Neha Patil (Editor)

1978 Kansas City Chiefs season

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Record
  
4–12

Playoff finish
  
did not qualify

Start date
  
1978

Home field
  
Division place
  
Pro Bowlers
  
None

Head coach
  
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1978 Detroit Lions season

The 1978 Kansas City Chiefs season began with the hiring of new head coach Marv Levy, formerly of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. With the NFL expanding its schedule to 16 games, the Chiefs finished with a 4–12 record and fifth place in the AFC West.

Coach Levy's systematic restocking of a relatively barren defensive roster began with a 1978 draft class that included a pair of future Chiefs franchise hall of famers in defensive end Art Still and linebacker Gary Spani. Running back Ed Podolak, who was the club's all-time leading rusher at the time, retired in the offseason on June 15.

Perhaps Levy's most unconventional tactic in rebuilding the Chiefs was installing the Wing-T offense. "It was a situation where we took over a team that had the worst defensive record in the history of the National Football League," Levy explained. "We wanted to keep that defense off the field, so we ran the ball 60 times a game." The 1978 Chiefs team ran and ran often, posting franchise records with 663 rushing attempts and 2,986 ground yards. Levy's squad ran the ball a staggering 69 times in a 24–23 Opening Day win at Cincinnati on September 3, the most rushing attempts in an NFL contest since 1948. Five different players had 100-yard rushing games during the year, including running back Tony Reed, who finished the season with 1,053 yards to become the team's first 1,000-yard back since 1967. Despite the squad's Opening Day success, the club lost 10 of its next 11 games, including a pair of overtime decisions. However, the team showed signs of improvement with the defense recording a 23–0 shutout against San Diego on November 26 as the club concluded its first 16-game schedule with a 4–12 mark.

Regular season

1978 Kansas City Chiefs Team StartersOffense10 Mike Livingston QB21 Arnold Morgado RB32 Tony Reed FB22 Ted McKnight WR89 Henry Marshall WR88 Walter White TE60 Matt Herkenhoff LT73 Bob Simmons LG58 Jack Rudnay C65 Tom Condon RG77 Charlie Getty RTDefense67 Art Still LDE61 Don Parrish NT75 Sylvester Hicks RDE64 Whitney Paul LB55 Dave Rozumek LB59 Gary Spani LB52 Tom Howard LB24 Gary Green LCB18 Emmitt Thomas RCB46 Tim Gray SS26 Gary Barbaro FSKicking Team3 Jan Stenerud K7 Zenon Andrusyshyn P34 Eddie Payton PR/KR

References

1978 Kansas City Chiefs season Wikipedia


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