1979 Houston Oilers season

The 1979 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 20th overall and the 10th 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. Unfortunately for them, they had to once again run into 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.

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

Offseason

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 Southwest Missouri State
7 171 Tim Ries  Defensive Back Southwest 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

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[2]

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 2, 1979 at Washington Redskins W 29–27
54,582
2 September 9, 1979 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 38–7
49,792
3 September 16, 1979 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–6
45,684
4 September 23, 1979 at Cincinnati Bengals W 30–27
45,615
5 September 30, 1979 Cleveland Browns W 31–10
48,915
6 October 7, 1979 St. Louis Cardinals L 24–17
53,043
7 October 14, 1979 at Baltimore Colts W 28–16
45,021
8 October 21, 1979 at Seattle Seahawks L 34–14
60,705
9 October 28, 1979 New York Jets W 27–24
45,825
10 November 5, 1979 at Miami Dolphins W 9–6
70,273
11 November 11, 1979 Oakland Raiders W 31–17
48,614
12 November 18, 1979 Cincinnati Bengals W 42–21
49,829
13 November 22, 1979 at Dallas Cowboys W 30–24
63,897
14 December 2, 1979 at Cleveland Browns L 14–7
69,112
15 December 10, 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–17
55,293
16 December 16, 1979 Philadelphia Eagles L 26–20
49,407

Game summaries

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

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

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

[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
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
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
1 2 34Total
Oilers 7 3 0313
Steelers 3 14 01027

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Date: January 6, 1980
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 26 °F (−3 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 50,475
  • Referee: Jim Tunney
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

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
  • Earl Campbell, NFL Rushing Leader, (1,697)
  • Earl Campbell, 1979 NFL MVP
  • Earl Campbell, PFWA NFL MVP (1979)
  • Earl Campbell, Pro Bowl selection 1979
  • Earl Campbell, All-Pro selection 1979
  • Earl Campbell, NEA NFL MVP (1979)
  • Earl Campbell, NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1979)
  • Earl Campbell, 1979 Bert Bell Award[4]
  • Earl Campbell, Houston Oilers record, Most Touchdowns in a Season (19)
  • Mike Reinfeldt, NFL Interception Leader, 12

Milestones
  • Earl Campbell, 2nd 1,000 yard rushing season
  • Earl Campbell, 2nd NFL Rushing Title
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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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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