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
Owner	Bud Adams
Head coach	Bum Phillips
General manager	Bum Phillips
Home field	Houston Astrodome
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (Broncos) 13–7 Won Divisional Playoffs (at Chargers) 17–14 Lost AFC Championship (at Steelers) 13–27
Pro Bowlers	DE Elvin Bethea LB Robert Brazile RB Earl Campbell K Toni Fritsch LT Leon Gray FS Mike Reinfeldt

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 President – Bud Adams General Manager – Bum Phillips Senior Vice President/Chief Administrative Officer – Ladd Herzeg Assistant General Manager – Pat Peppler Director of College Scouting – Joe Woolley Head coaches Head Coach – Bum Phillips Offensive coaches Offensive Backs – Andy Bourgeois Receivers – King Hill Offensive Line – Joe Bugel			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Ed Biles Defensive Line – Wade Phillips Defensive Secondary – Bob Gambold Special teams coaches Special Teams – John Paul Young

Roster

1979 Houston Oilers roster

	Quarterbacks 12 Guido Merkens 14 Gifford Nielsen  7 Dan Pastorini Running backs 34 Earl Campbell 26 Rob Carpenter FB 42 Boobie Clark FB 47 Ronnie Coleman 30 Kenny King 45 Tim Wilson FB Wide receivers 00 Ken Burrough 88 Rich Caster 85 Rich Ellender 81 Jeff Groth 89 Eddie Foster 84 Billy Johnson 82 Mike Renfro Tight ends 86 Mike Barber 87 Conrad Rucker		Offensive linemen 58 David Carter C/G 60 Ed Fisher G 74 Leon Gray T 70 Conway Hayman G 55 Carl Mauck C 61 Wes Phillips T 68 Tom Randall G 64 George Reihner G 76 Morris Towns T Defensive linemen 75 Jesse Baker DE 65 Elvin Bethea DE 78 Curley Culp NT 69 Andy Dorris DE 71 Ken Kennard NT 67 Mike Stensrud DE 77 James Young DE		Linebackers 63 Steve Baumgartner OLB 54 Gregg Bingham ILB 52 Robert Brazile OLB -- Jimbo Elrod 50 Daryl Hunt ILB 56 Mike Murphy OLB 53 Art Stringer ILB 51 Ted Thompson ILB 59 Ted Washington OLB Defensive backs 19 Willie Alexander CB/FS 20 Bill Currier SS 36 Carter Hartwig CB/FS 21 Charles Jefferson CB 32 Vernon Perry SS 37 Mike Reinfeldt FS 27 Greg Stemrick CB 33 J. C. Wilson CB Special teams 16 Toni Fritsch K 18 Cliff Parsley P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

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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

Week 1 at Washington Redskins

Week 1: Houston Oilers at Washington Redskins

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	6	0	7	16	29
Redskins	0	17	7	3	27

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

• Date: September 2, 1979
• Game time: 12:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 54,582
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• TV: NBC
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Oilers Dan Pastorini 12/30, 176 Yds, TD, 3 INT Earl Campbell 32 Rush, 166 Yds, 2 TD Billy Johnson 4 Rec, 76 Yds, TD Redskins Joe Theismann 7/14, 123 Yds, 2 TD, INT Benny Malone 17 Rush, 58 Yds, TD Jean Fugett 3 Rec, 55 Yds, 2 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP HOU WSH 1 Oilers 41-yard field goal by Fritsch 3 0 1 Oilers 46-yard field goal by Fritsch 6 0 2 Redskins 27-yard field goal by Moseley 6 3 2 Redskins Fugett 8-yard touchdown reception from Theismann, Moseley kick good 6 10 2 Redskins Malone 1-yard touchdown run, Moseley kick good 6 17 3 Oilers Campbell 13-yard touchdown run, Fritsch kick good 13 17 3 Redskins Fugett 30-yard touchdown reception from Theismann, Moseley kick good 13 24 4 Redskins 39-yard field goal by Moseley 13 27 4 Oilers Johnson 14-yard touchdown reception from Pastorini, Fritsch kick no good 19 27 4 Oilers 26-yard field goal by Fritsch 22 27 4 Oilers Campbell 3-yard touchdown run, Fritsch kick good 29 27 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 29 27

Week 13 at Dallas Cowboys

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total • Oilers 7 10 6 7 30 Cowboys 14 7 0 3 24 Date: November 22 Location: Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 63,897 Game weather: 46°F; wind 16 Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg (play–by–play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator) and Mike Adamle (sideline reporter)

Scoring summary Q1 DAL Pearson 56-yard pass from Staubach (Septien kick) DAL 7–0 Q1 HOU Campbell 61-yard run (Fritsch kick) Tie 7–7 Q1 DAL Newhouse 21-yard pass from Staubach (Septien kick) DAL 14–7 Q2 HOU Fritsch 27-yard field goal DAL 14–10 Q2 DAL Dorsett 1-yard run (Septien kick) DAL 21–10 Q2 HOU Campbell 27-yard run (Fritsch kick) DAL 21–17 Q3 HOU Renfro 47-yard pass from Pastorini (kick failed) HOU 23–21 Q4 DAL Septien 44-yard field goal DAL 24–23 Q4 HOU Burrough 32-yard pass from Pastorini (Fritsch kick) HOU 30–24

• Earl Campbell 33 Rush, 195 Yds

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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	3	4	Total
Broncos	7	0	0	0	7
Oilers	3	7	0	3	13

at Astrodome, Houston

• Date: December 23, 1979
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 48,776
• Referee: Gene Barth
• TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Len Dawson

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	3	4	Total
Oilers	0	10	7	0	17
Chargers	7	0	7	0	14

at San Diego Stadium, San Diego

• Date: December 29, 1979
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 51,192
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

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	3	4	Total
Oilers	7	3	0	3	13
Steelers	3	14	0	10	27

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

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)

External links

• 1979 Houston Oilers at Pro-Football-Reference.com