1978 Oakland Raiders season

1978 Oakland Raiders season
Head coach	John Madden
General manager	Al Davis
Owner	Al Davis
Home field	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1978 Oakland Raiders season was the team's 19th season. During a pre-season game, Jack Tatum paralyzed New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley from the chest down while making a hit.

1978 would prove to be ab up and down year for the silver and black. The Raiders were plagued can buy one of Kenny Stabler's worst seasons, tossing 16 TD's, while throwing 30 interceptions. The running game also fell off from seasons past. Even the great wide receiver cliff branch, only caught one TD. The season started off with a 14 to 6 loss in Denver. The Raiders would rally to a 5 - 3 start, then climbed to 8 - 4. Last minute loss to the Seattle Seahawks 17 - 16, first time since 1965 a team beat the Raiders twice in the same season. Then the Broncos completed their sleep of the Raiders with a 21 - 6 victory in Oakland, followed by a 23 - 6 defeat in Miami. A meaningless 27 - 20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings kept the Raiders consecutive seasons with a winning record streak alive.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1978 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 3, 1978	at Denver Broncos	L 14–6	75,092
2	September 10, 1978	at San Diego Chargers	W 21–20	51,653
3	September 17, 1978	at Green Bay Packers	W 28–3	55,903
4	September 24, 1978	New England Patriots	L 21–14	52,904
5	October 1, 1978	at Chicago Bears	W 25–19	52,848
6	October 8, 1978	Houston Oilers	W 21–17	52,550
7	October 15, 1978	Kansas City Chiefs	W 28–6	50,759
8	October 22, 1978	at Seattle Seahawks	L 27–7	62,529
9	October 29, 1978	San Diego Chargers	L 27–23	52,612
10	November 5, 1978	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 20–10	75,418
11	November 13, 1978	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 34–21	51,374
12	November 19, 1978	Detroit Lions	W 29–17	44,517
13	November 26, 1978	Seattle Seahawks	L 17–16	52,978
14	December 3, 1978	Denver Broncos	L 21–6	53,932
15	December 10, 1978	at Miami Dolphins	L 23–6	73,003
16	December 17, 1978	Minnesota Vikings	W 27–20	44,643

Game summaries

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 0 7 0 14 21 Chargers 0 13 0 7 20 Date: September 10 Location: San Diego Stadium, San Diego, CA Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Sunny; 71°F; wind 11 Referee: Jerry Markbreit

Scoring summary Q2 SD Curran 14 yard pass from Fouts (Benirschke kick) SD 7–0 Q2 OAK Casper 6 yard pass from Stabler (Mann kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 SD Bauer 1 yard run (kick failed) SD 13–7 Q4 SD Bauer 2 yard run (Benirschke kick) SD 20–7 Q4 OAK Bradshaw 44 yard pass from Stabler (Mann kick) SD 20–14 Q4 :00 OAK Casper recovered fumble in end zone (Mann kick) OAK 21–20

The Holy Roller

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 0 14 0 14 28 Packers 0 3 0 0 3 Date: September 17 Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 59°F • Wind 13

Scoring summary 2 OAK Dave Casper 11 yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 7–0 2 OAK Terry Robiskie 11 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 14–0 2 GB Chester Marcol 34 yard field goal Raiders 14–3 4 OAK Arthur Whittington 7 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 21–3 4 OAK Arthur Whittington 10 yard run (Errol Mann kick) Raiders 28–3

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
Seattle Seahawks	9	7	0	.563	4–4	6–6	345	358	W1
Oakland Raiders	9	7	0	.563	3–5	5–7	311	283	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

Roster

1978 Oakland Raiders Team Starters

Offense

12    Ken Stabler         QB
22    Arthur Whittington  RB/KR
30    Mark van Eeghen     FB
21    Cliff Branch        WR
81    Morris Bradshaw     WR
87    Dave Casper         TE

78    Art Shell           LT
63    Gene Upshaw         LG
50    Dave Dalby          C
65    Mickey Marvin       RG
70    Henry Lawrence      RT

Defense

72    John Matuszak      LDE
60    Otis Sistrunk      NT
73    Dave Browning      RDE

83    Ted Hendricks     LB
58    Monte Johnson     LB
39    Willie Hall       LB
41    Phil Villapiano   LB

37    Lester Hayes      LCB
42    Monte Jackson     RCB
47    Charlie Phillips  SS
32    Jack Tatum        FS

Kicking Team

14    Errol Mann       K
8     Ray Guy          P
20    Neal Colzie      PR

References

• Raiders on Pro Football Reference
• Raiders on Database Football