The 1979 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League, and 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 last in rushing yards in the NFL, with only total 1,621 yards on the ground.Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1979 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics The Bills rushed for 101.3 yards per game; the league average for rushing yards was 135.6 yards per game. Buffalo's 268 points scored was 23rd of the league's 28 teams.Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1979 Buffalo Bills
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 and 1988.
Defensive end Ken Johnson, center Jon Borchardt, and defensive backs Jeff Nixon and Rod Kush all played for the Bills for six years from 1979 to 1984.
Tom Cousineau
Ohio State linebacker Cousineau was drafted first overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Bills, who acquired the pick from 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,Sports People; Browns Get Cousineau from the New York Times archives, retrieved March 8, 2006 which would be 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.
Undrafted free agents
+ 1979 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeOrlando AlvarezWide receiverMontclair StateRod BroadwayDefensive TackleNorth CarolinaDerrick BurnettRunning backIndianaRobert CameronPunterAcadiaJerome CarterCornerbackDelaware StateDonald ClaytonPunterWyomingBill CrowleyLinebackerYaleLeroy McGeeRunning backMichigan StateRussell PopeCornerbackPurdueRonald RicksCornerbackKansas
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 – Ray Proschaska Quarterbacks coach - Kay Stephenson Wide receivers coach – Jack Donaldson
Defensive/special teams coaches Defensive coordinator / linebackers coach - Tom Caitlin Defensive line – Willie Zapalac Defensive backs – Jim Wagstaff Special teams – Steve Moore
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 2 Miami Dolphins L 7–9 0–1 Rich Stadium 69,441 2 September 9 Cincinnati Bengals W 51–24 1–1 Rich Stadium 43,504 3 September 16 at San Diego Chargers L 19–27 1–2 San Diego Stadium 50,709 4 September 23 New York Jets W 46–31 2–2 Rich Stadium 68,731 5 September 30 at Baltimore Colts W 31–13 3–2 Memorial Stadium 31,904 6 October 7 Chicago Bears L 0–7 3–3 Rich Stadium 73,383 7 October 14 at Miami Dolphins L 7–17 3–4 Miami Orange Bowl 45,597 8 October 21 Baltimore Colts L 13–14 3–5 Rich Stadium 50,581 9 October 28 at Detroit Lions W 20–17 4–5 Pontiac Silverdome 61,911 10 November 4 New England Patriots L 6–26 4–6 Rich Stadium 67,935 11 November 11 at New York Jets W 14–12 5–6 Shea Stadium 50,647 12 November 18 Green Bay Packers W 19–12 6–6 Rich Stadium 39,679 13 November 25 at New England Patriots W 16–13 7–6 Schaefer Stadium 60,991 14 December 2 Denver Broncos L 16–19 7—7 Rich Stadium 37,886 15 December 9 at Minnesota Vikings L 3–10 7–8 Metropolitan Stadium 42,239 16 December 16 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 0–28 7–9 Three Rivers Stadium 48,002 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Season summary Week 11
Week 12
Week 13 at Patriots
Notes
References
Bills on Pro Football Reference Bills on jt-sw.com Bills Stats on jt-sw.com