1978 Chicago Bears season


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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.

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
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

edit

1978 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Mike Morgan Running back Wisconsin
1978 Chicago Bears final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

Rookies in italics
, 5 practice squad

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.

"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
Scoring summary
1CHIBob Thomas 32 yard field goalBears 3–0
1SFO. J. Simpson 8 yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Ray Wersching kick)49ers 7–3
2CHIBob Thomas 44 yard field goal49ers 7–6
2SFRay Wersching 44 yard field goal49ers 10–6
3CHIBob Thomas 38 yard field goal49ers 10–9
4SFRay Wersching 27 yard field goal49ers 13–9
4CHIRoland Harper 1 yard run (Bob Thomas kick)Bears 16–13

[1]

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.

Game information

First quarter

  • No scoring

Second quarter

Third quarter

  • GB – Terdell Middleton 2-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 10–0.
  • GB – Steve Luke 63-yard interception return (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 17–0.

Fourth quarter

Top passers
Top rushers
Top receivers
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)
Scoring summary
1CHIWalter Payton 44-yard run (Bob Thomas kick)Bears 7–0
2WSHMark Moseley 33-yard field goalBears 7–3
3CHISteve Schubert 73-yard punt return (Bob Thomas kick)Bears 14–3
4WSHJean Fugett 17-yard pass from Billy Kilmer (Mark Moseley kick)Bears 14–10

[2]

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