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1978 Los Angeles Rams season

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1978 Los Angeles Rams season
OwnerCarroll Rosenbloom
Head coachRay Malavasi
Home fieldLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st NFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Vikings) 34–10
Lost NFC Championship
(vs. Cowboys) 0–28

The 1978 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 41st year with the National Football League and the 33rd season in Los Angeles. They improved on their 10–4 record from the previous season and finished 12–4.

The Rams began the regular season with seven straight victories and earned their sixth straight division title along with homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, including wins over the Dallas Cowboys (27-14) and Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7), the teams that would ultimately face each other in Super Bowl XIII. After defeating the Minnesota Vikings 34–10 in the divisional round, Los Angeles hosted the NFC Championship game, losing 28–0 at home in a rematch with the Cowboys.

Offseason

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Chuck Knox, who had coached the Rams for the previous five seasons, left the team after the 1977 season to join the Buffalo Bills.

In February, 1978, Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom hired former Rams coach George Allen, with much media fanfare. Allen had coached the Rams from 1966 to 1970, and had recently been dismissed by the Washington Redskins, whom he had coached from 1971 to 1977.

His second stint as the Rams' head coach was an unfortunate experience for all concerned. Allen did not have full authority over personnel and thus worked with general manager Don Klosterman to oversee a talented roster that had made the team a perennial playoff challenger. Allen brought with him his scrupulous discipline and attention to detail, which extended to practice-field protocol and dining-hall decorum. Almost immediately, a group of Ram players chafed at the regulations, and some made their grievances public. A few, including standout linebacker Isiah Robertson, briefly left camp.

As newspaper reports were quoting players expressing confidence that differences would be resolved, the Rams played listlessly and lost the first two games of the exhibition schedule, 14–7 to the New England Patriots and 17–0 to the San Diego Chargers. Rosenbloom decided that for the season to be salvaged a change must be made, and the announcement of Allen's abrupt dismissal was made on August 13, 1978, just weeks before the season opener. Many of Allen's own players were surprised by the decision. Defensive coordinator Ray Malavasi, well-respected and liked by players (and the only holdover from Chuck Knox' staff), replaced Allen.

On Tuesday, July 25, 1978, the Rams announced plans to leave the Coliseum for Anaheim Stadium beginning with the 1980 season. [1]

NFL Draft

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Main article: 1978 NFL Draft
1978 Los Angeles Rams draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 20 Elvis Peacock  Running back Oklahoma Played with Rams 1979–1980
2 46 Stan Johnson  Defensive tackle Tennessee State
2 53 Ron Smith  Wide receiver San Diego State
3 78 Frank Corral  Kicker UCLA
3 80 Leon White  Center Colorado Injured reserve
4 105 Mark Manges  Quarterback Maryland
7 189 Reggie Doss  Defensive end Hampton
9 246 Andre Anderson  Defensive end New Mexico State
10 273 Charles Peal  Tackle Indiana
11 303 Ron Hostetler  Linebacker Penn State
12 330 Gus Coppens  Tackle UCLA
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Undrafted free agents

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1978 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Bob Pfister Defensive Tackle Arizona State

Roster

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1978 Los Angeles Rams roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 3 at Philadelphia Eagles W 16–14 1–0 Veterans Stadium 64,721
2 September 10 Atlanta Falcons W 10–0 2–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 46,201
3 September 17 Dallas Cowboys W 27–14 3–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 65,749
4 September 24 at Houston Oilers W 10–6 4–0 Houston Astrodome 45,749
5 October 1 at New Orleans Saints W 26–20 5–0 Louisiana Superdome 61,659
6 October 8 San Francisco 49ers W 27–10 6–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 59,337
7 October 15 at Minnesota Vikings W 34–17 7–0 Metropolitan Stadium 46,551
8 October 22 New Orleans Saints L 3–10 7–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 47,574
9 October 30 at Atlanta Falcons L 7–15 7–2 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,250
10 November 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 26–23 8–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 55,182
11 November 12 Pittsburgh Steelers W 10–7 9–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 63,089
12 November 19 at San Francisco 49ers W 31–28 10–2 Candlestick Park 45,022
13 November 26 at Cleveland Browns L 19–30 10–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 55,158
14 December 3 at New York Giants W 20–17 11–3 Giants Stadium 62,629
15 December 11 Cincinnati Bengals L 19–20 11–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 47,471
16 December 17 Green Bay Packers W 31–14 12–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 42,500
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 6 vs. San Francisco

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In a penalty-filled game typical of those two teams, Pat Haden threw a pair of touchdown passes, one from 3 yards to John Cappelletti and the other from 11 yards to Wayne Miller helped the Rams stay unbeaten and spoiled the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum return of former USC star O. J. Simpson, who rushed for 83 yards on 20 carries and caught four passes for 30 yards. Frank Corral booted two field goals from 47 and 38 yards while the 49ers' Ray Wersching kicked a 25-yard field goal. Steve Deberg hit only 7 of 26 passes for 83 yards and missed on a fourth-down pass from the Rams' two late in the game.

Standings

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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

Postseason

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NFC Divisional Playoff

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  • Los Angeles Rams 34, Minnesota Vikings 10
1 2 3 4 Total
Vikings 3 7 0 0 10
Rams 0 10 14 10 34

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles

  • Attendance: 69,631

After the game was tied 10–10 at halftime, the Rams dominated the second half by scoring 24 unanswered points to defeat Minnesota in the playoffs for the first time after four previous losses. After the Vikings opened up the scoring with a field goal, Los Angeles marched 59 yards to score on quarterback Pat Haden's 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Willie Miller. Haden passed for 209 yards and threw a second touchdown pass in the third quarter, a 27-yard strike to wide receiver Ron Jessie. Kicker Frank Corral had two field goals in the game, and running back Cullen Bryant ran 27 times for 100 yards, including a 3-yard run in the third quarter to give the Rams the lead for good, while backup Jim Jodat added another touchdown for the game's final points. On defense, safety Bill Simpson intercepted two passes from Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton in what turned out to be the final game of Tarkenton's NFL career.

NFC Championship Game

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  • Dallas Cowboys 28, Los Angeles Rams 0
1 2 3 4 Total
Cowboys 0 0 7 21 28
Rams 0 0 0 0 0

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles

This game was a scoreless defensive struggle until the third quarter when Dallas safety Charlie Waters intercepted two Pat Haden passes intended for tight end Terry Nelson. Waters' first interception came in the middle of the third and led to a 5-yard touchdown run by running back Tony Dorsett. The Cowboys increased their lead to 14-0 as quarterback Roger Staubach threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to running back Scott Laidlaw. Then after the Rams were stopped on 4th and inches at the Dallas 21 yard line, Staubach then led a long scoring drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Billy Joe Dupree. Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, who had said in pre-game interviews that the Rams "didn't have enough class to go to the Super Bowl", backed up his words by capping the scoring with touchdown off a 68-yard interception return (the Cowboys' fifth of the game) of a Vince Ferragamo pass. Rams kicker Frank Corral missed two first half field goal attempts, the closest Los Angeles would get to scoring in the game, their fourth loss in the NFC Championship Game in five seasons.

References

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  1. ^ "1978 Los Angeles Rams Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
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