The 1978 Kansas City Chiefs season was the

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

's 9th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, the 16th as the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

, and the 19th overall. It began with the hiring of new head coach

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

, formerly of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

. With the NFL expanding its schedule to 16 games, the Chiefs finished with a 4–12 record and 5th in the

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

. Coach Levy's systematic restocking of a relatively barren defensive roster began with a 1978 draft class that included a pair of future Chiefs franchise hall of famers in defensive end

Art Still Arthur Barry Still (born December 5, 1955) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Kentucky, where he was an All-American in 1977, and professionally for the Kan ...

and linebacker

Gary Spani Gary Spani (born January 9, 1956) is a former NFL linebacker who played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1978–1986. He has worked for the Chiefs' front office since 1989, and is currently the Director of Special Events for the Chiefs. Spani wa ...

. Running back

Ed Podolak Edward Joseph Podolak (born September 1, 1947) is a former professional American football player, a running back for nine seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League and National Football League. Early years Ed Podolak w ...

, who was the club's all-time leading rusher at the time, retired in the offseason on June 15. Perhaps Levy's most unconventional tactic in rebuilding the Chiefs was installing the Wing-T offense. "It was a situation where we took over a team that had the worst defensive record in the history of the National Football League," Levy explained. "We wanted to keep that defense off the field, so we ran the ball 60 times a game." The 1978 Chiefs team ran and ran often, posting franchise records with 663 rushing attempts and 2,986 ground yards. Levy's squad ran the ball a staggering 69 times in a 24–23 Opening Day win at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

on September 3, the most rushing attempts in an NFL contest since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. Five different players had 100-yard rushing games during the year, including running back

Tony Reed Tony Reed (born March 30, 1955) is an American former college and professional football player. A star at Colorado, he played five professional seasons as a running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridir ...

, who finished the season with 1,053 yards to become the team's first 1,000-yard back since 1967. Despite the squad's Opening Day success, the club lost 10 of its next 11 games, including a pair of overtime decisions. However, the team showed signs of improvement with the defense recording a 23–0 shutout against

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

on November 26 as the club concluded its first 16-game schedule with a 4–12 mark.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 2: vs Houston Oilers

Week 3: at New York Giants

Week 4: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 5: at Buffalo Bills

Week 6: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 7: at Oakland Raiders

Week 8: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 9: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 10: vs Oakland Raiders

Week 11: at San Diego Chargers

Week 12: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 13: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 14: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 15: at Denver Broncos

Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks

Standings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978 Kansas City Chiefs Season

Kansas City Chiefs seasons

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...