1978 Miami Dolphins season

1978 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach	Don Shula
Home field	Miami Orange Bowl
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Wildcard

The Dolphins playing against the Houston Oilers in the 1978 AFC Wild Card game.

The 1978 Miami Dolphins season saw the team return to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1974, with an 11–5 record. Quarterback Bob Griese missed the first seven games due to a knee injury. The Dolphins got off to a 5-2 start behind back-up Don Strock. Upon Griese's return the Dolphins earned a birth to the playoffs as a Wild Card. Helping to lead the Dolphins back to the postseason was Running Back Delvin Williams who set a team record with 1,258 yards rushing on the season. In the first playoff game involving two Wild Cards the Dolphins were stunned 17-9 by the Houston Oilers at the Orange Bowl. In the process the Dolphins set two notable records: scoring first in all but one of their sixteen regular season games,^[1] and never trailing at any point in eleven games.^[2] The former record was equalled by the 2004 Patriots, and the latter was beaten by the 2005 Colts.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Dolphins points	Opponents	Record	Attendance
1	Sep 3	at New York Jets	Loss	20	33	0–1	49,598
2	Sep 10	at Baltimore Colts	Win	42	0	1–1	47,730
3	Sep 17	Buffalo Bills	Win	31	24	2–1	48,373
4	Sep 24	at Philadelphia Eagles	Loss	3	17	2–2	62,998
5	Oct 1	St. Louis Cardinals	Win	24	10	3–2	43,882
6	Oct 9	Cincinnati Bengals	Win	21	0	4–2	54,729
7	Oct 15	at San Diego Chargers	Win	28	21	5–2	50,637
8	Oct 22	at New England Patriots	Loss	24	33	5–3	60,424
9	Oct 29	Baltimore Colts	Win	26	8	6–3	53,524
10	Nov 5	Dallas Cowboys	Win	23	16	7–3	69,414
11	Nov 12	at Buffalo Bills	Win	25	24	8–3	48,623
12	Nov 20	at Houston Oilers	Loss	30	35	8–4	50,290
13	Nov 26	New York Jets	Loss	13	24	8–5	49,255
14	Dec 3	at Washington Redskins	Win	16	0	9–5	52,860
15	Dec 10	Oakland Raiders	Win	23	6	10–5	73,003
16	Dec 18	New England Patriots	Win	23	3	11–5	72,071

Results

Week 3

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	7	3	14	24
• Dolphins	7	7	10	7	31

Date: September 17
Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
Game start: 4:00 p.m.
Game weather: 82°F; Wind 12

Scoring summary

1	MIA	Leroy Harris 4 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick)	MIA 7–0

2	BUF	Terry Miller 1 yard run (Tom Dempsey kick)	Tie 7–7

2	MIA	Andre Tillman 6 yard pass from Don Strock (Garo Yepremian kick)	MIA 14–7

3	MIA	Garo Yepremian 49 yard field goal	MIA 17–7

3	BUF	Tom Dempsey 46 yard field goal	MIA 17–10

3	MIA	Gary Davis 65 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick)	MIA 24–10

4	BUF	Frank Lewis 92 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick)	MIA 24–17

4	MIA	Delvin Williams 18 yard run (Garo Yepremian kick)	MIA 31–17

4	BUF	Roland Hooks 4 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Tom Dempsey kick)	MIA 31–24

^[3]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New England Patriots⁽²⁾	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	358	286	L1
Miami Dolphins⁽⁴⁾	11	5	0	.688	5–3	8–4	372	254	W3
New York Jets	8	8	0	.500	6–2	7–5	359	364	L2
Baltimore Colts	5	11	0	.313	1–7	3–9	239	421	L5
Buffalo Bills	5	11	0	.313	2–6	4–10	302	354	W1

Roster

Miami Dolphins 1978 roster

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

87 Andre Tillman
86 Loaird McReary
84 Bruce Hardy

Offensive Linemen

79 Wayne Moore T
68 Eric Laakso T
67 Bob Kuechenberg G
54 Wally Pesuit G
62 Jim Langer C
65 Mel Mitchell C
66 Larry Little G
64 Ed Newman G
74 Mike Current T

Defensive Linemen

83 Vern Den Herder DE
75 Doug Betters DE
77 A.J. Duhe DE
69 John Alexander DE
73 Bob Baumhower DT
85 Carl Barisich DT
70 Bob Simpson DT

Linebackers

58 Kim Bokamper OLB
55 Earnest Rhone OLB
51 Larry Ball OLB
59 Rusty Chambers MLB
56 Steve Towle MLB
53 Bob Matheson MLB
50 Larry Gordon OLB
57 Sean Clancy OLB

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

1 Garo Yepremian K
6 George Roberts P

Reserve Lists

36 Don Nottingham HB/FB
74 Steve Young T

Practice Squad

Rookies in italics

Playoffs

AFC Wildcard Playoff (Sunday December 24, 1978): vs. Houston Oilers

Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	7	0	0	10	17
Dolphins	7	0	0	2	9

at Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

Game time: 4:00 pm EST
Game weather: 77 degrees, relative humidity 78%, wind 12 mph
Game attendance: 70,036
Referee: Dick Jorgensen
TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Len Dawson

Game information
Scoring MIA – Tillman 13 pass from Griese (Yepremian kick) MIA 7–0 HOU – Wilson 13 pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick) 7–7 HOU – field goal Fritsch 35 HOU 10–7 HOU – Campbell 1 run (Fritsch kick) HOU 17–7 MIA – Safety, Pastorini ran out of end zone HOU 17–9

Notes and references

Miami Dolphins

Founded in 1966 Based in Miami Gardens, Florida Headquartered in Davie, Florida

Franchise	Franchise History Seasons Coaches Players First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Honor roll Training facility

Stadiums	Orange Bowl Hard Rock Stadium

Culture	"Fins" (Jimmy Buffett song) Wayne Huizenga Stephen M. Ross Joe Robbie T. D. Cheerleaders Ace Ventura: Pet Detective "Only Wanna Be with You" (Hootie & the Blowfish song) Ballers

Lore	Perfect season Announcerless Game Epic in Miami Snowplow Game Clock Play Monday Night Miracle

Rivalries	Buffalo Bills New York Jets New England Patriots

Division championships (13)	1971 1972 1973 1974 1979 1981 1983 1984 1985 1992 1994 2000 2008

Conference championships (5)	1971 1972 1973 1982 1984

League championships (2)	1972 (VII) 1973 (VIII)

Retired numbers	12 13 39

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: East Division

Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1966–1969)

Seasons (50)	1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Miami Dolphins seasons

1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates Super Bowl victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1978 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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