1978 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1978 Atlanta Falcons season was the Falcons' 13th season. After losing four of their first six games, Atlanta rebounded to win seven of their last ten, and their 9–7 record was the third best in a weak NFC. The NFC West runners-up thus not only secured their first-ever postseason berth in franchise history, but earned a home playoff game under the expanded ten team format.

Hosting the Philadelphia Eagles in their first ever playoff game, the Falcons scored two touchdowns in their final fourteen minutes to pull out a 14–13 win. In the divisional round, the Falcons were 14-point underdogs facing the Dallas Cowboys. Atlanta took a seven point lead into halftime, but the Cowboys came back to take a 27–20 lead. In their final drive, the Falcons fell inches short of a first down on the Cowboys' 32-yard line, as Dallas got the ball and ran down the clock.

Regular season

Schedule

style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Attendance
1	September 3	Houston Oilers	W 20–14	1–0	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,328
2	September 10	at Los Angeles Rams	L 0–10	1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	46,201
3	September 17	Cleveland Browns	L 16–24	1–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	56,648
4	September 24	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 9–14	1–3	Tampa Stadium	58,073
5	October 1	New York Giants	W 23–20	2–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	47,765
6	October 8	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–31	2–4	Three Rivers Stadium	48,202
7	October 15	Detroit Lions	W 14–0	3–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	51,172
8	October 22	at San Francisco 49ers	W 20–17	4–4	Candlestick Park	44,235
9	October 30	Los Angeles Rams	W 15–7	5–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,250
10	November 5	San Francisco 49ers	W 21–10	6–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	55,468
11	November 12	at New Orleans Saints	W 20–17	7–4	Louisiana Superdome	70,323
12	November 19	at Chicago Bears	L 7–13	7–5	Soldier Field	46,022
13	November 26	New Orleans Saints	W 20–17	8–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	55,121
14	December 3	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 7–37	8–6	Riverfront Stadium	25,336
15	December 10	Washington Redskins	W 20–17	9–6	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	54,176
16	December 17	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 21–42	9–7	Busch Memorial Stadium	40,022
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 1: Houston Oilers at Atlanta Falcons

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	7	0	7	0	14
Falcons	0	14	3	3	20

at Fulton County Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia

• Date: September 3, 1978
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 57,328
• Referee: Jerry Markbreit
• TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Oilers Falcons June Jones 10/23, 104 Yds, TD Bubba Bean 14 Rush, 55 Yds Bubba Bean 3 Rec, 37 Yds, TD

Week 2

Week 2: Atlanta Falcons at Los Angeles Rams

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	0	0	0	0
Rams	0	3	0	7	10

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California

• Date: September 10, 1978
• Game time: 4:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 46,201
• Referee: Bob Frederic
• TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Falcons June Jones 5/15, 38 Yds, INT Ricky Patton 13 Rush, 24 Yds Ricky Patton 3 Rec, 19 Yds Rams

Week 3

Week 3: Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	17	0	7	24
Falcons	3	7	0	6	16

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

• Date: September 17
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: , relative humidity 70%, round (wind)
• Game attendance: 56,648
• Referee: Gene Barth
• TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson (play–by–play) and Paul Warfield (color commentator)
• [1]

Game information

First quarter ATL – Steinfort 24 yard field goal Falcons 3, Browns 0 Second quarter CLE – Cockroft 43 yard field goal Browns 3, Falcons 3 CLE – Newsome 2 yard pass from Sipe (Cockroft kick) Browns 10, Falcons 3 ATL – Stanback 15 yard rush (Steinfort kick) Browns 10, Falcons 10 CLE – Rucker 27 yard pass from Sipe (Cockroft kick) Browns 17, Falcons 10 Third quarter No scoring plays Fourth quarter ATL – Strong 2 yard rush (kick failed) Browns 17, Falcons 16 CLE – Sipe 2 yard rush (Cockroft kick) Browns 24, Falcons 16 Top passers CLE – Brian Sipe 20/35, 219 yds, 2 TD ATL – Steve Bartkowski 7/15, 126 yds, 2 INT Top rushers CLE – Mike Pruitt 15 carr, 65 yds ATL – Haskel Stanback 7 carr, 31 yds, 1 TD Top receivers CLE – Dave Logan 5 rec, 63 yds ATL – Billy Ryckman 3 rec, 48 yds Turnovers CLE – 3 ATL – 4

Week 7 vs. Detroit Lions

• Referee: Ben Dreith
• Network: CBS
• Announcers: Vin Scully, George Allen and Jim Brown

Steve Bartkowski threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Billy Ryckman early in the second quarter and Bubba Bean erupted for a 25-yard touchdown run in the final minutes of the game as the Falcons got a critical win to stay alive in the NFC Playoff hunt. The Falcons defense also played a part in their win with two brilliant goal line stands. It was the first home shutout in Falcons History. The Lions' woeful offense could produce only 22 rushing yards.

Week 8 vs San Francisco 49ers

Atlanta erased a 17–7 deficit in the final 5:38 of the game, beating San Francisco on Tim Mazzetti's last-second, 29-yard field goal. Steve Bartkowski directed the comeback, hitting a 71-yard bomb to set up a 21-yard Mazzetti field goal, completing a 59-yard scoring pass to Billy Ryckman with 1:52 remaining and then finding Tim Mitchell with a 19-yard reception to set up a winning kick. This game was broadcast by CBS with announcers Vin Scully, George Allen and Jim Brown at the game.

Week 9

Week 9: Los Angeles Rams at Atlanta Falcons

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	7	0	0	7
Falcons	0	6	0	9	15

at Fulton County Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia

• Date: October 30, 1978
• Game time: 9:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 57,250
• Referee: Cal Lepore
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Rams Falcons

Week 10 vs. San Francisco 49ers

• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV Network: CBS
• Announcers: Frank Glieber and Johnny Unitas

Steve Bartkowski, who suffered a separate shoulder last Monday, ran for one touchdown and threw a 37-yard scoring pass to Wallace Francis as Atlanta spoiled the head coaching debutof the 49ers' Fred O'Connor who replaced the fired Pete McCulley on Tuesday. San Francisco's O.J. Simpson suffered a shoulder separation early in the second period. Simpson had carried 5 times for only 15 yards before the injury. Atlanta's win help keep their playoff hopes alive for a wild card berth at 6–4 the same record as the Cowboys and the Vikings.

Postseason

NFC Wild Card Game

Atlanta Falcons 14, Philadelphia Eagles 13

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	6	0	7	0	13
Falcons	0	0	0	14	14

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

• Date: December 24, 1978
• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 49,447
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and Hank Stram

The Falcons won their first playoff game in team history after they overcame a 13–0 deficit by scoring 2 touchdowns in the final 5 minutes of the game.

NFC Divisional Playoff

Dallas Cowboys 27, Atlanta Falcons 20

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	7	13	0	0	20
Cowboys	10	3	7	7	27

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

• Date: December 30, 1978
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 60,338
• Referee: Cal Lepore
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier

Dallas' "Doomsday Defense" limited Atlanta quarterback Steve Bartkowski to only 8 completions in 23 attempts and intercepted him 3 times en route to victory. After the Falcons led 20–13 at halftime, the Cowboys scored 14 unanswered points in the second half.

External links

• 1978 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com