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1978 Kansas City Chiefs season
Head Coach Marv Levy
Home Field Arrowhead Stadium
Results
Record 4–12
Place 5th AFC West
Playoff Finish did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1977 1979

The 1978 Kansas City Chiefs season began with the hiring of new head coach Marv Levy, formerly of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. With the NFL expanding its schedule to 16 games, the Chiefs finished with a 4–12 record and fifth place in the AFC West.

Coach Levy’s systematic restocking of a relatively barren defensive roster began with a 1978 draft class that included a pair of future Chiefs franchise hall of famers in defensive end Art Still and linebacker Gary Spani. Running back Ed Podolak, who was the club’s all-time leading rusher at the time, retired in the offseason on June 15.[1]

Perhaps Levy’s most unconventional tactic in rebuilding the Chiefs was installing the Wing-T offense. “It was a situation where we took over a team that had the worst defensive record in the history of the National Football League,” Levy explained.[1] “We wanted to keep that defense off the field, so we ran the ball 60 times a game.”[1] The 1978 Chiefs team ran and ran often, posting franchise records with 663 rushing attempts and 2,986 ground yards.[1] Levy’s squad ran the ball a staggering 69 times in a 24–23 Opening Day win at Cincinnati on September 3, the most rushing attempts in an NFL contest since 1948.[1] Five different players had 100-yard rushing games during the year, including running back Tony Reed, who finished the season with 1,053 yards to become the team’s first 1,000-yard back since 1967.[1] Despite the squad’s Opening Day success, the club lost 10 of its next 11 games, including a pair of overtime decisions. However, the team showed signs of improvement with the defense recording a 23–0 shutout against San Diego on November 26 as the club concluded its first 16-game schedule with a 4–12 mark.[1]

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 3, 1978 at Cincinnati Bengals W 24–23
41,810
2 September 10, 1978 Houston Oilers L 20–17
40,213
3 September 17, 1978 at New York Giants L 26–10
70,546
4 September 24, 1978 Denver Broncos L 23–17
60,593
5 October 1, 1978 at Buffalo Bills L 28–13
47,310
6 October 8, 1978 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 30–13
38,201
7 October 15, 1978 at Oakland Raiders L 28–6
50,759
8 October 22, 1978 Cleveland Browns W 17–3
41,157
9 October 29, 1978 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 27–24
48,185
10 November 5, 1978 Oakland Raiders L 20–10
75,418
11 November 12, 1978 at San Diego Chargers L 29–23
41,395
12 November 19, 1978 Seattle Seahawks L 13–10
35,252
13 November 26, 1978 San Diego Chargers W 23–0
26,248
14 December 3, 1978 Buffalo Bills W 14–10
25,781
15 December 10, 1978 at Denver Broncos L 24–3
74,149
16 December 17, 1978 at Seattle Seahawks L 23–19
58,490

Standings[]

AFC West
Team W L T PCT PF PA
y-Denver Broncos 10 6 0 .625 282 198
Oakland Raiders 9 7 0 .563 311 283
Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .563 345 358
San Diego Chargers 9 7 0 .563 355 309
Kansas City Chiefs 4 12 0 .250 243 327

References[]

AFC East Central West East Central West NFC
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
1978 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XIII
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