1979 Houston Oilers season
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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox NFL 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 Template:Year, 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
Template:Main article Template:NFL team draft start Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft entry Template:NFL team draft end [1]
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Template:NFL season roster [2]
Pre season
Schedule
| style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Time | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| TV | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Attendance | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:Dow tooltip | St. Louis Cardinals | 7:30Script error: No such module "String".p.m. CDT | KPRC-TV | W 9–7 | 1–0 | Astrodome | 46,252 | |
| 2 | August 12 | New York Jets | 12:30Script error: No such module "String".p.m. CDT | NBC | L 14–26 | 1–1 | Astrodome | 43,350 | |
| 3 | Template:Dow tooltip | at Dallas Cowboys | 8:00Script error: No such module "String".p.m. CDT | ABC | L 13–16 | 1–2 | Texas Stadium | 62,803 | |
| 4 | Template:Dow tooltip | at New Orleans Saints | 7:00Script error: No such module "String".p.m. CDT | KPRC-TV | L 7–10 | 1–3 | Louisiana Superdome | 54,469 |
Week P3 (Saturday, August 18, 1979): at Dallas Cowboys
Week P3: Houston Oilers 13 at Dallas Cowboys 16 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (1–2) | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| Cowboys (2–2) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 16 |
at Texas Stadium • Irving, Texas
- Date: August 18, 1979
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. CDT
- Game attendance: 62,803
- TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford (play–by–play), Howard Cosell (color commentator) and Fran Tarkenton (color commentator)
Template:AmFootballGameTopPlayers Template:AmFootballScoreSummaryStart Template:AmFootballScoreSummaryEnd
- Point spread:
- Over/Under:
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Cowboys |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | ||
| Rushes–yards | ||
| Passing yards | ||
| Passes | ||
| Sacked–yards | ||
| Net passing yards | ||
| Total yards | ||
| Return yards | ||
| Punts | ||
| Fumbles–lost | ||
| Penalties–yards | ||
| Time of possession |
Week P4 (Friday, August 24, 1979): at New Orleans Saints
Week P4: Houston Oilers 7 at New Orleans Saints 10 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (1–3) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Saints (1–3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
Template:AmFootballGameTopPlayers Template:AmFootballScoreSummaryStart Template:AmFootballScoreSummaryEnd
- Point spread:
- Over/Under:
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Saints |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | ||
| Rushes–yards | ||
| Passing yards | ||
| Passes | ||
| Sacked–yards | ||
| Net passing yards | ||
| Total yards | ||
| Return yards | ||
| Punts | ||
| Fumbles–lost | ||
| Penalties–yards | ||
| Time of possession |
Regular season
Schedule
Standings
Template:1979 AFC Central standings
Regular Season Game summaries
Week 1 (Sunday, September 2, 1979): at Washington Redskins
Week 1: Houston Oilers at Washington Redskins – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (1–0) | 6 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 29 |
| Redskins (0–1) | 0 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 27 |
at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.
- Date: September 2, 1979
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. CDT
- Game weather: Script error: No such module "convert".; relative humidity 85%; wind Script error: No such module "convert".
- Game attendance: 54,582
- Referee: Gordon McCarter
- TV announcers (NBC): Jim Simpson (play–by–play) and John Brodie (color commentator)
- [4][5]
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- Point spread: Oilers –4
- Over/Under: 33.0 (over)
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Redskins |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | First downs | 14 |
| 45–199 | Rushes–yards | 34–142 |
| 176 | Passing yards | 123 |
| 12–30–3 | Passes | 7–14–1 |
| 1–10 | Sacked–yards | 2–19 |
| 166 | Net passing yards | 104 |
| 365 | Total yards | 246 |
| 99 | Return yards | 215 |
| 3–45.7 | Punts | 4–36.5 |
| 1–0 | Fumbles–lost | 2–2 |
| 5–44 | Penalties–yards | 6–55 |
| Time of Possession |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Pastorini | 12/30 | 176 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 35 | 31.4 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Campbell | 32 | 166 | 2 | 18 |
| Wilson | 4 | 22 | 0 | 15 |
| Carpenter | 5 | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| Barber | 1 | –2 | 0 | –2 |
| Pastorini | 3 | –2 | 0 | 3 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Johnson | 4 | 76 | 1 | 29 |
| Burrough | 3 | 66 | 0 | 35 |
| Rucker | 2 | 25 | 0 | 16 |
| Campbell | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Wilson | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Johnson | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 0 | 0 |
| King | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merkens | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Johnson | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merkens | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 3 | 137 | 45.7 |
| colspan="3" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | ||
|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |
| Fritsch | 3–3 | 2–3 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Interceptions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int | Yds | TD | LG | PD | |
| Reinfeldt | 1 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" | 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
Week 2: Houston Oilers 7 at Pittsburgh Steelers 38 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (1–1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Steelers (2–0) | 7 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 38 |
at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Date: September 9, 1979
- Game time: 12:00 p.m. CDT
- Game weather: Script error: No such module "convert".; relative humidity 69%; wind Script error: No such module "convert".
- Game attendance: 49,792
- Referee: Pat Haggerty
- TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg (play–by–play) and Merlin Olsen (color commentator)
- [7][5]
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- Point spread: Oilers +6
- Over/Under: 37.0 (over)
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Steelers |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | First downs | 17 |
| 39–102 | Rushes–yards | 29–82 |
| 57 | Passing yards | 198 |
| 8–27–5 | Passes | 12–29–2 |
| 5–35 | Sacked–yards | 3–24 |
| 22 | Net passing yards | 174 |
| 124 | Total yards | 256 |
| 155 | Return yards | 160 |
| 9–46.1 | Punts | 7–40.1 |
| 4–1 | Fumbles–lost | 5–0 |
| 10–64 | Penalties–yards | 8–74 |
| Time of possession |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Nielsen | 4/11 | 41 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 38.6 |
| Pastorini | 4/16 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 25 | 0.0 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Campbell | 16 | 38 | 0 | 12 |
| Coleman | 7 | 22 | 0 | 9 |
| Wilson | 7 | 19 | 0 | 7 |
| Clark | 5 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| Carpenter | 4 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Johnson | 2 | 32 | 0 | 25 |
| Rucker | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Renfro | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Merkens | 1 | 9 | 1 | 9 |
| Earl Campbell | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Carpenter | 1 | –3 | 0 | –3 |
| Wilson | 1 | –10 | 0 | –10 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Coleman | 4 | 88 | 22.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilson | 2 | 30 | 15.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merkens | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Johnson | 3 | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 9 | 415 | 46.1 |
| colspan="3" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | ||
|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |
| Fritsch | 1–1 |
| colspan="2" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Sacks | |
|---|---|
| Sacks | |
| Dorris | 2.0 |
| Culp | 1.0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Interceptions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int | Yds | TD | LG | PD | |
| Reinfeldt | 1 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| Stringer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" | 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
Week 6: St. Louis Cardinals 24 at Houston Oilers 17 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals (2–4) | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 24 |
| Oilers (4–2) | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
at Astrodome • Houston, Texas
- Date: October 7, 1979
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. CDT
- Game weather: Indoors (dome)
- Game attendance: 53,043
- Referee: Fred Silva
- TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber (play–by–play) and John Madden (color commentator)
- [9]
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- Point spread:
- Over/Under:
- Time of Game:
| Cardinals | Game Statistics | Oilers |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | ||
| Rushes–yards | ||
| Passing yards | ||
| Passes | ||
| Sacked–yards | ||
| Net passing yards | ||
| Total yards | ||
| Return yards | ||
| Punts | ||
| 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
Week 10: Houston Oilers 9 at Miami Dolphins 6 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (7–3) | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Dolphins (6–4) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
at Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, Florida
- Date: November 5, 1979
- Game time: 8:07 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Script error: No such module "convert".; relative humidity 70%; wind Script error: No such module "convert".
- Game attendance: 70,273
- Referee: Fred Wyant
- TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford (play–by–play), Howard Cosell (color commentator) and Don Meredith (color commentator)
- [11]
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- Point spread: Oilers +3
- Over/Under: 39.0 (under)
- Time of Game: 2 hours, 46 minutes
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Dolphins |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | First downs | 13 |
| 46–179 | Rushes–yards | 26–102 |
| 25 | Passing yards | 158 |
| 6–10–0 | Passes | 14–26–2 |
| 2–14 | Sacked–yards | 2–20 |
| 11 | Net passing yards | 138 |
| 190 | Total yards | 240 |
| 108 | Return yards | 72 |
| 7–36.9 | Punts | 5–38.8 |
| 0–0 | Fumbles–lost | 3–2 |
| 8–70 | Penalties–yards | 4–35 |
| 31:26 | Time of Possession | 28:34 |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Pastorini | 6/10 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 24 | 64.6 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Campbell | 32 | 120 | 0 | 11 |
| Wilson | 9 | 32 | 0 | 9 |
| Pastorini | 3 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Caster | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Carpenter | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Wilson | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Ken Burrough | 1 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Rob Carpenter | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Conrad Rucker | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Earl Campbell | 1 | –7 | 0 | –7 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 1 | 27 | 27.0 | 0 | 27 |
| Hartwig | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 7 | 255 | 36.4 | 0 |
| colspan="3" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | ||
|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |
| Fritsch | 3–4 |
| colspan="2" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Sacks | |
|---|---|
| Sacks | |
| Kennard | 1.0 |
| Washington | 1.0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Interceptions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int | Yds | TD | LG | PD | |
| Bingham | 1 | 54 | 0 | 54 | |
| Perry | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- Missed field goals – Fritsch 48 (wide left)
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" | 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
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Week 13: Houston Oilers 30 at Dallas Cowboys 24 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (10–3) | 7 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
| Cowboys (8–5) | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
at Texas Stadium • Irving, Texas
- Date: November 22, 1979
- Game time: 3:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Script error: No such module "convert".; wind Script error: No such module "convert".
- Game attendance: 63,897
- Referee: Gordon McCarter
- TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg (play–by–play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator) and Mike Adamle (sideline reporter)
- [13]
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- Point spread: Oilers +1
- Over/Under: 41.0 (over)
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Cowboys |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | First downs | 20 |
| 41–224 | Rushes–yards | 30–92 |
| 163 | Passing yards | 287 |
| 9–17–0 | Passes | 21–30–2 |
| 1–9 | Sacked–yards | 1–8 |
| 154 | Net passing yards | 279 |
| 378 | Total yards | 371 |
| 113 | Return yards | 124 |
| 4–44.5 | Punts | 3–36.7 |
| 1–0 | Fumbles–lost | 2–1 |
| 4–45 | Penalties–yards | 7–42 |
| Time of Possession |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Pastorini | 9/17 | 163 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 47 | 125.4 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Campbell | 33 | 195 | 2 | 61 |
| Wilson | 4 | 17 | 0 | 7 |
| Carpenter | 3 | 14 | 0 | 7 |
| Pastorini | 1 | –2 | 0 | –2 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Burrough | 3 | 55 | 1 | 32 |
| Renfro | 2 | 53 | 1 | 47 |
| Barber | 2 | 16 | 0 | 11 |
| Caster | 1 | 29 | 0 | 29 |
| Carpenter | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Coleman | 2 | 51 | 25.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Hartwig | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ellender | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 0 | 18 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 4 | 178 | 44.5 | 0 |
| colspan="3" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | ||
|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |
| Fritsch | 1–1 | 3–4 |
| colspan="2" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Sacks | |
|---|---|
| Sacks | |
| Bethea | 1.0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Interceptions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int | Yds | TD | LG | PD | |
| Perry | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" | 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
Week 15: Pittsburgh Steelers 17 at Houston Oilers 20 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelers (11–4) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 17 |
| Oilers (11–4) | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
at Astrodome • Houston, Texas
- Date: December 10, 1979
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Indoors (dome)
- Game attendance: 55,293
- Referee: Jerry Markbreit
- TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford (play–by–play), Howard Cosell (color commentator) and Fran Tarkenton (color commentator)
- [15][5]
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- Point spread: Oilers +3
- Over/Under: 42.5 (under)
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Steelers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Oilers |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | First downs | 20 |
| 22–120 | Rushes–yards | 54–190 |
| 237 | Passing yards | 170 |
| 14–29–2 | Passes | 10–17–0 |
| 3–19 | Sacked–yards | 1–10 |
| 218 | Net passing yards | 160 |
| 338 | Total yards | 350 |
| 114 | Return yards | 113 |
| 4–46.0 | Punts | 5–34.8 |
| 1–0 | Fumbles–lost | 1–0 |
| 10–79 | Penalties–yards | 4–28 |
| Time of possession |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Pastorini | 10/16 | 170 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 25 | 119.3 |
| Nielsen | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Campbell | 33 | 109 | 0 | 31 |
| Wilson | 10 | 47 | 0 | 10 |
| Carpenter | 7 | 25 | 1 | 7 |
| Barber | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Caster | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Clark | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pastorini | 1 | –2 | 0 | –2 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Burrough | 3 | 48 | 1 | 25 |
| Campbell | 2 | 22 | 0 | 16 |
| Renfro | 1 | 25 | 0 | 25 |
| Caster | 1 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Barber | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| Carpenter | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Coleman | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Hartwig | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 5 | 174 | 34.8 |
| colspan="4" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | MFG | |
| Fritsch | 2–3 | 2–2 | 44 |
| colspan="2" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Sacks | |
|---|---|
| Sacks | |
| Baker | 1.0 |
| Stensrud | 1.0 |
| Dorris | 0.5 |
| Perry | 0.5 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Interceptions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int | Yds | TD | LG | PD | |
| Brazile | 1 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| Stringer | 1 | 21 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" | Starting Lineups vs. Pittsburgh |
|---|---|
| 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 | Art Stringer |
| ROLB | Robert Brazile |
| LCB | J. C. Wilson |
| RCB | Greg Stemrick |
| SS | Vernon Perry |
| FS | Mike Reinfeldt |
Week 16 (Sunday, December 16, 1979): vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 16: Philadelphia Eagles 26 at Houston Oilers 20 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles (11–5) | 9 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| Oilers (11–5) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
at Astrodome • Houston, Texas
- Date: December 16, 1979
- Game time: 3:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Indoors (dome)
- Game attendance: 49,407
- Referee: Red Cashion
- TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender (play–by–play) and Sonny Jurgenson (color commentator)
- [17]
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- Point spread: Oilers –4
- Over/Under: 39.0 (over)
- Time of Game: 3 hours, 15 minutes
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Eagles | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Oilers |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | First downs | 19 |
| 31–168 | Rushes–yards | 40–235 |
| 202 | Passing yards | 137 |
| 16–29–0 | Passes | 12–27–3 |
| 0–0 | Sacked–yards | 4–33 |
| 202 | Net passing yards | 104 |
| 370 | Total yards | 339 |
| 156 | Return yards | 143 |
| 5–42.6 | Punts | 5–42.0 |
| 1–1 | Fumbles–lost | 0–0 |
| 5–40 | Penalties–yards | 8–49 |
| 26:59 | Time of Possession | 33:01 |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Pastorini | 7/14 | 85 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 49 | 53.3 |
| Nielsen | 5/13 | 52 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 20 | 18.7 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Campbell | 16 | 134 | 1 | 37 |
| Carpenter | 10 | 45 | 0 | 12 |
| Coleman | 5 | 27 | 0 | 10 |
| Wilson | 5 | 14 | 0 | 5 |
| Caster | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Pastorini | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Clark | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Renfro | 3 | 67 | 1 | 49 |
| Merkens | 2 | 35 | 0 | 20 |
| Caster | 2 | 17 | 0 | 12 |
| Wilson | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Groth | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Campbell | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Carpenter | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Clark | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 6 | 130 | 21.7 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 5 | 210 | 42.0 | 0 |
| colspan="3" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | ||
|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |
| Fritsch | 2–2 | 2–2 |
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle;" | Starting Lineups vs. Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| 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 | Art Stringer |
| ROLB | Robert Brazile |
| LCB | J. C. Wilson |
| RCB | Greg Stemrick |
| SS | Vernon Perry |
| FS | Mike Reinfeldt |
Postseason
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Playoffs
| style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Round | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Time | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| TV | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Attendance | style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card | Template:Dow tooltip | (5) Denver Broncos | 3:00Script error: No such module "String".p.m. CST | NBC | W 13–7 | Astrodome | 48,776 | Recap |
| Divisional | Template:Dow tooltip | at (1) San Diego Chargers | 3:00Script error: No such module "String".p.m. CST | NBC | W 17–14 | San Diego Stadium | 51,192 | Recap |
| AFC Championship | Template:Dow tooltip | at (2) Pittsburgh Steelers | 12Script error: No such module "String".Noon CST | NBC | L 13–27 | Three Rivers Stadium | 50,475 | Recap |
1979 AFC Wild Card Playoffs (Sunday, December 23, 1979): vs. (A5) Denver Broncos
1979 AFC Wild Card Playoffs: Denver Broncos 7 at Houston Oilers 13 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broncos (0–1) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Oilers (1–0) | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
at Astrodome • Houston, Texas
- Date: December 23, 1979
- Game time: 3:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Indoors (dome)
- Game attendance: 48,776
- Referee: Gene Barth
- TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones (play–by–play), Len Dawson (color commentator) and Mike Adamle (sideline reporter)
- [19]
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- Point spread:
- Over/Under:
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Broncos | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Oilers |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | ||
| Rushes–yards | ||
| Passing yards | ||
| Passes | ||
| Sacked–yards | ||
| Net passing yards | ||
| Total yards | ||
| Return yards | ||
| Punts | ||
| Fumbles–lost | ||
| Penalties–yards | ||
| Time of possession |
The Oilers managed to shut down the Broncos offense for most of the game en route to a 13–7 win.
1979 AFC Divisional Playoffs (Saturday, December 29, 1979): at (A1) San Diego Chargers
1979 AFC Divisional Playoffs: Houston Oilers 17 at San Diego Chargers 14 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (2–0) | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Chargers (0–1) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
at San Diego Stadium • San Diego, California
- Date: December 29, 1979
- Game time: 3:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Script error: No such module "convert".; relative humidity 37%; wind Script error: No such module "convert".; sunny
- Game attendance: 51,192
- Referee: Ben Dreith
- TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg (play–by–play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator) and Mike Adamle (sideline reporter)
- [21]
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- Point spread: Oilers +8
- Over/Under:
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Chargers |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | First downs | 25 |
| 40–148 | Rushes–yards | 19–63 |
| 111 | Passing yards | 333 |
| 11–19–0 | Passes | 25–47–5 |
| 0–0 | Sacked–yards | 2–16 |
| 111 | Net passing yards | 317 |
| 259 | Total yards | 380 |
| 89 | Return yards | 113 |
| 6–40.7 | Punts | 2–32.0 |
| 0–0 | Fumbles–lost | 0–0 |
| 5–45 | Penalties–yards | 6–30 |
| 30:06 | Time of possession | 29:54 |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Nielsen | 11/19 | 111 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 65.9 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Carpenter | 18 | 67 | 0 | 11 |
| Wilson | 11 | 39 | 0 | 14 |
| Clark | 9 | 30 | 1 | 11 |
| Nielsen | 2 | 12 | 0 | 14 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Carpenter | 4 | 23 | 0 | 7 |
| Wilson | 3 | 16 | 0 | 10 |
| Renfro | 1 | 47 | 1 | 47 |
| Coleman | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Barber | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Hartwig | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 24 |
| Ellender | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 0 | 25 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 6 | 244 | 40.7 | 50 |
| colspan="3" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | ||
|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |
| Fritsch | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| colspan="2" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Sacks | |
|---|---|
| Sacks | |
| Bethea | 1.0 |
| Dorris | 1.0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Interceptions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int | Yds | TD | LG | PD | |
| Perry | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilson | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Reinfeldt | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" | Starting Lineups 1979 AFC Divisional Playoffs at San Diego |
|---|---|
| Offense | |
| WR | Mike Renfro |
| LT | Leon Gray |
| LG | David Carter |
| C | Carl Mauck |
| RG | Ed Fisher |
| RT | Conway Hayman |
| TE | Mike Barber |
| WR | Rich Caster |
| QB | Gifford Nielsen |
| RB | Rob Carpenter |
| 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 |
The Oilers offense, playing without starting quarterback Dan Pastorini, receiver Ken Burrough, and running back Earl Campbell, could only generate 259 yards compared to San Diego's 380. 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.
1979 AFC Championship Game (Sunday, January 6, 1980): at (A2) Pittsburgh Steelers
1979 AFC Championship Game: Houston Oilers 13 at Pittsburgh Steelers 27 – Game summary
| Quarter | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />1Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />2Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />3Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />4Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilers (2–1) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Steelers (2–0) | 3 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 27 |
at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Date: January 6, 1980
- Game time: 12:00 Noon CST
- Game weather: Script error: No such module "convert".; relative humidity 66%; wind Script error: No such module "convert".; wind chill Script error: No such module "convert".; cloudy
- Game attendance: 50,475
- Referee: Jim Tunney
- TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg (play–by–play), Merlin Olsen (color commentator) and Sam Nover (sideline reporter)
- [23][5]
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- Point spread: Oilers +9½
- Over/Under:
- Time of Game:
| style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle"|Oilers | Game Statistics | style="width:30%;" style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"|Steelers |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | First downs | 22 |
| 22–24 | Rushes–yards | 36–161 |
| 212 | Passing yards | 219 |
| 20–29–1 | Passes | 18–30–1 |
| 1–9 | Sacked–yards | 3–22 |
| 203 | Net passing yards | 197 |
| 227 | Total yards | 358 |
| 147 | Return yards | 90 |
| 4–30.0 | Punts | 3–51.0 |
| 4–2 | Fumbles–lost | 1–1 |
| 2–10 | Penalties–yards | 5–34 |
| 27:06 | Time of possession | 32:54 |
Individual stats
| colspan="9" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C/ATT1 | Yds | TD | INT | Sk | Yds | LG3 | Rate | |
| Pastorini | 19/28 | 203 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 41 | 74.0 |
| Nielsen | 1/1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 104.2 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car2 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Campbell | 17 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| Wilson | 4 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| Caster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| colspan="5" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Receiving | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec4 | Yds | TD | LG3 | |
| Wilson | 7 | 60 | 0 | 41 |
| Carpenter | 5 | 23 | 0 | 14 |
| Renfro | 3 | 52 | 0 | 19 |
| Coleman | 2 | 46 | 0 | 32 |
| Merkens | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Campbell | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Barber | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kick Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 4 | 47 | 11.8 | 0 | 19 |
| Hartwig | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 | 13 |
| Carpenter | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punt Returns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret | Yds | Y/Rt | TD | Lng | |
| Ellender | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 0 | 5 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pnt | Yds | Y/P | Lng | Blck | |
| Parsley | 4 | 120 | 30.0 |
| colspan="3" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Kicking | ||
|---|---|---|
| FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA | |
| Fritsch | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| colspan="2" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Sacks | |
|---|---|
| Sacks | |
| Bethea | 1.0 |
| Dorris | 1.0 |
| Stensrud | 1.0 |
| colspan="6" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" |Oilers Interceptions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int | Yds | TD | LG | PD | |
| Perry | 1 | 75 | 1 | 75 | 0 |
Starting Lineups
| Position | width="150px"" style="Template:NFLAltPrimaryStyle;" | Starting Lineups 1979 AFC Championship Game at Pittsburgh |
|---|---|
| Offense | |
| WR | Ken Burrough |
| LT | Leon Gray |
| LG | David Carter |
| C | Carl Mauck |
| RG | Ed Fisher |
| RT | Conway Hayman |
| 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 | Art Stringer |
| ROLB | Robert Brazile |
| LCB | J. C. Wilson |
| RCB | Greg Stemrick |
| SS | Vernon Perry |
| FS | Mike Reinfeldt |
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. This was the last time an NFL team based in Houston reached the AFC Championship Game, and the closest any franchise in Houston got to going to the Super Bowl.
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[24]
- 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
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Jan-13.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; Houston Oilers at Washington Redskins – September 2, 1979
- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Oct-31.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; Houston Oilers at Pittsburgh Steelers – September 9, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Jan-15.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; St Louis Cardinals at Houston Oilers – October 7, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2025-Apr-19.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; Houston Oilers at Miami Dolphins – November 5, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Jan-14.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; Houston Oilers at Dallas Cowboys – November 22, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Oct-31.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; Pittsburgh Steelers at Houston Oilers – December 10, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Jan-15.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Oilers – December 16, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2025-May-2.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; 1979 AFC Wild Card Playoffs – Denver Broncos at Houston Oilers – December 23, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2025-Apr-20.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; 1979 AFC Divisional Playoffs – Houston Oilers at San Diego Chargers – December 29, 1979
- ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2023-Oct-31.
- ↑ Pro Football Reference; 1979 AFC Championship Game – Houston Oilers at Pittsburgh Steelers – January 6, 1980
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
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