1978 Cleveland Browns (NFL) |
| 3rd place • American Football Conference • Central Division • 8-8-0 .500 |
| Head Coach: Sam Rutigliano |
| Buck Buchanan | Defensive Line |
| Jim Garrett | Offensive Backs |
| Rod Humeniuk | Offensive Line |
| Rich Kotite | Receivers |
| Dick MacPherson | Linebackers |
| John Petercuskie | Special Teams |
| Jim Shofner | Quarterbacks |
| Chuck Weber | Defensive Backs |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Mon | 8/7/1978 | H | New York Giants | 7-21 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 30636 | |
| Sat | 8/12/1978 | A | Buffalo Bills | 20-10 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 23341 | |
| Mon | 8/21/1978 | H | Detroit Lions | 14-10 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 31345 | |
| Sun | 8/27/1978 | A | New England Patriots | 10-21 | L | Foxborough, MA | Schaefer Stadium | 42696 | |
| Sun | 9/3/1978 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 24-7 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 68973 | |
| Sun | 9/10/1978 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 13-10 | W | OT | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 72691 |
| Sun | 9/17/1978 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 24-16 | W | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 56648 | |
| Sun | 9/24/1978 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 9-15 | L | OT | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 49573 |
| Sun | 10/1/1978 | H | Houston Oilers | 13-16 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 72776 | |
| Sun | 10/8/1978 | A | New Orleans Saints | 24-16 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 50158 | |
| Sun | 10/15/1978 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 14-34 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 81302 | |
| Sun | 10/22/1978 | A | Kansas City Chiefs | 3-17 | L | Kansas City, MO | Arrowhead Stadium | 41157 | |
| Sun | 10/29/1978 | H | Buffalo Bills | 41-20 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 51409 | |
| Sun | 11/5/1978 | A | Houston Oilers | 10-14 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 45827 | |
| Sun | 11/12/1978 | H | Denver Broncos | 7-19 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 70856 | |
| Sun | 11/19/1978 | A | Baltimore Colts | 45-24 | W | Baltimore, MD | Memorial Stadium | 45341 | |
| Sun | 11/26/1978 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 30-19 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 55158 | |
| Sun | 12/3/1978 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 24-47 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 62262 | |
| Sun | 12/10/1978 | H | New York Jets | 37-34 | W | OT | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 36881 |
| Sun | 12/17/1978 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 16-48 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 46985 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Dick Ambrose | 52 | MLB | 6-0 | 228 | 25 | Virginia | 16 | 16 |
| Bob Babich | 60 | LB | 6-2 | 231 | 31 | Miami (Ohio) | 16 | 0 |
| Leo Biedermann | 69 | OT | 6-7 | 254 | 23 | Diablo Valley JC; California | 16 | 0 |
| Ron Bolton | 28 | LCB-RCB | 6-2 | 170 | 28 | Norfolk State | 10 | 8 |
| George Buehler | 62 | ROG | 6-2 | 260 | 31 | Stanford | 11 | 2 |
| Don Cockroft | 12 | K | 6-1 | 190 | 33 | Adams State | 16 | 0 |
| Larry Collins | 23 | RB | 5-11 | 190 | 23 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 15 | 1 |
| Thom Darden | 27 | FS | 6-2 | 195 | 28 | Michigan | 16 | 16 |
| Barry Darrow | 63 | ROT | 6-7 | 260 | 28 | Montana Western; Montana | 16 | 14 |
| Oliver Davis | 21 | RCB | 6-1 | 203 | 24 | Tennessee State | 13 | 13 |
| Tom DeLeone | 54 | C | 6-2 | 252 | 28 | Ohio State | 15 | 15 |
| Doug Dieken | 73 | LOT | 6-5 | 253 | 29 | Illinois | 16 | 16 |
| Earl Edwards | 66 | LDT | 6-6 | 264 | 32 | Wichita State | 16 | 16 |
| Johnny Evans | 8 | P-QB | 6-1 | 197 | 22 | North Carolina State | 16 | 0 |
| Greg Fairchild | 61 | OG | 6-4 | 257 | 24 | Tulsa | 2 | 0 |
| Ricky Feacher | 85 | WR | 5-10 | 174 | 24 | Mississippi Valley State | 16 | 1 |
| Dave Graf | 55 | LB | 6-2 | 221 | 25 | Penn State | 7 | 0 |
| Charlie Hall | 59 | LLB | 6-3 | 220 | 30 | Houston | 16 | 16 |
| Calvin Hill | 35 | RB | 6-3 | 228 | 31 | Yale | 12 | 1 |
| Gerald Irons | 86 | RLB | 6-2 | 230 | 31 | Maryland-Eastern Shore | 14 | 14 |
| Bob Jackson | 68 | ROG-ROT | 6-5 | 253 | 25 | Duke | 16 | 16 |
| Robert Jackson | 56 | LB | 6-1 | 230 | 24 | Trinity Valley CC; Texas A&M | 14 | 0 |
| Joe Jones | 64 | LDE-RDE | 6-6 | 250 | 30 | Tennessee State | 14 | 6 |
| Ricky Jones | 47 | S | 6-1 | 224 | 23 | Tuskegee | 15 | 0 |
| Dave Logan | 85 | WR | 6-4 | 221 | 24 | Colorado | 16 | 16 |
| Tommy London | 40 | CB | 6-1 | 197 | 24 | North Carolina State | 15 | 0 |
| Clay Matthews | 57 | LB | 6-2 | 242 | 22 | Southern California | 15 | 2 |
| Cleo Miller | 30 | FB | 5-11 | 214 | 27 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 15 | 9 |
| Mark Miller | 15 | QB | 6-2 | 176 | 22 | Bowling Green State | 8 | 0 |
| Mack Mitchell | 70 | RDE | 6-7 | 246 | 26 | Houston | 14 | 14 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 82 | TE | 6-2 | 228 | 22 | Alabama | 16 | 16 |
| Gary Parris | 84 | TE | 6-2 | 226 | 28 | Florida State | 16 | 0 |
| Tony Peters | 20 | SS | 6-1 | 185 | 25 | Northeastern Oklahoma A&M JC; Oklahoma | 16 | 16 |
| Greg Pruitt | 34 | RB | 5-10 | 190 | 27 | Oklahoma | 12 | 12 |
| Mike Pruitt | 43 | FB-RB | 6-0 | 225 | 24 | Purdue | 16 | 9 |
| Randy Rich | 24 | CB | 5-10 | 181 | 25 | New Mexico | 9 | 0 |
| Oscar Roan | 81 | TE | 6-6 | 215 | 27 | UCLA; Southern Methodist | 14 | 0 |
| Reggie Rucker | 33 | WR | 6-2 | 190 | 31 | Boston University | 15 | 15 |
| Mike St. Clair | 74 | LDE | 6-5 | 253 | 25 | Iowa Central CC; Grambling State | 16 | 12 |
| Clarence Scott | 22 | LCB-SS | 6-0 | 190 | 29 | Kansas State | 16 | 12 |
| Henry Sheppard | 65 | LOG | 6-6 | 263 | 26 | Southern Methodist | 14 | 14 |
| Jerry Sherk | 77 | RDT | 6-4 | 250 | 30 | Grays Harbor JC; Oklahoma State | 16 | 16 |
| Mickey Sims | 78 | DT | 6-5 | 278 | 23 | South Carolina State | 15 | 0 |
| Brian Sipe | 17 | QB | 6-1 | 190 | 29 | Grossmont JC; San Diego State | 16 | 16 |
| Gerry Sullivan | 79 | LOG-C | 6-4 | 250 | 26 | Illinois | 16 | 3 |
| Tom Sullivan | 26 | RB | 6-0 | 190 | 28 | Miami (Florida) | 4 | 0 |
| Leo Tierney | 51 | C | 6-3 | 239 | 24 | Georgia Tech | 2 | 0 |
| Jesse Turnbow | 71 | DT | 6-7 | 272 | 22 | Tennessee | 16 | 0 |
| Keith Wright | 89 | WR | 5-9 | 175 | 22 | Memphis | 16 | 0 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 12 | Clay Matthews | LB | Southern California |
| 1 | 23 | Ozzie Newsome | WR | Alabama |
| 2 | 39 | Johnny Evans | P-QB | North Carolina State |
| 3 | 67 | Larry Collins | RB | Texas A&M-Kingsville |
| 3 | 68 | Mark Miller | QB | Bowling Green State |
| 4 | 103 | Pete Pullara | G | Tennessee-Chattanooga |
| 5 | 122 | Keith Wright | WR | Memphis |
| 6 | 149 | Al Pitts | C | Michigan State |
| 8 | 205 | Jesse Turnbow | DT | Tennessee |
| 9 | 234 | Jon Kramer | G | Baylor |
| 10 | 261 | Brent Watson | T | Tennessee |
| 11 | 290 | Larry Gillard | DT | Mississippi State |
| 12 | 317 | Leo Biedermann | T | California |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 50 | 115 | 85 | 78 | 6 | 334 |
| Opponents Totals | 46 | 99 | 60 | 145 | 6 | 356 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 293 | 133 | 130 | 30 | 85/217 39.2% | / % | 128 | 1170 | |
| Opponents Totals | 329 | 116 | 175 | 38 | 96/230 41.7% | / % | 131 | 1110 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Cockroft | 0 | 37 | 40 | 92.5 | 19 | 28 | 67.9 | 0 | 94 |
| Reggie Rucker | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| Calvin Hill | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | ||
| Greg Pruitt | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Mike Pruitt | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Dave Logan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Ozzie Newsome | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Brian Sipe | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Larry Collins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Oliver Davis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Cleo Miller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Mark Miller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 40 | 37 | 40 | 92.5 | 19 | 28 | 67.9 | 0 | 334 |
| Opponents Totals | 42 | 36 | 41 | 87.8 | 22 | 29 | 75.9 | 1 | 356 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Cockroft | 19 | 28 | 67.9 | 2 | 45 | 1/2 | 6/7 | 2/5 | 10/12 | 0/2 |
| Team Totals | 19 | 28 | 67.9 | 2 | 45 | 1/2 | 6/7 | 2/5 | 10/12 | 0/2 |
| Opponents Totals | 22 | 29 | 75.9 | 2/2 | 9/9 | 5/10 | 6/8 | 0/0 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Pruitt | 176 | 960 | 5.5 | 70t | 3 |
| Mike Pruitt | 135 | 560 | 4.1 | 71t | 5 |
| Cleo Miller | 89 | 336 | 3.8 | 18 | 1 |
| Calvin Hill | 80 | 289 | 3.6 | 21 | 1 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 13 | 96 | 7.4 | 33t | 2 |
| Brian Sipe | 28 | 87 | 3.1 | 35 | 3 |
| Larry Collins | 22 | 64 | 2.9 | 19 | 1 |
| Mark Miller | 7 | 63 | 9.0 | 17 | 1 |
| Reggie Rucker | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Johnny Evans | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Tom Sullivan | 5 | 7 | 1.4 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 559 | 2488 | 4.5 | 71t | 17 |
| Opponents Totals | 563 | 2149 | 3.8 | 39 | 19 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Sipe | 399 | 222 | 55.6 | 162 | 2906 | 7.3 | 13.1 | 69t | 21 | 5.3 | 15 | 3.8 | 29 | 229 | 2677 | 80.7 |
| Mark Miller | 39 | 13 | 33.3 | 22 | 212 | 5.4 | 16.3 | 44 | 1 | 2.6 | 4 | 10.3 | 5 | 47 | 165 | 21.5 |
| Johnny Evans | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 19 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 118.8 |
| Greg Pruitt | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 66.7 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 442 | 236 | 53.4 | 185 | 3137 | 7.1 | 13.3 | 69t | 22 | 5.0 | 21 | 4.8 | 35 | 278 | 2859 | 72.9 |
| Opponents Totals | 489 | 265 | 54.2 | 197 | 3435 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 72t | 20 | 4.1 | 27 | 5.5 | 31 | 232 | 3203 | 67.1 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reggie Rucker | 43 | 893 | 20.8 | 69t | 8 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 38 | 589 | 15.5 | 47 | 2 |
| Greg Pruitt | 38 | 292 | 7.7 | 26t | 2 |
| Dave Logan | 37 | 585 | 15.8 | 44 | 4 |
| Calvin Hill | 25 | 334 | 13.4 | 53t | 6 |
| Cleo Miller | 20 | 152 | 7.6 | 23 | 0 |
| Mike Pruitt | 20 | 112 | 5.6 | 15 | 0 |
| Keith Wright | 8 | 76 | 9.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Ricky Feacher | 4 | 76 | 19.0 | 42 | 0 |
| Tom Sullivan | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Larry Collins | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Gary Parris | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 236 | 3137 | 13.3 | 69t | 22 |
| Opponents Totals | 265 | 3435 | 13.0 | 72t | 20 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thom Darden | 10 | 200 | 20.0 | 46 | 0 |
| Oliver Davis | 6 | 65 | 10.8 | 33 | 1 |
| Clarence Scott | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Dick Ambrose | 2 | 46 | 23.0 | 39 | 0 |
| Gerald Irons | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 |
| Tony Peters | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 7 | 0 |
| Charlie Hall | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Clay Matthews | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 27 | 353 | 13.1 | 46 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 21 | 343 | 16.3 | 65 | 2 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Evans | 79 | 3089 | 39.1 | 65 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 366 | 2563 | 32.4 |
| Team Totals | 79 | 3089 | 39.1 | 65 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 366 | 2563 | 32.4 |
| Opponents Totals | 82 | 3146 | 38.4 | 56 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 317 | 2649 | 32.3 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Wright | 37 | 16 | 288 | 7.8 | 42 | 0 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 2 | 1 | 29 | 14.5 | 24 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 39 | 17 | 317 | 8.1 | 42 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 41 | 6 | 366 | 8.9 | 39 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Wright | 30 | 789 | 26.3 | 86 | 0 | |
| Larry Collins | 32 | 709 | 22.2 | 41 | 0 | |
| Tom Sullivan | 4 | 90 | 22.5 | 27 | 0 | |
| Randy Rich | 2 | 43 | 21.5 | 24 | 0 | |
| Greg Pruitt | 1 | 31 | 31.0 | 31 | 0 | |
| Bob Jackson | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Cleo Miller | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Reggie Rucker | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 72 | 1697 | 23.6 | 86 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 72 | 1469 | 20.4 | 95t | 1 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Mack Mitchell | 7.0 | |
| Mike St. Clair | 5.0 | |
| Earl Edwards | 4.5 | |
| Gerald Irons | 3.5 | |
| Jerry Sherk | 3.0 | |
| Charlie Hall | 2.5 | |
| Tony Peters | 2.0 | |
| Joe Jones | 1.0 | |
| Clarence Scott | 1.0 | |
| Clay Matthews | 1.0 | |
| Dick Ambrose | 0.5 | |
| Team Totals | 31.0 | 232.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 35.0 | 278.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Ambrose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Bolton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 43 | 0 |
| Larry Collins | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Thom Darden | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Barry Darrow | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom De Leone | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Dieken | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Evans | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ricky Feacher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Hall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Calvin Hill | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gerald Irons | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ricky Jones | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Logan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Cleo Miller | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Mark Miller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | |
| Mack Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gary Parris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Pruitt | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike Pruitt | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Randy Rich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Reggie Rucker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike St. Clair | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -5 | 0 |
| Clarence Scott | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Sheppard | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mickey Sims | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Sipe | 12 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -11 | 0 | |
| Gerry Sullivan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -26 | 0 | |
| Tom Sullivan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Keith Wright | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 50 | 29 | 21 | 18 | 39 | -1 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 18 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 0 |
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