American Football Wiki
American Football Wiki
Pro/College American Football Wiki
34,093
pages
in: Templates, Dallas Cowboys seasons, 1979 National Football League season by team

1979 Dallas Cowboys

Sign in to edit
1979 Dallas Cowboys season
Head Coach Tom Landry
Home Field Texas Stadium
Results
Record 11–5
Place 1st NFC East
Playoff Finish Lost Division Round
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1978 1980

The 1979 Dallas Cowboys season was their 20th in the league. The team was unable to improve on their previous output of 12–4, winning only eleven games.[1] They qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the Divisional round.

The Cowboys still possessed a great offense, but suffered defensive losses as defensive tackle Jethro Pugh and safety Mark Washington retired, safety Charlie Waters missed the season with injury, Ed "Too Tall" Jones left the team while he embarked on a professional boxing career (Jones would return in 1980), and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson was cut in November for erratic play and behavior. The season began 8–2 before a three game losing streak placed the season in jeopardy (one of the three being a 30–24 loss to Houston in which Oilers coach Bum Phillips declared the Oilers as "Texas's Team"). The team rallied to win their final three to finish at 11–5 and gain the number one seed in the NFC.

In the season's final regular season game against the Redskins, with the NFC East Title at issue, Roger Staubach rallied the Cowboys from a 34–20 deficit in the last four minutes to win, 35–34. It turned out to be Staubach's last win. The Cowboys were upset at home in the divisional playoff by the Rams and Staubach retired after the season.

Pre season[]

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 2 at St. Louis W 22–21 1-0
50,855
2 September 9 at San Francisco W 21–13 2-0
56,728
3 September 16 Chicago W 24–20 3-0
64,056
4 September 24 at Cleveland L 26–7 3-1
80,123
5 September 30 Cincinnati W 38–13 4-1
63,179
6 October 7 at Minnesota W 36–20 5-1
47,572
7 October 14 Los Angeles W 30–6 6-1
64,462
8 October 21 St. Louis W 22–13 7-1
64,300
9 October 28 at Pittsburgh L 14–3 7-2
50,199
10 November 4 at NY Giants W 16–14 8-2
76,490
11 November 12 Philadelphia L 31–21 8-3
62,417
12 November 18 at Washington L 34–20 8-4
55,031
13 November 22 Houston L 30–24 8-5
63,897
14 December 2 NY Giants W 28–7 9-5
63,787
15 December 8 at Philadelphia W 24–17 10-5
71,434
16 December 16 Washington W 35–34 11-5
62,867

Game Summaries[]

Week 2: at San Francisco[]

Week 2: Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers;– Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
Cowboys 3 3 7 8 21
49ers 3 7 0 3 13

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California

Game information
First quarter
  • SF – Ray Wersching 30 yard field goal, 49ers 3-0.
  • DAL – Rafael Septien 23 yard field goal, Tied 3-3.

Second quarter

  • DAL – Rafael Septien 51 yard field goal, Cowboys 6-3.
  • SF – O.J. Simpson 1 yard rush, (Ray Wersching kick), 49ers 10-6.

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

  • DAL – Billy Joe DuPree 13 yard pass from Roger Staubach, (kick failed), Cowboys 19-10.
  • SF – Ray Wersching 44 yard field goal, Cowboys 19-13.
  • DAL – Safety, Harvey Martin tackled Steve DeBerg in end zone, Cowboys 21-13.

Top passers

Top rushers

Top receivers

  • DAL – Tony Hill - 6 receptions, 96 yards
  • SF – Freddie Solomon - 3 receptions, 57 yards

Standings[]

NFC East
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Dallas Cowboys 11 5 0 .688 371 313 W-3
Philadelphia Eagles 11 5 0 .688 339 282 W-1
Washington Redskins 10 6 0 .625 348 295 L-1
New York Giants 6 10 0 .375 237 323 L-3
St. Louis Cardinals 5 11 0 .313 307 358 L-1

Playoffs[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Divisional December 30 Los Angeles Rams L 21–19
64,792

Roster[]

Dallas Cowboys 1979 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  • 36 Larry Brinson
  • 33 Tony Dorsett
  • 35 Scott Laidlaw FB
  • 44 Robert Newhouse FB
  • 26 Preston Pearson
  • 20 Ron Springs RB/FB/KR

Wide Receivers

  • 80 Tony Hill
  • 86 Butch Johnson
  • 88 Drew Pearson
  • 81 Steve Wilson CB/PR

Tight Ends

  • 84 Doug Cosbie
  • 89 Billy Joe DuPree
  • 87 Jay Saldi
 Offensive Linemen
  • 61 Jim Cooper T/C
  • 67 Pat Donovan T
  • 62 John Fitzgerald C
  • 71 Andy Frederick T
  • 66 Burton Lawless G
  • 64 Tom Rafferty G
  • 68 Herbert Scott G
  • 52 Robert Shaw C
  • 70 Rayfield Wright T

Defensive Linemen

  • 76 Larry Bethea DT
  • 63 Larry Cole DE/DT
  • 78 John Dutton DE
  • 79 Harvey Martin DE
  • 65 Dave Stalls DT/DE
  • 77 Bruce Thornton DE
  • 54 Randy White DT
 Linebackers
  • 53 Bob Breunig MLB
  • 59 Guy Brown OLB
  • 58 Mike Hegman OLB
  • 57 Bruce Huther MLB
  • 50 D. D. Lewis OLB

Defensive Backs

  • 31 Benny Barnes CB
  • 43 Cliff Harris FS
  • 42 Randy Hughes SS
  • 25 Aaron Kyle CB
  • 22 Wade Manning CB/WR
  • 34 Aaron Mitchell CB
  • 32 Dennis Thurman FS/CB

Special Teams

  •  1 Rafael Septien K
 Reserve Lists

Vacant

Rookies in italics
45 Active, 0 Inactive

Statistics[]

Passing[]

Player Comp Att Yards TD INT
Roger Staubach 267 461 3,586 27 11

Rushing[]

Player Att Yards TD
Tony Dorsett 250 1,107 6
Drew Pearson 3 27
Tony Hill 2 18

Receiving[]

Player Rec Yards TD
Tony Hill 60 1,062 10
Drew Pearson 55 1,026 8
Tony Dorsett 45 375 1
Billy Joe Dupree 29 324 5

[2]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1979 Dallas Cowboys
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.