| 1978 Buffalo Bills season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ralph Wilson |
| Head coach | Chuck Knox |
| Home field | Rich Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 5–11 |
| Division place | 4th AFC East |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | G Joe DeLamielleure |
| AP All-Pros | G Joe DeLamielleure (2nd team) |
The 1978 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 9th season in the National Football League, and the 19th overall. The Bills were coming off a season in which they only won three games, making 1978 a slight improvement.
Head coach Chuck Knox began his first season with the team, having coached the Los Angeles Rams for the previous five seasons.[note 1] It was also Buffalo's first season after the departure of star running back O. J. Simpson, who was traded to San Francisco for five draft picks in the offseason.
The Bills offense acquired a pair of weapons for quarterback Joe Ferguson: wide receiver Frank Lewis, who had spent the previous 7 seasons in Pittsburgh, and rookie running back Terry Miller, who ended the season with over 1,000 yards.[note 2]
The 1978 Bills' run defense allowed an NFL record 3,228 rushing yards; the 677 rushing attempts the Bills faced in 1978 is also an NFL record.[1] Oddly, the Bills were first in the league in yards allowed on pass defense, giving up only 1,960 yards through the air.[2]
Buffalo's week eight victory over the Cincinnati Bengals produced the second 5-0 final score in modern NFL history (since 1933); the other was a 1970 NFC divisional playoff between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
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