1979 Houston Oilers season

The 1979 Houston Oilers season was the franchise's 20th overall and the tenth 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. The Oilers then played 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.

As of , this is the most recent season a Houston-based team has reached the AFC Championship Game. The Oilers franchise would not do so again for twenty seasons, by which time they had re-located and become the Tennessee Titans, while Houston's current NFL team has yet to advance past the divisional round.

NFL Films produced a documentary about the team's season entitled Luv Ya Blue, Bum Builds a Winner; it was narrated by John Facenda.

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Schedule Week Date Opponent Time TV Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 St. Louis Cardinals 7:30p.m. CDT KPRC-TV W 9–7 1–0 Astrodome 46,252 2 August 12 New York Jets 12:30p.m. CDT NBC L 14–26 1–1 Astrodome 43,350 3 at Dallas Cowboys 8:00p.m. CDT ABC L 13–16 1–2 Texas Stadium 62,803 4 at New Orleans Saints 7:00p.m. CDT KPRC-TV L 7–10 1–3 Louisiana Superdome 54,469

Week P3 (Saturday, August 18, 1979): at Dallas Cowboys

Point spread: Over/under: Time of game:

OilersGame statisticsCowboys First downs Rushes–yards Passing yards Sacked–yards Net passing yards Total yards Return yards Fumbles–lost Penalties–yards Time of possession

Week P4 (Friday, August 24, 1979): at New Orleans Saints

Point spread: Over/under: Time of game:

OilersGame statisticsSaints First downs Rushes–yards Passing yards Sacked–yards Net passing yards Total yards Return yards Fumbles–lost Penalties–yards Time of possession

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 at Washington Redskins W 29–27 1–0 RFK Stadium 54,582 Recap 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–38 1–1 Three Rivers Stadium 49,792 Recap 3 September 16 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–6 2–1 Astrodome 45,684 Recap 4 September 23 at Cincinnati Bengals W 30–27 3–1 Riverfront Stadium 45,615 Recap 5 September 30 Cleveland Browns W 31–10 4–1 Astrodome 48,915 Recap 6 October 7 St. Louis Cardinals L 17–24 4–2 Astrodome 53,043 Recap 7 October 14 at Baltimore Colts W 28–16 5–2 Memorial Stadium 45,021 Recap 8 October 21 at Seattle Seahawks L 14–34 5–3 Kingdome 60,705 Recap 9 October 28 New York Jets W 27–24 6–3 Astrodome 45,825 Recap 10 at Miami Dolphins W 9–6 7–3 Miami Orange Bowl 70,273 Recap 11 November 11 Oakland Raiders W 31–17 8–3 Astrodome 48,614 Recap 12 November 18 Cincinnati Bengals W 42–21 9–3 Astrodome 49,829 Recap 13 at Dallas Cowboys W 30–24 10–3 Texas Stadium 63,897 Recap 14 December 2 at Cleveland Browns L 7–14 10–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 69,112 Recap 15 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–17 11–4 Astrodome 55,293 Recap 16 December 16 Philadelphia Eagles L 20–26 11–5 Astrodome 49,407 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Regular season game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 2, 1979): at Washington Redskins The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Jan-13.

Point spread: Oilers –4 Over/under: 33.0 (over) Time of game:

OilersGame statisticsRedskins21 First downs 1445–199 Rushes–yards 34–142176 Passing yards 12312–30–3 7–14–11–10 Sacked–yards 2–19166 Net passing yards 104365 Total yards 24699 Return yards 2153–45.7 4–36.51–0 Fumbles–lost 2–25–44 Penalties–yards 6–55 Time of Possession

Individual stats Oilers Passing C/ATT1YdsTDINTSkYdsLG3RatePastorini12/30176131103531.4

Oilers Rushing Car2YdsTDLG3Campbell32166218Wilson422015Carpenter51506Barber1–20–2Pastorini3–203

Oilers ReceivingRec4YdsTDLG3Johnson476129Burrough366035Rucker225016Campbell2204Wilson1707

Oilers Kick ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngJohnson4379.300King11717.000Merkens199.000

Oilers Punt ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngJohnson11616.000Merkens100.000

Oilers PuntingPntYdsY/PLngBlckParsley313745.7

Oilers KickingFGM–FGAXPM–XPAFritsch3–32–3

Oilers InterceptionsIntYdsTDLGPDReinfeldt1200200

Starting Lineups Position Starting Lineups at Washington Offense WR Ken Burrough LT Leon Gray LG Conway Hayman C Carl Mauck RG Ed Fisher RT Morris Towns TE Mike Barber WR Billy Johnson QB Dan Pastorini RB Earl Campbell FB Tim Wilson Defense LDE Andy Dorris NT Curley Culp RDE Elvin Bethea LOLB Ted Washington LILB Gregg Bingham RILB Art Stringer ROLB Robert Brazile LCB J. C. Wilson RCB Greg Stemrick SS Vernon Perry FS Mike Reinfeldt

Week 2 (Sunday, September 9, 1979): at Pittsburgh Steelers The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Oct-31.

Point spread: Oilers +6 Over/under: 37.0 (over) Time of game:

OilersGame statisticsSteelers12 First downs 1739–102 Rushes–yards 29–8257 Passing yards 1988–27–5 12–29–25–35 Sacked–yards 3–2422 Net passing yards 174124 Total yards 256155 Return yards 1609–46.1 7–40.14–1 Fumbles–lost 5–010–64 Penalties–yards 8–74 Time of possession

Individual stats Oilers Passing C/ATT1YdsTDINTSkYdsLG3RateNielsen4/114112001338.6Pastorini4/161603535250.0

Oilers Rushing Car2YdsTDLG3Campbell1638012Coleman72209Wilson71907Clark51507Carpenter4804

Oilers ReceivingRec4YdsTDLG3Johnson232025Rucker113013Renfro112012Merkens1919Earl Campbell1404Carpenter1–30–3Wilson1–100–10

Oilers Kick ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngColeman48822.000Wilson23015.000Merkens11313.000

Oilers Punt ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngJohnson310.300

Oilers PuntingPntYdsY/PLngBlckParsley941546.1

Oilers KickingFGM–FGAXPM–XPAFritsch1–1

Oilers SacksSacksDorris2.0Culp1.0

Oilers InterceptionsIntYdsTDLGPDReinfeldt1230230Stringer10000

Starting Lineups Position Starting Lineups at Pittsburgh Offense WR Ken Burrough LT Leon Gray LG Conway Hayman C Carl Mauck RG Ed Fisher RT Morris Towns TE Mike Barber WR Billy Johnson QB Dan Pastorini RB Earl Campbell FB Tim Wilson Defense LDE Andy Dorris NT Curley Culp RDE Elvin Bethea LOLB Ted Washington LILB Gregg Bingham RILB Art Stringer ROLB Robert Brazile LCB J. C. Wilson RCB Greg Stemrick SS Vernon Perry FS Mike Reinfeldt

Week 3 vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 4 at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 5 vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 6 (Sunday, October 7, 1979): vs. St. Louis Cardinals The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Jan-15.

Point spread: Over/under: Time of game:

CardinalsGame statisticsOilers First downs Rushes–yards Passing yards Sacked–yards Net passing yards Total yards Return yards Fumbles–lost Penalties–yards Time of Possession

Week 7 at Baltimore Colts

Week 8 at Seattle Seahawks

Week 9 vs. New York Jets

Week 10 (Monday, November 5, 1979): at Miami Dolphins The Football Database. Retrieved 2025-Apr-19.

Point spread: Oilers +3 Over/under: 39.0 (under) Time of game: 2 hours, 46 minutes

OilersGame statisticsDolphins10 First downs 1346–179 Rushes–yards 26–10225 Passing yards 1586–10–0 14–26–22–14 Sacked–yards 2–2011 Net passing yards 138190 Total yards 240108 Return yards 727–36.9 5–38.80–0 Fumbles–lost 3–28–70 Penalties–yards 4–3531:26 Time of Possession 28:34

Individual stats Oilers Passing C/ATT1YdsTDINTSkYdsLG3RatePastorini6/1025002142464.6

Oilers Rushing Car2YdsTDLG3Campbell32120011Wilson93209Pastorini314014Caster110010Carpenter1303

Oilers ReceivingRec4YdsTDLG3Wilson2403Ken Burrough124024Rob Carpenter1202Conrad Rucker1202Earl Campbell1–70–7

Oilers Kick ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngEllender12727.0027Hartwig11616.0016

Oilers Punt ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngEllender2115.500

Oilers PuntingPntYdsY/PLngBlckParsley725536.40

Oilers KickingFGM–FGAXPM–XPAFritsch3–4

Oilers SacksSacksKennard1.0Washington1.0

Oilers InterceptionsIntYdsTDLGPDBingham154054Perry1000 Missed field goals – Fritsch 48 (wide left)

Starting Lineups Position Starting Lineups at Miami Offense WR Ken Burrough LT Leon Gray LG Conway Hayman C Carl Mauck RG Ed Fisher RT Morris Towns TE Mike Barber WR Rich Caster QB Dan Pastorini RB Earl Campbell FB Tim Wilson Defense LDE Andy Dorris NT Curley Culp RDE Elvin Bethea LOLB Ted Washington LILB Gregg Bingham RILB Daryl Hunt ROLB Robert Brazile LCB J. C. Wilson RCB Greg Stemrick SS Vernon Perry FS Mike Reinfeldt

Week 11 vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 12 vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 13 (Thursday, November 22, 1979): at Dallas Cowboys

The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Jan-14.

Point spread: Oilers +1 Over/under: 41.0 (over) Time of game:

OilersGame statisticsCowboys17 First downs 2041–224 Rushes–yards 30–92163 Passing yards 2879–17–0 21–30–21–9 Sacked–yards 1–8154 Net passing yards 279378 Total yards 371113 Return yards 1244–44.5 3–36.71–0 Fumbles–lost 2–14–45 Penalties–yards 7–42 Time of Possession

Individual stats Oilers Passing C/ATT1YdsTDINTSkYdsLG3RatePastorini9/17163201947125.4

Oilers Rushing Car2YdsTDLG3Campbell33195261Wilson41707Carpenter31407Pastorini1–20–2

Oilers ReceivingRec4YdsTDLG3Burrough355132Renfro253147Barber216011Caster129029Carpenter110010

Oilers Kick ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngColeman25125.500Hartwig22814.000Ellender11818.0018

Oilers Punt ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngEllender177.007

Oilers PuntingPntYdsY/PLngBlckParsley417844.50

Oilers KickingFGM–FGAXPM–XPAFritsch1–13–4 Oilers SacksSacksBethea1.0

Oilers InterceptionsIntYdsTDLGPDPerry19090Wilson10000

Starting Lineups Position Starting Lineups at Dallas Offense WR Ken Burrough LT Leon Gray LG Conway Hayman C Carl Mauck RG Ed Fisher RT Morris Towns TE Mike Barber WR Rich Caster QB Dan Pastorini RB Earl Campbell FB Tim Wilson Defense LDE Andy Dorris NT Curley Culp RDE Elvin Bethea LOLB Ted Washington LILB Gregg Bingham RILB Daryl Hunt ROLB Robert Brazile LCB J. C. Wilson RCB Greg Stemrick SS Vernon Perry FS Mike Reinfeldt

Week 14 at Cleveland Browns

Week 15 (Monday, December 10, 1979): vs. Pittsburgh Steelers The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Oct-31.

Point spread: Oilers +3 Over/under: 42.5 (under) Time of game:

SteelersGame statisticsOilers15 First downs 2022–120 Rushes–yards 54–190237 Passing yards 17014–29–2 10–17–03–19 Sacked–yards 1–10218 Net passing yards 160338 Total yards 350114 Return yards 1134–46.0 5–34.81–0 Fumbles–lost 1–010–79 Penalties–yards 4–28 Time of possession

Individual stats Oilers Passing C/ATT1YdsTDINTSkYdsLG3RatePastorini10/161701011025119.3Nielsen0/100000039.6

Oilers Rushing Car2YdsTDLG3Campbell33109031Wilson1047010Carpenter72517Barber1606Caster1501Clark1000Pastorini1–20–2

Oilers ReceivingRec4YdsTDLG3Burrough348125Campbell222016Renfro125025Caster124024Barber117017Carpenter112012

Oilers Kick ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngColeman23718.500Hartwig12323.000

Oilers Punt ReturnsRetYdsY/RtTDLngEllender263.000

Oilers PuntingPntYdsY/PLngBlckParsley517434.8

Oilers KickingFGM–FGAXPM–XPAMFGFritsch2–32–244

Oilers SacksSacksBaker1.0Stensrud1.0Dorris0.5Perry0.5

Oilers InterceptionsIntYdsTDLGPDBrazile1260260Stringer1210210

Starting Lineups