1979 Buffalo Bills season

1979 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Chuck Knox
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1978 Bills seasons 1980 →

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

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 & 1988.

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

= Pro Bowler [3]

1979 Buffalo Bills Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Tom Cousineau	LB	Ohio State
	5	Jerry Butler	WR	Clemson
2	32	Fred Smerlas	DT	Boston College
	51	Jim Haslett	LB	Indiana (PA)
3	62	Jon Borchardt	OG	Montana St.
4	83	Ken E. Johnson	DE	Knoxville
	87	Jeff Nixon	DB	Richmond
5	114	Rod Kush	DB	Nebraska-Omaha
	116	Dan Manucci	QB	Kansas St.
6	141	Mike Burrow	OG	Auburn
7	170	Tom Mullady	TE	Rhodes
9	226	Kevin Baker	DE	William Penn
10	253	Dave Marler	QB	Mississippi St.
11	279	Paul Lawler	DB	Colgate
12	308	Mike Harris	RB	Arizona St.

Tom Cousineau[]

Ohio State linebacker Cousineau was drafted first overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Bills, who acquired the pick from the 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.^[4] That pick was 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]

Personnel[]

Staff/Coaches[]

1979 Buffalo Bills staff

Front Office Majority Owner/Team President – Ralph Wilson Vice President & General Manager – Bob Lustig Vice President/Minority Owner – Pat McGroder Coaching Staff Head Coach – Chuck Knox Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator / Offensive Line - Quarterbacks Coach - Kay Stephenson Wide Receivers Coach - Defensive/Special Teams Coaches Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers Coach - Defensive Line – Willie Zapalac Defensive Backs – Jim Wagstaff Special Teams - Steve Moore

Roster[]

1979 Buffalo Bills roster

	Quarterbacks 12 Joe Ferguson 11 Dan Manucci  9 Bill Munson Running backs 47 Curtis Brown FB 35 Mike Collier 25 Roland Hooks 40 Terry Miller 23 Wide receivers 80 Jerry Butler 81 Bob Chandler 80 Danny Fulton 82 Frank Lewis 89 Lou Piccone 86 Leonard Willis Tight ends 88 Reuben Gant 87 Joe Shipp		Offensive linemen 73 Jon Borchardt T 68 Joe DeLamielleure G 70 Joe Devlin T 53 Will Grant C 72 Ken Jones T 67 Reggie McKenzie G 61 Willie Parker C 65 Tim Vogler G Defensive linemen 74 Dee Hardison DT 90 Scott Hutchinson DE 71 Mike Kadish DT 91 Ken Johnson DE 76 Fred Smerlas DT 83 Sherman White DE 77 Ben Williams DE		Linebackers 55 Jim Haslett 54 Tom Higgins 52 Chris Keating 51 Dan Jilek 59 Shane Nelson 58 Isiah Robertson 57 Lucius Sanford Defensive backs 29 Mario Clark CB 22 Steve Freeman FS 21 Doug Greene SS 47 Tony Greene SS 46 Keith Moody CB 38 Jeff Nixon FS 26 Charles Romes CB Special teams  4 Rusty Jackson P  5 Nick Mike-Mayer K		Reserve lists 85 Phil Dokes DT (IR) 42 Rod Kush SS (IR) -- Connie Zelencik C (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2	Miami Dolphins	L 9–7	69,441
2	September 9	Cincinnati Bengals	W 51–24	43,504
3	September 16	at San Diego Chargers	L 27–19	50,709
4	September 23	New York Jets	W 46–31	68,731
5	September 30	at Baltimore Colts	W 31–13	31,904
6	October 7	Chicago Bears	L 7–0	73,383
7	October 14	at Miami Dolphins	L 17–7	45,597
8	October 21	Baltimore Colts	L 14–13	50,581
9	October 28	at Detroit Lions	W 20–17	61,911
10	November 4	New England Patriots	L 26–6	67,935
11	November 11	at New York Jets	W 14–12	50,647
12	November 18	Green Bay Packers	W 19–12	39,679
13	November 25	at New England Patriots	W 16–13	60,991
14	December 2	Denver Broncos	L 19–16	37,886
15	December 9	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–3	42,239
16	December 16	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 28–0	48,002

Standings[]

AFC East
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins(3)	10	6	0	.625	5–3	6–6	341	257	L1
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	4–4	6–6	411	326	W1
New York Jets	8	8	0	.500	4–4	5–7	337	383	W3
Buffalo Bills	7	9	0	.438	4–4	5–7	268	279	L3
Baltimore Colts	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–10	271	351	W1

Season summary[]

Week 13 at Patriots[]

Awards and honors[]

All-Pros[]

• Joe DeLamielleure, Guard

References[]

• Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Bills on jt-sw.com
• Bills Stats on jt-sw.com