The 1978 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 59th year with the National Football League and the 19th season in St. Louis. The controversial recruitment of 62-year-old former Oklahoma Sooners coach Bud Wilkinson was a failure, as the team, already affected by becoming the first opponent team to lose visiting the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in December 1977), failed to maintain the standard of the previous four seasons. St. Louis lost its first eight games to be out of the running for the playoffs by midseason, and even a sequence of six wins in eight games failed to move them beyond a tie for last in its division.
The last of the Cardinals’ initial eight consecutive losses was the final time they played the New York Jets until 1996, by which time the franchise was based in Phoenix and provided a notorious Jets’ team with the win needed to avoid the first 0–16 record in NFL history. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team's division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.
Wilkinson was hired in early March, following the release of Don Coryell in February. Wilkinson had last coached at Oklahoma in 1963, and had since been an analyst on college football telecasts.
Offseason
NFL draft
Staff
Roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 at Miami Dolphins L 7–28 0–1 Miami Orange Bowl 46,557 2 at Chicago Bears W 26–14 1–1 Soldier Field 52,732 3 at Green Bay Packers L 17–23 1–2 Lambeau Field 50,423 4 at Kansas City Chiefs W 12–7 2–2 Arrowhead Stadium 40,884
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 3 at Chicago Bears L 10–17 0–1 Soldier Field 52,791 Recap 2 September 10 New England Patriots L 6–16 0–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,233 Recap 3 September 17 Washington Redskins L 10–28 0–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 49,282 Recap 4 September 24 at Dallas Cowboys L 12–21 0–4 Texas Stadium 62,760 Recap 5 October 1 at Miami Dolphins L 10–24 0–5 Miami Orange Bowl 43,882 Recap 6 October 8 Baltimore Colts L 17–30 0–6 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,479 Recap 7 October 15 Dallas Cowboys L 21–24 0–7 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,991 Recap 8 October 22 at New York Jets L 10–23 0–8 Shea Stadium 49,244 Recap 9 October 29 at Philadelphia Eagles W 16–10 1–8 Veterans Stadium 62,989 Recap 10 November 5 New York Giants W 20–10 2–8 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,820 Recap 11 November 12 at San Francisco 49ers W 16–10 3–8 Candlestick Park 33,155 Recap 12 November 19 at Washington Redskins W 27–17 4–8 RFK Stadium 52,460 Recap 13 November 26 Philadelphia Eagles L 10–14 4–9 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,693 Recap 14 December 3 Detroit Lions W 21–14 5–9 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,200 Recap 15 December 10 at New York Giants L 0–17 5–10 Giants Stadium 52,226 Recap 16 December 17 Atlanta Falcons W 42–21 6–10 Busch Memorial Stadium 40,022 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
References
External links Cardinals on Pro Football Reference Cardinals on jt-sw.com