1979 Buffalo Bills season

Last updated

1979 Buffalo Bills season
Owner Ralph Wilson
Head coach Chuck Knox
Home field Rich Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place4th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers G Joe DeLamielleure
AP All-Pros G Joe DeLamielleure (1st team)

The 1979 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League, and 20th overall.

Contents

Head coach Chuck Knox spent his second season with the Bills in 1979, improving on 1978's record by two games. The Bills were 7–6 with three games left to play, but they lost their final three games to finish with a losing record. (Even if Buffalo had won their final three games, they still would have lost the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Miami Dolphins (who finished 10–6) for the division title.)

Buffalo's loss to Miami in Week Seven was their 20th straight loss to the Dolphins, an NFL record.

The 1979 Bills were dead-last in rushing yards in the NFL, with only total 1,621 yards on the ground. [1] Buffalo's 268 points scored was 23rd of the league's 28 teams. [2]

Offseason

NFL draft

Three of Buffalo's first four picks made at least one Pro Bowl: wide receiver Jerry Butler, nose tackle Fred Smerlas, and linebacker Jim Haslett. Haslett was named 1979 AP Rookie of the Year. Smerlas made five Pro Bowls in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1988.

Defensive end Ken Johnson, center Jon Borchardt, and defensive backs Jeff Nixon and Rod Kush all played for the Bills for six years from 1979 to 1984.

1979 Buffalo Bills draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
11 Tom Cousineau   Linebacker Ohio State
15 Jerry Butler  *  Wide receiver Clemson
232 Fred Smerlas  *  Defensive tackle Boston College
251 Jim Haslett  * Linebacker Indiana (PA)
362 Jon Borchardt   Guard Montana State
483 Ken Johnson   Defensive end Knoxville
487 Jeff Nixon   Safety Richmond
5114 Rod Kush  Safety Nebraska-Omaha
5116 Dan Manucci   Quarterback Kansas State
6141Mike Burrow Guard Auburn
7170 Tom Mullady   Tight end Rhodes
9226Kevin Baker Defensive end William Penn
10253 Dave Marler  Quarterback Mississippi State
11279Paul Lawler  Defensive back Colgate
12308Mike Harris  Running back Arizona State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Tom Cousineau

Ohio State linebacker Cousineau was drafted first overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Bills, who acquired the pick from San Francisco in a trade for O. J. Simpson. Cousineau never played a game with the Bills. He instead signed with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes where they offered double the money that the Bills originally offered. Cousineau became a star there, becoming the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player in the 1979 season. Cousineau wanted to return to the NFL, and in 1982 the Houston Oilers attempted to sign him, but the Bills (who still held Cousineau's NFL rights) matched the offer. He was then traded from the Bills to the Cleveland Browns for a first-round draft choice (14th overall) in the 1983 NFL draft, [3] which would be used on future Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. Cousineau signed a five-year contract for 2.5 million dollars, the most ever for a Cleveland Brown player at the time.[5]

Undrafted free agents

1979 Undrafted Free Agents of note
PlayerPositionCollege
Orlando AlvarezWide receiver Montclair State
Rod BroadwayDefensive Tackle North Carolina
Derrick BurnettRunning back Indiana
Robert CameronPunterAcadia
Jerome CarterCornerback Delaware State
Donald ClaytonPunter Wyoming
Bill CrowleyLinebacker Yale
Leroy McGeeRunning back Michigan State
Russell PopeCornerback Purdue
Ronald RicksCornerback Kansas

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1979 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Coaching staff

Offensive coaches

Defensive/special teams coaches

Roster

1979 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserved

  • --Kevin BakerDE Injury icon 2.svg (IR)


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 2 Miami Dolphins L 7–90–1 Rich Stadium 69,441
2September 9 Cincinnati Bengals W 51–241–1Rich Stadium43,504
3September 16at San Diego Chargers L 19–271–2 San Diego Stadium 50,709
4September 23 New York Jets W 46–312–2Rich Stadium68,731
5September 30at Baltimore Colts W 31–133–2 Memorial Stadium 31,904
6October 7 Chicago Bears L 0–73–3Rich Stadium73,383
7October 14at Miami Dolphins L 7–173–4 Miami Orange Bowl 45,597
8October 21 Baltimore Colts L 13–143–5Rich Stadium50,581
9October 28at Detroit Lions W 20–174–5 Pontiac Silverdome 61,911
10November 4 New England Patriots L 6–264–6Rich Stadium67,935
11November 11at New York Jets W 14–125–6 Shea Stadium 50,647
12November 18 Green Bay Packers W 19–126–6Rich Stadium39,679
13November 25at New England Patriots W 16–13 (OT)7–6 Schaefer Stadium 60,991
14December 2 Denver Broncos L 16–197—7Rich Stadium37,886
15December 9at Minnesota Vikings L 3–107–8 Metropolitan Stadium 42,239
16December 16at Pittsburgh Steelers L 0–287–9 Three Rivers Stadium 48,002
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Miami Dolphins (3)1060.6255–36–6341257L1
New England Patriots 970.5634–46–6411326W1
New York Jets 880.5004–45–7337383W3
Buffalo Bills 790.4384–45–7268279L3
Baltimore Colts 5110.3133–54–10271351W1

Season summary

Week 11

1234Total
• Bills070714
Jets060612
  • Date: November 11
  • Location: Shea Stadium New York
  • Game start: 1:00 PM EST
  • Game attendance: 50,647
  • Game weather: 52 degrees, relative humidity 78%, wind 10 mph
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Mike Haffner

Week 12

1234Total
Packers390012
• Bills336719

Week 13 at Patriots

Week Thirteen: Buffalo Bills (6–6) at New England Patriots (8–4)
Quarter1234OTTotal
Bills 0337316
Patriots 03010013

at Schaefer Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

  • Date: November 25
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 63 °F or 17.2 °C
  • Game attendance: 60,991
  • Box Score
Game information

Notes

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    References

    1. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1979 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics The Bills rushed for 101.3 yards per game; the league average for rushing yards was 135.6 yards per game.
    2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1979 Buffalo Bills
    3. ↑ Sports People; Browns Get Cousineau from the New York Times archives, retrieved March 8, 2006
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