1978 Houston Oilers Statistics
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 10-6
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the American Football Conference
Postseason: 2-1 Lost Conference Championship
Coach: Bum Phillips (10-6)
Location: Houston, Texas
1978 Houston Oilers RosterTeam Record: 10-6
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's Central Division of the American Football Conference
Postseason: 2-1 Lost Conference Championship
Coach: Bum Phillips (10-6)
Location: Houston, Texas
1978 Houston Oilers Results
The Houston Oilers of the National Football League ended the 1978 season with a record of 10 wins and 6 losses, finishing second in the NFL's Central Division of the American Football Conference. The team compiled a postseason mark of 2-1.
The Oilers scored 283 points, but the defense conceded 298. Earl Campbell ran for a team-leading 1,450 yards for Houston.
Dan Pastorini passed for 2,473 yards. Ken Burrough topped the receiving corps, hauling in 47 passes for 624 yards, while Mike Barber provided receiving help, too.
Willie Alexander snatched 5 errant tosses from the opposition.
Bum Phillips coached the team. The 1978 Houston Oilers lost in the Conference Championship.
Click on column headings to sort.
Passing:
| Player | Att | Comp | Comp % | Yds | Yds/Att | TDs | TD % | Ints | Int % | Long | Sacked | Yds Lost | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Pastorini | 368 | 199 | 54.1 | 2473 | 6.7 | 16 | 4.3 | 17 | 4.6 | 80 | 15 | 123 | 70.4 |
| Ken Burrough | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| Gifford Nielsen | 4 | 2 | 50.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 56.3 |
| Totals | 373 | 201 | 53.9 | 2473 | 6.6 | 16 | 4.3 | 17 | 4.6 | 80 | 17 | 135 |
Rushing:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Campbell | 302 | 1450 | 4.8 | 81 | 13 |
| Tim Wilson | 126 | 431 | 3.4 | 24 | 0 |
| Rob Carpenter | 82 | 348 | 4.2 | 20 | 5 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 61 | 188 | 3.1 | 16 | 1 |
| Rich Caster | 5 | 32 | 6.4 | 11 | 0 |
| Mike Barber | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Dan Pastorini | 18 | 11 | 0.6 | 11 | 0 |
| Mike Renfro | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Robert Woods | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Brian Duncan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Burrough | 3 | -11 | -3.7 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 603 | 2476 | 4.1 | 81 | 19 |
Receiving:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Burrough | 47 | 624 | 13.3 | 44 | 2 |
| Mike Barber | 32 | 513 | 16.0 | 72 | 3 |
| Mike Renfro | 26 | 339 | 13.0 | 58 | 2 |
| Rich Caster | 20 | 316 | 15.8 | 47 | 5 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 19 | 246 | 12.9 | 33 | 1 |
| Rob Carpenter | 17 | 150 | 8.8 | 37 | 0 |
| Tim Wilson | 15 | 91 | 6.1 | 14 | 1 |
| Earl Campbell | 12 | 48 | 4.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Robert Woods | 6 | 96 | 16.0 | 80 | 2 |
| Conrad Rucker | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 22 | 0 |
| Brian Duncan | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Johnson | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Greg Sampson | 1 | -4 | -4.0 | -4 | 0 |
| Totals | 201 | 2473 | 12.3 | 80 | 16 |
Kicking:
Punting:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliff Parsley | 91 | 3539 | 38.9 | 59 |
| Totals | 91 | 3539 | 38.9 | 59 |
Punt Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronnie Coleman | 16 | 142 | 8.9 | 32 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 13 | 132 | 10.2 | 42 | 0 |
| Robert Woods | 9 | 82 | 9.1 | 14 | 0 |
| Billy Johnson | 8 | 60 | 7.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Totals | 46 | 416 | 9.0 | 42 | 0 |
Kick Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnnie Dirden | 32 | 780 | 24.4 | 60 | 0 |
| Larry Poole | 4 | 107 | 26.8 | 31 | 0 |
| Anthony Davis | 4 | 98 | 24.5 | 31 | 0 |
| Billy Johnson | 4 | 73 | 18.2 | 22 | 0 |
| Robert Turner | 4 | 69 | 17.2 | 23 | 0 |
| Robert Woods | 3 | 59 | 19.7 | 24 | 0 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 23 | 0 |
| Brian Duncan | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 21 | 0 |
| Tim Wilson | 2 | 29 | 14.5 | 16 | 0 |
| Rob Carpenter | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 |
| Totals | 58 | 1304 | 22.5 | 60 | 0 |
Interceptions:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willie Alexander | 5 | 51 | 10.2 | 29 | 0 |
| Greg Stemrick | 3 | 65 | 21.7 | 38 | 0 |
| J.C. Wilson | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Robert Brazile | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 |
| Art Stringer | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Bill Currier | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| C.L. Whittington | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Kurt Knoff | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Steve Kiner | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Mike Reinfeldt | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17 | 199 | 11.7 | 38 | 0 |
Defense and Fumbles:
| Player | Tackle | Brup | Fum | FRec | FYds | FTD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Reinfeldt | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Greg Sampson | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gregg Bingham | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ted Thompson | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| David Carter | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Bill Currier | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ted Washington | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Earl Campbell | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Robert Woods | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| George Reihner | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Curley Culp | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Steve Kiner | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Willie Alexander | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim Young | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ronnie Coleman | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Dan Pastorini | 5 | 1 | -19 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Art Stringer | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Elvin Bethea | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Tim Wilson | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Guido Merkens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Johnnie Dirden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Rich Caster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Mike Renfro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Gifford Nielsen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Mike Barber | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 35 | 27 | -13 | 0 | 0 |
Total Scoring:
| Touchdowns | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rush | Rec | Punt | Kick | MFG | Int | Fum | Other | FG | X/C | Single | 2Pt | Saf | Points |
| Earl Campbell | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | ||||||||
| Toni Fritsch | 14 | 31 | 0 | 73 | ||||||||||
| Rich Caster | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||||||||
| Rob Carpenter | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |||||||
| Mike Barber | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||||||||
| Ken Burrough | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||
| Robert Woods | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||
| Mike Renfro | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||
| Ronnie Coleman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||
| Tim Wilson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||||||
| Totals | 19 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 283 |
