1978 New York Jets season

1978 New York Jets season
Head coach	Walt Michaels
Owner	Leon Hess
Home field	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1978 New York Jets season was the 19th season for the team and the 9th in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 3–11 record from 1977 under head coach Walt Michaels. With an opening game upset over the Miami Dolphins at Shea Stadium, the Jets stayed in contention for most of the season before finishing with an 8-8 record.

This was the first season for a new logo with the "J" styled to have a jet-like appearance. This logo would last until the 1997 NFL season. Amazingly, the eighth game was the last time the Jets would oppose the Cardinals until 1996, when that franchise, based in Phoenix, would provide the Jets with their only win for the entire season. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	1978-09-03	Miami Dolphins	W 33–20	Shea Stadium	49,598
2	1978-09-10	at Buffalo Bills	W 21–20	Rich Stadium	40,985
3	1978-09-17	Seattle Seahawks	L 17–24	Shea Stadium	46,911
4	1978-09-24	at Washington Redskins	L 3–23	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	54,729
5	1978-10-01	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–28	Shea Stadium	52,058
6	1978-10-08	Buffalo Bills	W 45–14	Shea Stadium	44,545
7	1978-10-15	at Baltimore Colts	W 33–10	Memorial Stadium	45,563
8	1978-10-22	St. Louis Cardinals	W 23–10	Shea Stadium	49,244
9	1978-10-29	at New England Patriots	L 21–55	Schafer Stadium	60,585
10	1978-11-05	at Denver Broncos	W 31–28	Mile High Stadium	74,983
11	1978-11-12	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 9–17	Veterans Stadium	60,249
12	1978-11-19	New England Patriots	L 17–19	Shea Stadium	55,568
13	1978-11-26	at Miami Dolphins	W 24–13	Miami Orange Bowl	49,255
14	1978-12-03	Baltimore Colts	W 24–16	Shea Stadium	50,248
15	1978-12-10	at Cleveland Browns	L 34–37 (OT)	Cleveland Stadium	36,881
16	1978-12-17	Dallas Cowboys	L 7–30	Shea Stadium	52,532

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 0 6 7 7 20 • Jets 10 10 7 6 33 Date: September 3 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 49,598 Game weather: 72°F; wind 7

Scoring summary 1 NYJ Wesley Walker 47 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 7–0 1 NYJ Pat Leahy 36 yard field goal Jets 10–0 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 22 yard field goal Jets 13–0 2 MIA Delvin Williams 58 yard run (kick failed) Jets 13–6 2 NYJ Mickey Shuler 1 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 20–6 3 NYJ Wesley Walker 43 yard pass from Richard Todd (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 27–6 3 MIA Nat Moore 1 yard pass from Don Strock (Garo Yepremian kick) Jets 27–13 4 NYJ Pat Leahy 46 yard field goal Jets 30–13 4 NYJ Pat Leahy 36 yard field goal Jets 33–13 4 MIA Loaird McCreay 5 yard pass from Guy Benjamin (Garo Yepremian kick) Jets 33–20

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 0 0 7 14 • Jets 14 21 10 0 45 Date: October 8 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 44,545 Game weather: 50°F • Wind 15

Scoring summary 1 NYJ Kevin Long 5 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 7–0 1 NYJ Burgess Owens 40 yard interception return (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 14–0 1 BUF Reuben Gant 16 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick) Jets 14–7 2 NYJ Kevin Long 16 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 21–7 2 NYJ Kevin Long 3 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 28–7 2 NYJ Bruce Harper 82 yard punt return (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 35–7 3 NYJ Derrick Gaffney 18 yard pass from Matt Robinson (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 42–7 3 NYJ Pat Leahy 38 yard field goal Jets 45–7 4 BUF Bob Chandler 15 yard pass from Bill Munson (Tom Dempsey kick) Jets 45–14

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 0 17 7 7 31 Broncos 14 14 0 0 28 Date: November 5 Location: Mile High Stadium Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 74,983 Game weather: 48°F; wind 10

Scoring summary Q1 DEN Keyworth 5 yard run (Turner kick) DEN 7–0 Q1 DEN Thompson 4 yard fumble return (Turner kick) DEN 14–0 Q2 NYJ Long 4 yard run (Leahy kick) DEN 14–7 Q2 DEN Moses 14 yard pass from Penrose (Turner kick) DEN 21–7 Q2 DEN Jackson 28 yard interception return (Turner kick) DEN 28–7 Q2 NYJ Gaffney 4 yard pass from Robinson (Leahy kick) DEN 28–14 Q2 NYJ Leahy 38 yard field goal DEN 28–17 Q3 NYJ Dierking 3 yard run (Leahy kick) DEN 28–24 Q4 NYJ Walker 75 yard pass from Robinson (Leahy kick) NYJ 31–28

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

New York Jets roster
Quarterbacks 14 Richard Todd Running Backs Wide Receivers Tight Ends		Offensive Linemen 61 John Roman Defensive Linemen		Linebackers Defensive Backs Special Teams Rookies in italics

Awards and records

• Wesley Walker, NFL Leader in Receiving Yards, (1,169)

External links

• 1978 statistics