The Detroit Lions season was the franchise's 49th season in the National Football League. Under new head coach and former NFL player Monte Clark, the Lions continue to struggle with mediocrity finishing in third place again with a less than stellar record of 7–9.
This season would also be the swan song for starting quarterback Greg Landry's stellar ten-year career in Detroit, as in the offseason Landry was shipped to the Baltimore Colts for a 1979 fourth round pick (#88—Ulysses Norris), a 1979 fifth round pick (#131—Walt Brown), and a 1980 third round pick (#62—Mike Friede), in a rebuilding process begun by head coach Monte Clark.Daytona Beach Journal, sports article April 30, 1979.1979 NFL Draft Pick Transactions, ProSportsTransactions.com, accessed March 31, 2012.
Offseason NFL draft
Notes
Detroit traded its third-round pick (67th) and seventh-round pick in 1979 to Cleveland in exchange for the rights to K Tom Skladany. Detroit traded DT Herb Orvis to Baltimore in exchange for the Colts' fourth-round pick (107th). Detroit traded P Herman Weaver to Denver in exchange for the Broncos' fourth- and sixth-round picks (109th and 165th). Detroit traded LB Jim Laslavic to San Diego in exchange for the Chargers' fifth- and sixth-round picks (123rd and 153rd). Detroit traded its ninth-round pick (233rd) to San Francisco in exchange for K Steve Mike-Mayer.
Undrafted free agents
+ 1978 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeBob BratkowskiWide receiverWashington StateKen CallicuttRunning backClemsonTim CunninghamRunning backLong Beach StateTom McLaughlinQuarterbackIowa
Personnel Staff / Coaches
Roster
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 3 Green Bay Packers L 7–13 0–1 Pontiac Silverdome 51,187 2 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 15–7 1–1 Tampa Stadium 64,445 3 September 17 Chicago Bears L 0–19 1–2 Pontiac Silverdome 65,982 4 September 24 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–28 1–3 Kingdome 60,040 5 October 1 at Green Bay Packers L 14–35 1–4 Milwaukee County Stadium 54,601 6 October 8 Washington Redskins L 19–21 1–5 Pontiac Silverdome 60,555 7 October 15 at Atlanta Falcons L 0–14 1–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 51,172 8 October 22 San Diego Chargers W 31–14 2–6 Pontiac Silverdome 54,031 9 October 29 at Chicago Bears W 21–17 3–6 Soldier Field 53,378 10 November 5 at Minnesota Vikings L 7–17 3–7 Metropolitan Stadium 46,008 11 November 12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34–23 4–7 Pontiac Silverdome 60,320 12 November 19 at Oakland Raiders L 17–29 4–8 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 44,517 13 November 23 Denver Broncos W 17–14 5–8 Pontiac Silverdome 71,785 14 December 3 at St. Louis Cardinals L 14–21 5–9 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,200 15 Minnesota Vikings W 45–14 6–9 Pontiac Silverdome 78,685 16 December 17 San Francisco 49ers W 33–14 7–9 Pontiac Silverdome 56,674Note: Intra-division games are in bold text
Game summaries
Week 9: at Chicago Bears
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Standings
References
External links 1978 Detroit Lions at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1978 Detroit Lions at JT-SW.com 1978 Detroit Lions at The Football Database (FootballDB.com)