1978 Denver Broncos season
American football team season
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The 1978 Denver Broncos season was the team's 19th year in professional football and its ninth with the National Football League (NFL). Led by second-year head coach Red Miller, the Broncos were 10–6, repeated as champions of the AFC West, and made the playoffs for the second straight season.
| 1978 Denver Broncos season | |
|---|---|
| General manager | Fred Gehrke |
| Head coach | Red Miller |
| Home stadium | Mile High Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 1st AFC West |
| Playoffs | Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 10–33 |
In the AFC divisional round, Denver lost on the road to the top-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers,[1][2] 33–10, whom they had lost to two weeks earlier in the regular season finale at Mile High Stadium;[3][4] Denver had clinched their division title six days earlier with a win over struggling Kansas City, while runners-up Oakland and Seattle both lost and fell to 8–7 with San Diego, two games back with one to play.[5]
The Broncos were fifteenth in the league in scoring offense, while the defense finished second in points allowed and sixth in yards allowed.[6]
Offseason
NFL draft
| 1978 Denver Broncos draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Don Latimer | DT | Miami (FL) | |
| 2 | 55 | Bill Gay * | TE | USC | |
| 8 | 221 | Frank Smith | OT | Alabama A&M | |
| 10 | 277 | Vince Kinney | WR | Maryland | |
| 11 | 305 | Lacy Brumley | OT | Clemson | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Personnel
Staff
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
|
Roster
- Source:
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | Oakland Raiders | W 14–6 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 75,092 | |
| 2 | September 11 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 9–12 (OT) | 1–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,508 | |
| 3 | September 17 | San Diego Chargers | W 27–14 | 2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 74,983 | |
| 4 | September 24 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 23–17 (OT) | 3–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 60,593 | |
| 5 | October 1 | Seattle Seahawks | W 28–7 | 4–1 | Mile High Stadium | 74,989 | |
| 6 | October 8 | at San Diego Chargers | L 0–23 | 4–2 | San Diego Stadium | 50,077 | |
| 7 | October 16 | Chicago Bears | W 16–7 | 5–2 | Mile High Stadium | 75,008 | |
| 8 | October 22 | at Baltimore Colts | L 6–7 | 5–3 | Memorial Stadium | 54,057 | |
| 9 | October 29 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 20–17 (OT) | 6–3 | Kingdome | 62,948 | |
| 10 | November 5 | New York Jets | L 28–31 | 6–4 | Mile High Stadium | 74,983 | |
| 11 | November 12 | at Cleveland Browns | W 19–7 | 7–4 | Cleveland Stadium | 70,856 | |
| 12 | November 19 | Green Bay Packers | W 16–3 | 8–4 | Mile High Stadium | 74,965 | |
| 13 | November 23 | at Detroit Lions | L 14–17 | 8–5 | Pontiac Silverdome | 71,785 | |
| 14 | December 3 | at Oakland Raiders | W 21–6 | 9–5 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,932 | |
| 15 | December 10 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 24–3 | 10–5 | Mile High Stadium | 74,149 | |
| 16 | December 16 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–21 | 10–6 | Mile High Stadium | 74,104 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
- Monday night (September 11, October 16),[8][9] Thursday (November 23: Thanksgiving),[10] Saturday (December 16)[3][4]
- This was the first NFL regular season with 16 games.
Standings
| 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 |
Playoffs
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisional | December 30 | at Pittsburgh Steelers (1) | L 10–33 | 0–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 48,921 |
