1978 Seattle Seahawks season

The 1978 Seattle Seahawks season was the team's third season in the National Football League (NFL). The Seahawks won nine games, giving the franchise its first winning season. Coach Jack Patera won the National Football League Coach of the Year Award at seasons end.

1978 Seattle Seahawks season
OwnerThe Nordstrom family
General managerJohn Thompson
Head coachJack Patera
Home fieldKingdome
Results
Record9–7
Division place3rd AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Steve Largent
AP All-ProsQB Jim Zorn (2nd team)
WR Steve Largent (2nd team)

Led by the third ranked offense, the team had some achievements. David Sims led the AFC in total touchdowns – 15, including 14 rushing – and the team had 28 rushing touchdowns, number two in the league. Steve Largent made his first Pro Bowl with 71 receptions and 8 touchdowns. Quarterback Jim Zorn earned his sole All-Pro honor of his career by making the second team. This would be the only All-Pro by a Seahawks quarterback until Russell Wilson was selected in 2019. The defense, however, lagged far behind ranking 26th.

Season highlights included defeating the Oakland Raiders twice and a last-second win over the Minnesota Vikings. Also a memorable game was a 20–17 loss in overtime to the Denver Broncos. Following an interception of a Jim Zorn pass off of a deflection, in overtime, the Broncos drove to the 1 yard line, but could not punch it in for a touchdown. Jim Turner missed an 18-yard field goal attempt, but the Seahawks were penalized for having 12 men on the field and the Broncos made the second kick. A 37–10 defeat in San Diego in week 15 eliminated the Seahawks from playoff contention, but a 23–19 win at home against Kansas City gave the team their first winning season.

Draft edit

1978 Seattle Seahawks Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 9 Keith Simpson Defensive back Memphis State
2 36 Keith Butler Linebacker Memphis State
3 63 Bob Jury Defensive Back Pittsburgh
5 119 Louis Bullard Offensive tackle Jackson State
6 146 Glenn Starks Wide receiver Texas A&I
7 173 John Harris Defensive Back Arizona State
9 231 Rich Grimmett Offensive Tackle Illinois
10 258 Rob Stewart Wide Receiver Lafayette
11 301 George Halas Linebacker Miami (FL)
12 316 Jeff Bergeron Running back Lamar

Undrafted free agents edit

1978 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Jerome Carter Defensive back Delaware State
Gene Dales Guard Oregon State
Lance Garrett Wide receiver South Carolina
Marcus Hatley Tight end Tulsa
Mike Korvas Punter Weber State
Rob Lowe Kicker/Punter Idaho
Steve Midboe Defensive end Minnesota
Mike O'Brien Defensive Back California
Scott Palmer Quarterback Anderson
Frank Stephens Defensive Back UCLA
Howard Studdard Wide receiver USC
Skip Taylor Running back Oklahoma State
Jeff Tisdel Quarterback Nevada
Bruce Timmier Quarterback Trinity
Joe Volinsky Defensive end Penn State

Personnel edit

Staff edit

1978 Seattle Seahawks staff

Front office

  • Managing general partner – Herman Sarkowsky
  • general manager – John Thompson
  • Assistant general manager – Mark Duncan
  • Director of player personnel – Dick Mansperger
  • Director of pro scouting – Chuck Allen

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

  • Head trainer – Bruce Scott
  • Assistant trainer – Jim Whitesel

Final roster edit

1978 Seattle Seahawks final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Rookies in italics
49 active, 0 inactive, 0 practice squad

[1]

  • Starters in bold.
  • (*) Denotes players that were selected for the 1979 Pro Bowl.

Schedule edit

Preseason edit

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Recap
1 August 4 San Diego Chargers W 17–9 1–0 Kingdome Recap
2 August 12 at San Francisco 49ers W 20–6 2–0 Candlestick Park Recap
3 August 17 Los Angeles Rams L 7–26 2–1 Kingdome Recap
4 August 24 Chicago Bears W 16–7 3–1 Kingdome Recap
Source: Seahawks Media Guides[2][3]

Regular season edit

With the start of a 16-game season, inter-conference play began a rotating schedule. Divisional matchups had the AFC West playing the NFC Central.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Recap
1 September 3 San Diego Chargers L 20–24 0–1 Kingdome Recap
2 September 10 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–21 0–2 Three Rivers Stadium Recap
3 September 17 at New York Jets W 24–17 1–2 Shea Stadium Recap
4 September 24 Detroit Lions W 28–16 2–2 Kingdome Recap
5 October 1 at Denver Broncos L 7–28 2–3 Mile High Stadium Recap
6 October 8 Minnesota Vikings W 29–28 3–3 Kingdome Recap
7 October 15 at Green Bay Packers L 28–45 3–4 Milwaukee County Stadium Recap
8 October 22 Oakland Raiders W 27–7 4–4 Kingdome Recap
9 October 29 Denver Broncos L 17–20 (OT) 4–5 Kingdome Recap
10 November 5 at Chicago Bears W 31–29 5–5 Soldier Field Recap
11 November 12 Baltimore Colts L 14–17 5–6 Kingdome Recap
12 November 19 at Kansas City Chiefs W 13–10 6–6 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
13 November 26 at Oakland Raiders W 17–16 7–6 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Recap
14 December 3 Cleveland Browns W 47–24 8–6 Kingdome Recap
15 December 10 at San Diego Chargers L 10–37 8–7 San Diego Stadium Recap
16 December 17 Kansas City Chiefs W 23–19 9–7 Kingdome Recap
Bold indicates division opponents.
Source: 1978 NFL season results[4][5]

Standings edit

AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Denver Broncos(3) 10 6 0 .625 7–1 8–4 282 198 L1
Oakland Raiders 9 7 0 .563 3–5 5–7 311 283 W1
Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .563 4–4 6–6 345 358 W1
San Diego Chargers 9 7 0 .563 5–3 7–5 355 309 W3
Kansas City Chiefs 4 12 0 .250 1–7 4–10 243 327 L2

Game summaries edit

Preseason edit

Week P1: vs. San Diego Chargers edit

Preseason Week One: Seattle Seahawks vs. San Diego Chargers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 0 3 339
Seahawks 0 7 3717

at Kingdome, Seattle

Week P2: at San Francisco 49ers edit

Preseason Week Two: Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 0 13 7020
49ers 0 3 306

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

  • Date: August 12
  • Game time: 6:06 pm local
  • Game weather: cloudy, 61 °F (16 °C), 77% humidity, wind S 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 36,069
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • TV: KIRO
  • Gamebook

Week P3: vs. Los Angeles Rams edit

Preseason Week Three: Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Rams – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rams 10 6 7326
Seahawks 0 7 007

at Kingdome, Seattle

Week P4: vs. Chicago Bears edit

Preseason Week Four: Seattle Seahawks vs. Chicago Bears – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bears 0 0 077
Seahawks 0 7 3616

at Kingdome, Seattle

Regular season edit

Week 1: vs. San Diego Chargers edit

Week One: Seattle Seahawks vs. San Diego Chargers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 7 3 7724
Seahawks 6 7 0720

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

Week 2: at Pittsburgh Steelers edit

Week Two: Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 0 7 3010
Steelers 0 14 0721

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Week 3: at New York Jets edit

Week Three: Seattle Seahawks at New York Jets – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 0 14 3724
Jets 7 7 3017

at Shea Stadium, New York

Game information

Week 4: vs. Detroit Lions edit

Week Four: Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Lions 3 3 10016
Seahawks 0 7 02128

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

Week 5: at Denver Broncos edit

Week Five: Seattle Seahawks at Denver Broncos – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 0 0 707
Broncos 7 7 01428

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

  • Date: October 1
  • Game time: 2:00 pm local
  • Game weather: partly cloudy, 82 °F (28 °C), 23% humidity, wind 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 74,989
  • Referee: Cal Lepore
  • TV announcers (NBC): Jay Randolph and Mike Haffner
  • Gamebook
Game information

Week 6: vs. Minnesota Vikings edit

Week Six: Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 14 14028
Seahawks 13 6 01029

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

Week 7: at Green Bay Packers edit

Week Seven: Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 0 14 7728
Packers' 28 3 14045

at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  • Date: October 15
  • Game time: 12:00 pm local
  • Game weather: cloudy, 42 °F (6 °C), 87% humidity, wind S 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 52,712
  • Referee: Chuck Heberling
  • TV announcers (NBC): Sam Nover and Bob Trumpy
  • Gamebook
Game information

Week 8: vs. Oakland Raiders edit

Week Eight: Seattle Seahawks vs. Oakland Raiders – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Raiders 0 0 077
Seahawks 7 14 6027

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

Week 9: vs. Denver Broncos edit

Week One: Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos – Game summary
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Broncos 3 7 70320
Seahawks 7 7 03017

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

Week 10: at Chicago Bears edit

Week Ten: Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 7 7 14331
Bears 0 6 101329

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

  • Date: November 5
  • Game time: 12:01 pm local
  • Game weather: clear, 71 °F (22 °C), 74% humidity, wind S 16 miles per hour (26 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 50,697
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and John Brodie
  • Gamebook
Game information

Week 11: vs. Baltimore Colts edit

Week One: Seattle Seahawks vs. Baltimore Colts – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Colts 7 3 0717
Seahawks 7 0 0714

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

Week 12: at Kansas City Chiefs edit

Week Twelve: Seattle Seahawks at Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 3 7 3013
Chiefs 0 3 0710

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information

Week 13: at Oakland Raiders edit

Week Thirteen: Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Raiders – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 7 0 01017
Raiders 0 10 0616

at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California

  • Date: November 26
  • Game time: 1:00 pm local
  • Game weather: hazy, 50 °F (10 °C), 86% humidity, wind W 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 52,978
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and John Brodie
  • Gamebook
Game information

Week 14: vs. Cleveland Browns edit

Week Fourteen: Seattle Seahawks vs. Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 0 10 7724
Seahawks 14 9 71747

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

Week 15: at San Diego Chargers edit

Week Fifteen: Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 7 3 0010
Chargers 3 17 01737

at San Diego Stadium, San Diego

  • Date: December 10
  • Game time: 1:00 pm local
  • Game weather: clear, 69 °F (21 °C), 50% humidity, wind W 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
  • Game attendance: 49,975
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson and Paul Warfield
  • Gamebook
Game information

Week 16: vs. Kansas City Chiefs edit

Week Sixteen: Seattle Seahawks vs. Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 3 7 7219
Seahawks 7 13 0323

at Kingdome, Seattle

Game information

References edit

  1. ^ "Home". pro-football-reference.com.
  2. ^ 1978 Seahawks Media Guide, accessed February 14, 2015.
  3. ^ 1979 Seahawks Media Guide, accessed February 14, 2015.
  4. ^ Seattle Seahawks 1978 Schedule
  5. ^ 1978 NFL season results, NFL.com, accessed February 14, 2015.

External links edit