1978 Chicago Bears season

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox NFL team season The 1978 season was the Chicago Bears' 59th in the National Football League, and their first under head coach Neill Armstrong. The team failed to improve on their 9–5 record from 1977 to finish at 7–9, and failed to make the playoffs for the 14th time in the past 15 seasons.

Offseason

Undrafted free agents

1978 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Mike Morgan	Running back	Wisconsin

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	St. Louis Cardinals	W 17–10	1–0	Soldier Field	52,791
2	September 10	at San Francisco 49ers	W 16–13	2–0	Candlestick Park	49,502
3	September 17	at Detroit Lions	W 19–0	3–0	Pontiac Silverdome	65,982
4	September 25	Minnesota Vikings	L 20–24	3–1	Soldier Field	53,551
5	October 1	Oakland Raiders	L 19–25	3–2	Soldier Field	52,848
6	October 8	at Green Bay Packers	L 14–24	3–3	Lambeau Field	56,267
7	October 16	at Denver Broncos	L 7–16	3–4	Mile High Stadium	75,008
8	October 22	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 19–33	3–5	Tampa Stadium	68,146
9	October 29	Detroit Lions	L 17–21	3–6	Soldier Field	53,378
10	November 5	Seattle Seahawks	L 29–31	3–7	Soldier Field	50,697
11	November 12	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–17	3–8	Metropolitan Stadium	43,286
12	November 19	Atlanta Falcons	W 13–7	4–8	Soldier Field	46,022
13	November 26	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 14–3	5–8	Soldier Field	42,373
14	December 4	at San Diego Chargers	L 7–40	5–9	San Diego Stadium	48,492
15	December 10	Green Bay Packers	W 14–0	6–9	Soldier Field	34,306
16	December 16	at Washington Redskins	W 14–10	7–9	RFK Stadium	49,774
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

"The 100 yards was nice, but it doesn't mean a thing since we lost." O. J. Simpson said after winning his first confrontation with Walter Payton. Simpson had 108 yards to Payton's 62. - But Simpson's fumble proved to be a pivotal one. He recovered the ball but lost 6 yards on the play, and the 49ers, leading by four points in the fourth quarter, had to go to the air to try to maintain possession. Doug Buffone then intercepts and Chicago wound up with the winning touchdown.

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 3 3 3 7 16 49ers 7 3 0 3 13 Date: September 10 Location: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: , wind Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber Johnny Morris Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry

Week 3

• Television: CBS
• Announcers: Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris

Chicago scored three times in about four minutes in the third quarter, including a 40-yard touchdown pass from Bob Avellini to James Scott as the Bears go 3-0 to stay in first place and extend their regular season winning streak to 9. The third quarter scoring barrage began with a 28-yard field goal by Bob Thomas at 10:41. Less than Three minutes later Tommy Hart tackled quarterback Greg Landry in the end zone for a safety. Then the Bears wrapped up the scoring with Avellini's 40-yard bomb to wide receiver James Scott over the head of cornerback James Hunter.

Week 6 at Packers

Week Six: Chicago Bears (3–2) at Green Bay Packers (4–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	14	14
Packers	0	3	14	7	24

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Date: October 8
• Game time: 2:00 p.m.
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 56,267
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter No scoring Second quarter GB – Chester Marcol 41-yard field goal. Packers 3–0. Third quarter GB – Terdell Middleton 2-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 10–0. GB – Steve Luke 63-yard interception return (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 17–0. Fourth quarter CHI – James Scott 15-yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick). Packers 17–7. GB – James Lofton 58-yard pass from David Whitehurst (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 24–7. CHI – James Scott 17-yard pass from Bob Avellini (Bob Thomas kick). Packers 24–14. Top passers CHI – Bob Avellini – 23/37, 224 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT GB – David Whitehurst – 6/12, 88 yards, TD Top rushers CHI – Walter Payton – 19 rushes, 82 yards GB – Terdell Middleton – 16 rushes, 64 yards, TD Top receivers CHI – James Scott – 9 receptions, 113 yards, 2 TD GB – James Lofton – 2 receptions, 65 yards, TD

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 7 0 7 0 14 Redskins 0 3 0 7 10 Date: December 16 Location: RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C. Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: • Wind Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry

References

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