The 1978 Patriots, Part I

by Chase Stuart on June 25, 2016

in History, Rushing, Statgeekery

Here’s what I wrote in my first post at Football Perspective:

I’ll be blogging about everything football-related, from Jerry Rice to Bobby Douglass, and from the 1978 Patriots to who is the greatest quarterback of all time.

The New England Patriots rushed for 3,165 yards, an NFL record that still stands. Take a look at the individual players on that team:

				Games		Rushing
No.		Age	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds ▾	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Fmb
39	Sam Cunningham*	28	FB	16	14	199	768	8	52	3.9	48.0	12.4	4
23	Horace Ivory	24	rb	15	3	141	693	11	28	4.9	46.2	9.4	5
32	Andy Johnson	26	RB	15	13	147	675	3	52	4.6	45.0	9.8	4
14	Steve Grogan	25	QB	16	16	81	539	5	31	6.7	33.7	5.1	9
44	Don Calhoun	26	rb	14	2	76	391	1	73	5.1	27.9	5.4	1
37	James McAlister	27		16	0	19	77	2	16	4.1	4.8	1.2	3
86	Stanley Morgan	23	PR/WR	16	16	2	11	0	6	5.5	0.7	0.1	6
29	Harold Jackson	32	WR	16	13	1	7	0	7	7.0	0.4	0.1	0
30	Mosi Tatupu	23		16	0	3	6	0	3	2.0	0.4	0.2	0
4	Jerrel Wilson	37	P	14	0	1	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.1	1
83	Don Westbrook	25		16	0	1	-2	0	-2	-2.0	-0.1	0.1	0
	Team Total	26.2		16		671	3165	30	73	4.7	197.8	41.9	35

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

That Patriots team is clearly one of the greatest rushing teams in football history. Not only did that squad set the NFL record for rushing yards, but New England also led the league in rushing touchdowns (30; the other 27 teams averaged 15.7), rushing first downs (181; no other team had more than 160), and yards per carry (4.7; no other team was over 4.5).

Cunningham and Johnson powered the Patriots ground game

How do the ’78 Patriots compare historically? Let’s calculate the number of adjusted rushing yards over average produced by that team. The formula is straightforward: for each team, take their rushing yards, and add 11 yards for every rushing touchdown and 9 yards for every first down. For the Patriots, that means we start with 3,165, add 330 yards for the team’s 30 rushing scores, and 1,629 yards for the 181 rushing first downs; that produces a total of 5,124 adjusted rushing yards.

That’s the most adjusted rushing yards in NFL history, too. But to calculate Adjusted Rushing Yards over average, the next step is to calculate league average — in 1978, it was 6.20. The Patriots averaged 7.64 Adjusted Rushing Yards per Carry, so that’s 1.44 ARYPC over average. And since New England had 671 carries, that means the Patriots produced 962 Adjusted Rushing Yards over average. Finally, the final step is to pro-rate non-16 game seasons as if they were 16-game seasons.

This methodology — which is a bit weighted more towards using per-carry numbers than I generally prefer — still has the Patriots as the 13th best rushing team ever. Perhaps more relevant, it has New England as the 3rd best rushing team of the last 50 years, and only one team — the 2011 Panthers — has scored better since that ’78 squad.

Rk	Tm	Year	Lg	G	Rush	Yds	TD	FD	Adj RY	AYPC	LgAvg	VALUE
1	SFO	1954	NFL	12	442	2498	28	125	3931	8.89	6.31	1525
2	DET	1936	NFL	12	591	2885	22	170	4657	7.88	6.00	1483
3	CHI	1941	NFL	11	495	2156	30	112	3494	7.06	5.00	1480
4	SFO	1948	AAFC	14	603	3663	35	152	5416	8.98	7.03	1345
5	CHI	1939	NFL	11	439	2043	21	148	3606	8.21	6.22	1271
6	SFO	1949	AAFC	12	506	2798	26	117	4137	8.18	6.35	1230
7	CLE	1963	NFL	14	460	2639	15	135	4019	8.74	6.45	1204
8	BUF	1975	NFL	14	588	2974	26	162	4718	8.02	6.39	1100
9	SFO	1953	NFL	12	443	2230	26	128	3668	8.28	6.42	1100
10	CAR	2011	NFL	16	445	2408	26	139	3945	8.87	6.60	1007
11	CLE	1958	NFL	12	475	2526	24	127	3933	8.28	6.74	976
12	BOS	1933	NFL	12	467	2260	11	0	2381	5.10	3.53	974
13	NWE	1978	NFL	16	671	3165	30	181	5124	7.64	6.20	962
14	DET	1997	NFL	16	447	2464	19	120	3753	8.40	6.25	959
15	CLE	1966	NFL	14	415	2166	18	117	3417	8.23	6.21	957
16	RAM	1954	NFL	12	432	2140	24	115	3439	7.96	6.31	953
17	BUF	1973	NFL	14	605	3088	20	152	4676	7.73	6.35	951
18	GNB	1960	NFL	12	463	2150	29	135	3684	7.96	6.42	949
19	SDG	1963	AFL	14	395	2201	20	112	3429	8.68	6.58	948
20	RAM	1951	NFL	12	426	2210	22	114	3478	8.16	6.50	944
21	CHI	1934	NFL	13	567	2847	20	0	3067	5.41	4.07	934
22	MIN	2007	NFL	16	494	2634	22	131	4055	8.21	6.33	927
23	NYY	1947	AAFC	14	534	2930	27	120	4307	8.07	6.56	921
24	CHI	1935	NFL	12	539	2096	13	140	3499	6.49	5.22	911
25	SEA	2014	NFL	16	525	2762	20	144	4278	8.15	6.42	908
26	NWE	1976	NFL	14	591	2948	24	150	4562	7.72	6.39	901
27	PHI	1945	NFL	10	381	1638	26	74	2590	6.80	5.33	895
28	CRD	1948	NFL	12	531	2560	25	135	4050	7.63	6.36	895
29	MIN	2002	NFL	16	473	2507	26	139	4044	8.55	6.66	895
30	MIA	1972	NFL	14	613	2960	26	170	4776	7.79	6.52	890
31	GNB	1962	NFL	14	518	2460	36	145	4161	8.03	6.54	884
32	RAM	1945	NFL	10	372	1714	19	68	2535	6.81	5.33	884
33	CHI	1942	NFL	11	470	1881	23	98	3016	6.42	5.13	878
34	SFO	1998	NFL	16	491	2544	19	129	3914	7.97	6.22	862
35	GNB	1961	NFL	14	474	2350	27	142	3925	8.28	6.69	860
36	CLE	1965	NFL	14	476	2331	19	133	3737	7.85	6.28	852
37	KAN	2002	NFL	16	462	2378	26	140	3924	8.49	6.66	848
38	CLE	1960	NFL	12	383	1930	18	107	3091	8.07	6.42	843
39	MIA	1977	NFL	14	519	2366	18	143	3851	7.42	6.01	834
40	WAS	2012	NFL	16	519	2709	22	144	4247	8.18	6.58	830
41	RAM	1953	NFL	12	426	2148	23	105	3346	7.85	6.42	816
42	RAM	1984	NFL	16	541	2864	16	140	4300	7.95	6.45	813
43	RAM	1946	NFL	11	404	1683	16	102	2777	6.87	5.50	808
44	KAN	1966	AFL	14	439	2274	19	106	3437	7.83	6.22	807
45	SEA	2005	NFL	16	519	2457	29	142	4054	7.81	6.26	803
46	PIT	1972	NFL	14	497	2520	22	131	3941	7.93	6.52	800
47	CIN	1988	NFL	16	563	2710	27	159	4438	7.88	6.46	800
48	CHI	1955	NFL	12	487	2388	19	118	3659	7.51	6.30	787
49	SDG	2006	NFL	16	522	2578	32	137	4163	7.98	6.47	785
50	PHI	2010	NFL	16	428	2324	18	116	3566	8.33	6.52	777
51	CHI	1977	NFL	14	599	2811	18	141	4278	7.14	6.01	772
52	ATL	2006	NFL	16	537	2939	9	134	4244	7.90	6.47	769
53	BAL	1956	NFL	12	432	2202	21	106	3387	7.84	6.52	763
54	SFO	1993	NFL	16	463	2133	26	134	3625	7.83	6.19	761
55	RAM	1956	NFL	12	384	1978	15	103	3070	7.99	6.52	757
56	DET	1990	NFL	16	366	1927	19	112	3144	8.59	6.53	755
57	DAL	1974	NFL	14	542	2454	22	147	4019	7.42	6.20	750
58	WAS	1945	NFL	10	394	1708	15	77	2566	6.51	5.33	746
59	CLE	1947	AAFC	14	479	2557	24	108	3793	7.92	6.56	745
60	PHI	1943	NFL	10	459	1730	18	96	2792	6.08	5.07	745
61	STL	1970	NFL	14	429	1998	18	110	3186	7.43	5.92	741
62	PHI	1944	NFL	10	424	1663	23	73	2573	6.07	4.98	737
63	PHI	2013	NFL	16	500	2566	19	133	3972	7.94	6.48	734
64	PHI	2011	NFL	16	450	2276	20	134	3702	8.23	6.60	731
65	DET	1981	NFL	16	596	2795	26	167	4584	7.69	6.47	729
66	CIN	1986	NFL	16	521	2533	24	134	4003	7.68	6.29	727
67	DEN	2005	NFL	16	542	2539	25	145	4119	7.60	6.26	724
68	PIT	1976	NFL	14	653	2971	33	163	4801	7.35	6.39	721
69	CLE	1964	NFL	14	435	2163	14	119	3388	7.79	6.34	721
70	DET	1937	NFL	11	484	2074	12	120	3286	6.79	5.77	720
71	DTX	1961	AFL	14	439	2183	23	112	3444	7.85	6.41	719
72	STL	1960	NFL	12	484	2356	13	127	3642	7.52	6.42	713
73	ATL	2004	NFL	16	524	2672	20	133	4089	7.80	6.45	709
74	DEN	1998	NFL	16	525	2468	26	135	3969	7.56	6.22	706
75	WAS	1938	NFL	11	388	1424	10	147	2857	7.36	6.11	705
76	NOR	1979	NFL	16	551	2476	28	160	4224	7.67	6.39	704
77	WAS	1970	NFL	14	444	2021	11	122	3240	7.30	5.92	701
78	CHI	1947	NFL	12	448	1959	21	122	3288	7.34	6.17	701
79	SFO	1992	NFL	16	482	2315	22	135	3772	7.83	6.37	700
80	CHI	1965	NFL	14	479	2131	27	132	3616	7.55	6.28	693
81	WAS	1937	NFL	11	450	1604	11	149	3066	6.81	5.77	685
82	RAM	1947	NFL	12	459	2171	15	112	3344	7.29	6.17	685
83	IND	1985	NFL	16	485	2439	22	131	3860	7.96	6.55	685
84	DET	1989	NFL	16	421	2053	23	117	3359	7.98	6.35	684
85	STL	2000	NFL	16	383	1843	26	112	3137	8.19	6.41	681
86	CLE	1952	NFL	12	394	1786	12	105	2863	7.27	5.98	676
87	CHI	1943	NFL	10	422	1651	14	84	2561	6.07	5.07	676
88	GNB	1964	NFL	14	495	2276	23	133	3726	7.53	6.34	673
89	CLE	1967	NFL	14	444	2139	15	119	3375	7.60	6.28	673
90	KAN	2004	NFL	16	496	2289	31	138	3872	7.81	6.45	673
91	DAL	1995	NFL	16	495	2201	29	141	3789	7.65	6.31	665
92	SDG	2003	NFL	16	417	2146	16	117	3375	8.09	6.50	664
93	MIA	1971	NFL	14	486	2429	11	121	3639	7.49	6.30	659
94	ATL	2005	NFL	16	531	2546	17	139	3984	7.50	6.26	658
95	DAL	1966	NFL	14	471	2122	24	124	3502	7.44	6.21	657
96	KAN	2005	NFL	16	520	2382	26	138	3910	7.52	6.26	652
97	CHI	1985	NFL	16	610	2761	27	176	4642	7.61	6.55	648
98	PIT	2001	NFL	16	580	2774	17	148	4293	7.40	6.30	639
99	CHI	1956	NFL	12	536	2468	22	140	3970	7.41	6.52	636
100	DET	1994	NFL	16	406	2080	12	94	3058	7.53	5.97	635
101	MIN	2012	NFL	16	486	2634	16	113	3827	7.87	6.58	628
102	MIN	2011	NFL	16	448	2318	18	118	3578	7.99	6.60	620
103	NYJ	1982	NFL	9	304	1317	13	87	2243	7.38	6.23	618
104	JAX	2006	NFL	16	513	2541	23	127	3937	7.67	6.47	618
105	CHI	1986	NFL	16	606	2700	21	166	4425	7.30	6.29	615
106	MIN	1991	NFL	16	464	2201	18	125	3524	7.59	6.27	614
107	SFO	1999	NFL	16	418	2095	14	102	3167	7.58	6.12	611
108	RAM	1973	NFL	14	659	2925	18	177	4716	7.16	6.35	604
109	GNB	2003	NFL	16	507	2558	18	127	3899	7.69	6.50	603
110	WAS	1940	NFL	11	400	1402	15	147	2890	7.23	6.19	601
111	RAM	1958	NFL	12	345	1734	18	93	2769	8.03	6.74	592
112	DTX	1962	AFL	14	479	2407	21	119	3709	7.74	6.66	592
113	SFO	2012	NFL	16	492	2491	17	128	3830	7.78	6.58	591
114	DAL	1971	NFL	14	512	2249	25	135	3739	7.30	6.30	586
115	SFO	1988	NFL	16	527	2523	18	141	3990	7.57	6.46	584
116	OAK	1971	NFL	14	473	2130	19	128	3491	7.38	6.30	583
117	SFO	1952	NFL	12	421	1905	16	97	2954	7.02	5.98	582
118	CHI	1951	NFL	12	539	2408	24	141	3941	7.31	6.50	581
119	WAS	1939	NFL	11	410	1693	12	125	2950	7.20	6.22	579
120	DEN	2002	NFL	16	457	2266	21	125	3622	7.93	6.66	579
121	PIT	1975	NFL	14	581	2633	22	149	4216	7.26	6.39	578
122	DEN	1996	NFL	16	525	2362	20	134	3788	7.22	6.12	576
123	OAK	1972	NFL	14	521	2376	20	145	3901	7.49	6.52	576
124	SEA	1978	NFL	16	561	2394	28	150	4052	7.22	6.20	572
125	TEN	2009	NFL	16	499	2592	19	115	3836	7.69	6.54	572
126	DET	1934	NFL	13	632	2740	27	0	3037	4.81	4.07	571
127	GNB	1944	NFL	10	395	1517	16	70	2323	5.88	4.98	568
128	DEN	1997	NFL	16	520	2378	18	138	3818	7.34	6.25	567
129	HOU	2010	NFL	16	423	2042	20	118	3324	7.86	6.52	567
130	GNB	1935	NFL	12	448	1562	7	125	2764	6.17	5.22	565
131	RAM	1957	NFL	12	474	2142	15	112	3315	6.99	6.10	564
132	HOU	1980	NFL	16	573	2635	18	155	4228	7.38	6.40	563
133	PIT	1979	NFL	16	561	2603	25	141	4147	7.39	6.39	563
134	STL	2001	NFL	16	416	2027	20	104	3183	7.65	6.30	562
135	SFO	1985	NFL	16	477	2232	20	137	3685	7.73	6.55	562
136	NYG	2008	NFL	16	502	2518	19	130	3897	7.76	6.65	560
137	CLE	1959	NFL	12	457	2149	20	118	3431	7.51	6.59	559
138	DAL	1968	NFL	14	480	2091	22	135	3548	7.39	6.38	557
139	CRD	1949	NFL	12	467	2130	21	106	3315	7.10	6.21	556
140	MIN	1965	NFL	14	505	2278	19	130	3657	7.24	6.28	553
141	PHI	1992	NFL	16	516	2388	19	138	3839	7.44	6.37	550
142	WAS	1999	NFL	16	463	2039	23	121	3381	7.30	6.12	550
143	MIN	2013	NFL	16	423	2081	23	106	3288	7.77	6.48	548
144	JAX	2010	NFL	16	512	2395	14	148	3881	7.58	6.52	544
145	MIA	1973	NFL	14	507	2521	16	111	3696	7.29	6.35	542
146	RAM	1959	NFL	12	371	1778	15	101	2852	7.69	6.59	542
147	BUF	1991	NFL	16	505	2381	16	128	3709	7.34	6.27	542
148	DET	1996	NFL	16	389	1810	15	105	2920	7.51	6.12	540
149	OAK	2000	NFL	16	520	2470	23	128	3875	7.45	6.41	540
150	SDG	1991	NFL	16	464	2248	16	114	3450	7.44	6.27	540

I noted a few times that the Patriots set several NFL records: that qualifier is necessary because the AAFC’s 1948 49ers were just ridiculous, and stand out as the greatest professional football rushing team of all time.

Anyway, that’s it for Part I. What stands out to you about the ’78 Patriots? What else would you like to know/learn?

References[+]

References
↑1	Note that since rushing touchdowns are first downs, we actually give 20 yards per rushing touchdown. Longtime readers may recall greatest adjusted rushing teams of all time.” target=”_blank”>this post of mine using this methodology, but I was a hack back then and forgot to make this adjustment.

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