1978 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1978 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 29th season in the National Football League and their 33rd overall. The team began the season hoping to improve upon their previous output of 5–9. Instead, the team started the season 0–4 for the second straight year. The team also suffered a nine-game losing streak.[1]

1978 San Francisco 49ers season
OwnerEdward J. DeBartolo, Jr.
General managerJoe Thomas
Head coachPete McCulley
Fred O'Connor (interim)
Home fieldCandlestick Park
Results
Record2–14
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlersnone

During the off-season, the 49ers acquired running back O. J. Simpson, who originally hailed from San Francisco, from the Buffalo Bills. Although Simpson had been one of the best backs in the league over the previous decade, he was in poor physical condition and had recently undergone knee surgery. As a result, his playing ability was limited.

The 49ers finished with the worst record in the league and scored only 219 points[2] the fewest in the league in 1978. Making matters worse is that the first pick in the 1979 NFL Draft was traded to the Bills as part of the Simpson deal. The team set an NFL record with 63 turnovers.

Personnel

Staff
1978 San Francisco 49ers staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Roster
1978 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • 77 Jean Barrett T (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 59 Willie Harper OLB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 81 Ken MacAfee TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 32 O. J. Simpson RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[3]

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 3 at Cleveland Browns L 7–24 0–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 68,973
2 September 10 Chicago Bears L 13–16 0–2 Candlestick Park 49,502
3 September 17 at Houston Oilers L 19–20 0–3 Houston Astrodome 46,161
4 September 24 at New York Giants L 10–27 0–4 Giants Stadium 71,536
5 October 1 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–12 1–4 Candlestick Park 41,107
6 October 8 at Los Angeles Rams L 10–27 1–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 59,337
7 October 15 New Orleans Saints L 7–14 1–6 Candlestick Park 37,671
8 October 22 Atlanta Falcons L 17–20 1–7 Candlestick Park 44,235
9 October 29 at Washington Redskins L 20–38 1–8 RFK Stadium 53,706
10 November 5 at Atlanta Falcons L 10–21 1–9 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 55,468
11 November 12 St. Louis Cardinals L 10–16 1–10 Candlestick Park 33,155
12 November 19 Los Angeles Rams L 28–31 1–11 Candlestick Park 45,022
13 November 27 Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–24 1–12 Candlestick Park 51,657
14 December 3 at New Orleans Saints L 13–24 1–13 Louisiana Superdome 50,068
15 December 10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 6–3 2–13 Candlestick Park 30,931
16 December 17 at Detroit Lions L 14–33 2–14 Pontiac Silverdome 56,674
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams(1) 12 4 0 .750 4–2 10–2 316 245 W1
Atlanta Falcons(4) 9 7 0 .563 5–1 8–4 240 290 L1
New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 281 298 W1
San Francisco 49ers 2 14 0 .125 0–6 1–11 219 350 L1

References
  1. 1978 San Francisco 49ers
  2. 1978 NFL Standings
  3. "1978 San Francisco 49ers starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 1, 2014.


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