The 1978 Atlanta Falcons

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

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 NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

. 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 20-13 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.

NFL Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Game summaries

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7 vs. Detroit Lions

*Network:

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

*Announcers:

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...

, 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

with announcers

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

and Jim Brown at the game.

Week 9

Week 10 vs. San Francisco 49ers

*TV Network: CBS *Announcers:

Frank Glieber Frank John Glieber (April 5, 1934 – May 1, 1985) was an American sportscaster. Early life and career Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Glieber was the oldest child of immigrants—John, a native of Austria, and Mary, a native of Ger ...

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 Fred O'Connor (born September 1, 1939) is a former American football coach and administrator whose career spanned more than 30 years at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. He served in coaching positions in the National Footbal ...

who replaced the fired

Pete McCulley Pete McCulley (November 29, 1931 – November 25, 1992) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers for the first nine games of the 1978 season. Winning only one game during ...

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.

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Postseason

NFC Wild Card Game

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' "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.

References

External links

1978 Atlanta Falcons
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Falcons seasons

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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