1978 Miami Dolphins season

1978 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach	Don Shula
Home field	Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Wildcard

The 1978 Miami Dolphins season saw the team return to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1974, with an 11–5 record. Quarterback Bob Griese missed the first seven games due to a knee injury. The Dolphins got off to a 5-2 start behind back-up Don Strock. Upon Griese's return the Dolphins earned a birth to the playoffs as a Wild Card. Helping to lead the Dolphins back to the postseason was Running Back Delvin Williams who set a team record with 1,258 yards rushing on the season. In the first playoff game involving two Wild Cards the Dolphins were stunned 17-9 by the Houston Oilers at the Orange Bowl. In the process the Dolphins set two notable records: scoring first in all but one of their sixteen regular season games, and never trailing at any point in eleven games. The former record was equalled by the 2004 Patriots, and the latter was beaten by the 2005 Colts.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Dolphins points	Opponents	Record	Attendance
1	Sep 3	at New York Jets	Loss	20	33	0–1	49,598
2	Sep 10	at Baltimore Colts	Win	42	0	1–1	47,730
3	Sep 17	Buffalo Bills	Win	31	24	2–1	48,373
4	Sep 24	at Philadelphia Eagles	Loss	3	17	2–2	62,998
5	Oct 1	St. Louis Cardinals	Win	24	10	3–2	43,882
6	Oct 9	Cincinnati Bengals	Win	21	0	4–2	54,729
7	Oct 15	at San Diego Chargers	Win	28	21	5–2	50,637
8	Oct 22	at New England Patriots	Loss	24	33	5–3	60,424
9	Oct 29	Baltimore Colts	Win	26	8	6–3	53,524
10	Nov 5	Dallas Cowboys	Win	23	16	7–3	69,414
11	Nov 12	at Buffalo Bills	Win	25	24	8–3	48,623
12	Nov 20	at Houston Oilers	Loss	30	35	8–4	50,290
13	Nov 26	New York Jets	Loss	13	24	8–5	49,255
14	Dec 3	at Washington Redskins	Win	16	0	9–5	52,860
15	Dec 10	Oakland Raiders	Win	23	6	10–5	73,003
16	Dec 18	New England Patriots	Win	23	3	11–5	72,071

Results

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 7 3 14 24 • Dolphins 7 7 10 7 31 Date: September 17 Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 82°F; Wind 12

Scoring summary 1 MIA Leroy Harris 4 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick) MIA 7–0 2 BUF Terry Miller 1 yard run (Tom Dempsey kick) Tie 7–7 2 MIA Andre Tillman 6 yard pass from Don Strock (Garo Yepremian kick) MIA 14–7 3 MIA Garo Yepremian 49 yard field goal MIA 17–7 3 BUF Tom Dempsey 46 yard field goal MIA 17–10 3 MIA Gary Davis 65 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick) MIA 24–10 4 BUF Frank Lewis 92 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick) MIA 24–17 4 MIA Delvin Williams 18 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick) MIA 31–17 4 BUF Roland Hooks 4 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick) MIA 31–24

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New England Patriots(2)	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	358	286	L1
Miami Dolphins(4)	11	5	0	.688	5–3	8–4	372	254	W3
New York Jets	8	8	0	.500	6–2	7–5	359	364	L2
Baltimore Colts	5	11	0	.313	1–7	3–9	239	421	L5
Buffalo Bills	5	11	0	.313	2–6	4–10	302	354	W1

Roster

Miami Dolphins 1978 roster
Quarterbacks 12 Bob Griese 7 Guy Benjamin 10 Don Strock Running Backs 32 Benny Malone HB 24 Delvin Williams HB 27 Gary Davis HB 34 Jim Braxton FB 38 Leroy Harris FB 31 Norm Bulaich FB Wide Receivers 82 Duriel Harris 89 Nat Moore 81 Jimmy Cefalo 82/85 Bo Rather 85 Terry Anderson Tight Ends 87 Andre Tillman 86 Loaird McReary 84 Bruce Hardy		Offensive Linemen 79 Wayne Moore T 68 Eric Laakso T 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 54 Wally Pesuit G 62 Jim Langer C 65 Mel Mitchell C 66 Larry Little G 64 Ed Newman G 74 Mike Current T Defensive Linemen 83 Vern Den Herder DE 75 Doug Betters DE 77 A.J. Duhe DE 69 John Alexander DE 73 Bob Baumhower DT 85 Carl Barisich DT 70 Bob Simpson DT Linebackers 58 Kim Bokamper OLB 55 Earnest Rhone OLB 51 Larry Ball OLB 59 Rusty Chambers MLB 56 Steve Towle MLB 53 Bob Matheson MLB 50 Larry Gordon OLB 57 Sean Clancy OLB		Defensive Backs 48 Gerald Small CB 41 Norris Thomas CB 44 Charles Cornelius CB 45 Curtis Johnson CB 49 Charlie Babb FS 21 Rick Volk FS 25 Tim Foley SS Special Teams 1 Garo Yepremian K 6 George Roberts P Reserve Lists 36 Don Nottingham HB/FB 74 Steve Young T Practice Squad Rookies in italics

Playoffs

AFC Wildcard Playoff (Sunday December 24, 1978): vs. Houston Oilers

Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	7	0	0	10	17
Dolphins	7	0	0	2	9

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

• Game time: 4:00 pm EST
• Game weather: 77 degrees, relative humidity 78%, wind 12 mph
• Game attendance: 70,036
• Referee: Dick Jorgensen
• TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Len Dawson

Game information
Scoring MIA – Tillman 13 pass from Griese (Yepremian kick) MIA 7–0 HOU – Wilson 13 pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick) 7–7 HOU – field goal Fritsch 35 HOU 10–7 HOU – Campbell 1 run (Fritsch kick) HOU 17–7 MIA – Safety, Pastorini ran out of end zone HOU 17–9

Notes and references

• Miami Dolphins on Pro Football Reference
• Miami Dolphins on jt-sw.com