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1979 Houston Oilers season

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1979 Houston Oilers season
OwnerBud Adams
General managerBum Phillips
Head coachBum Phillips
Home fieldHouston Astrodome
Results
Record11–5
Division place2nd AFC Central
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Broncos) 13–7
Won Divisional Playoffs (at Chargers) 17–14
Lost AFC Championship (at Steelers) 13–27
Pro Bowlers
Houston's defensive line blocking a San Diego rushing attempt during the 1979 AFC Divisional Playoff Game.

The 1979 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 20th overall and the tenth in the National Football League. The franchise scored 362 points while the defense gave up 331 points. Their record of 11 wins and 5 losses resulted in a second-place finish in the AFC Central Division. The Oilers appeared once on Monday Night Football on December 10, 1979 where the sports promotion Luv ya Blue was launched and returned to the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year. Earl Campbell would lead the NFL in rushing for the second consecutive year and set a franchise record for most touchdowns in a season with 19. The Oilers would make the playoffs again as a wild card. In the wild card game, they beat the Denver Broncos 13-7, and then defeated the San Diego Chargers 17-14 in San Diego to reach their second straight AFC Championship game. They played the Pittsburgh Steelers, who a year earlier had eliminated them 34-5 in the previous AFC Championship game. The Oilers lost the game 27-13. The game included a controversial moment in which wide receiver Mike Renfro had a touchdown called back after the referees of the game took a long time to decide the ruling on the field. The call went down as one of the most controversial calls in NFL history.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1979 NFL draft
1979 Houston Oilers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 31 Mike Stensrud  Defensive tackle Iowa State
2 50 Jesse Baker  Defensive end Jacksonville State
3 72 Kenny King *  Running back Oklahoma
6 143 Daryl Hunt  Linebacker Oklahoma
6 159 Mike Murphy  Linebacker Missouri State
7 171 Tim Ries  Defensive Back Missouri State
8 214 Carter Hartwig  Defensive Back USC
9 243 Richard Ellender  Wide Receiver McNeese State
11 298 Mike Taylor  Offensive Tackle Georgia Tech
12 324 Wayne Wilson  Running Back Shephard College
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1979 Houston Oilers staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Bum Phillips

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – John Paul Young



Roster

1979 Houston Oilers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)
  • 56 Mike Murphy OLB

Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}}

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 2 at Washington Redskins W 29–27 1–0 RFK Stadium 54,582
2 September 9 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–38 1–1 Three Rivers Stadium 49,792
3 September 16 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–6 2–1 Astrodome 45,684
4 September 23 at Cincinnati Bengals W 30–27 3–1 Riverfront Stadium 45,615
5 September 30 Cleveland Browns W 31–10 4–1 Astrodome 48,915
6 October 7 St. Louis Cardinals L 17–24 4–2 Astrodome 53,043
7 October 14 at Baltimore Colts W 28–16 5–2 Memorial Stadium 45,021
8 October 21 at Seattle Seahawks L 14–34 5–3 Kingdome 60,705
9 October 28 New York Jets W 27–24 6–3 Astrodome 45,825
10 November 5 at Miami Dolphins W 9–6 7–3 Miami Orange Bowl 70,273
11 November 11 Oakland Raiders W 31–17 8–3 Astrodome 48,614
12 November 18 Cincinnati Bengals W 42–21 9–3 Astrodome 49,829
13 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys W 30–24 10–3 Texas Stadium 63,897
14 December 2 at Cleveland Browns L 7–14 10–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 69,112
15 December 10 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–17 11–4 Astrodome 55,293
16 December 16 Philadelphia Eagles L 20–26 11–5 Astrodome 49,407
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 at Washington Redskins

See also: 1979 Washington Redskins season
Week 1: Houston Oilers at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oilers 6 0 71629
Redskins 0 17 7327

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 3 vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 4 at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 5 vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 6 vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Week 7 at Baltimore Colts

Week 8 at Seattle Seahawks

Week 9 vs. New York Jets

Week 10 at Miami Dolphins

Week 11 vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 12 vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 13 at Dallas Cowboys

Week 13
1 234Total
• Oilers 7 1067 30
Cowboys 14 703 24
Scoring summary
Q1DALPearson 56-yard pass from Staubach (Septien kick)DAL 7–0
Q1HOUCampbell 61-yard run (Fritsch kick)Tie 7–7
Q1DALNewhouse 21-yard pass from Staubach (Septien kick)DAL 14–7
Q2HOUFritsch 27-yard field goalDAL 14–10
Q2DALDorsett 1-yard run (Septien kick)DAL 21–10
Q2HOUCampbell 27-yard run (Fritsch kick)DAL 21–17
Q3HOURenfro 47-yard pass from Pastorini (kick failed)HOU 23–21
Q4DALSeptien 44-yard field goalDAL 24–23
Q4HOUBurrough 32-yard pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick)HOU 30–24

[3]

Week 14 at Cleveland Browns

Week 15 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 16 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(2) 12 4 0 .750 4–2 9–3 416 262 W1
Houston Oilers(4) 11 5 0 .688 4–2 9–3 362 331 L1
Cleveland Browns 9 7 0 .563 2–4 6–6 359 352 L2
Cincinnati Bengals 4 12 0 .250 2–4 2–10 337 421 W1

Postseason

AFC Wild Card vs. Denver Broncos

Houston Oilers 13, Denver Broncos 7
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 7 0 007
Oilers 3 7 0313

at Astrodome, Houston

The Oilers managed to shut down the Broncos offense for most of the game en route to a 13–7 win.

AFC Divisional Playoff at San Diego Chargers

Houston Oilers 17, San Diego Chargers 14
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oilers 0 10 7017
Chargers 7 0 7014

at San Diego Stadium, San Diego

The Oilers offense, playing without starting quarterback Dan Pastorini, receiver Ken Burrough, and running back Earl Campbell, could only generate 259 yard compared to San Diego's 385. But they still won the game, largely due to the effort of rookie safety Vernon Perry, who set a playoff record with 4 interceptions as the Oilers defeated the Chargers, 17–14. In his first career playoff game, Chargers future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts threw for 333 yards, but was intercepted 5 times.

AFC Championship Game at Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Houston Oilers 13
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oilers 7 3 0313
Steelers 3 14 01027

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Steelers held the Oilers to only 24 rushing yards, but were also aided by a controversial non-touchdown call on Mike Renfro to come away with a 27–13 win.

Awards and records

Milestones

  • Earl Campbell, 2nd 1,000 yard rushing season
  • Earl Campbell, 2nd NFL Rushing Title

References

  1. ^ "1979 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  2. ^ "1979 Houston Oilers starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-09.
  4. ^ "Maxwell Football Club - Bert Bell Award Past Recipients". Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
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