 Soldier Field 34,306
16 December 16 at Washington Redskins W 14–10 7–9 RFK Stadium 49,774
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

"The 100 yards was nice, but it doesn't mean a thing since we lost." O. J. Simpson said after winning his first confrontation with Walter Payton. Simpson had 108 yards to Payton's 62. - But Simpson's fumble proved to be a pivotal one. He recovered the ball but lost 6 yards on the play, and the 49ers, leading by four points in the fourth quarter, had to go to the air to try to maintain possession. Doug Buffone then intercepts and Chicago wound up with the winning touchdown.

1 234Total
• Bears 3 337 16
49ers 7 303 13

[1]

Week 3

Chicago scored three times in about four minutes in the third quarter, including a 40-yard touchdown pass from Bob Avellini to James Scott as the Bears go 3-0 to stay in first place and extend their regular season winning streak to 9. The third quarter scoring barrage began with a 28-yard field goal by Bob Thomas at 10:41. Less than Three minutes later Tommy Hart tackled quarterback Greg Landry in the end zone for a safety. Then the Bears wrapped up the scoring with Avellini's 40-yard bomb to wide receiver James Scott over the head of cornerback James Hunter.

Week 6 at Packers

Week Six: Chicago Bears (3–2) at Green Bay Packers (4–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 0 0 01414
Packers 0 3 14724

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

  • Date: October 8
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C)
  • Game attendance: 56,267
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 16

1 234Total
Bears 7 070 14
Redskins 0 307 10
  • Date: December 16
  • Location: RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 46 °F (8 °C) • Wind 11 mph (18 km/h)

[2]

Standings

NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings(3) 8 7 1 .531 5–2–1 7–4–1 294 306 L2
Green Bay Packers 8 7 1 .531 5–2–1 6–5–1 249 269 L2
Detroit Lions 7 9 0 .438 4–4 5–7 290 300 W2
Chicago Bears 7 9 0 .438 3–5 7–5 253 274 W2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 11 0 .313 2–6 3–11 241 259 L4

References