1979 Dallas Cowboys (NFL) |
| 1st place • National Football Conference • Eastern Division • 11-5-0 .688 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: Tom Landry |
| Ermal Allen | Special Assistant-Research and Development |
| Mike Ditka | Special Teams/Receivers |
| Jim Myers | Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line |
| Dan Reeves | Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Backfield |
| Gene Stallings | Defensive Backs |
| Ernie Stautner | Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line |
| Jerry Tubbs | Linebackers |
| Bob Ward | Conditioning |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 7/28/1979 | N | Oakland Raiders | 13-20 | L | Canton, OH | Fawcett Stadium | 20648 | |
| Sat | 8/4/1979 | H | Denver Broncos | 7-6 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 61192 | |
| Sun | 8/12/1979 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 17-27 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 58903 | |
| Sat | 8/18/1979 | H | Houston Oilers | 16-13 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 62803 | |
| Sat | 8/25/1979 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 16-14 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 64543 | |
| Sun | 9/2/1979 | A | St. Louis Cardinals | 22-21 | W | St. Louis, MO | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50855 | |
| Sun | 9/9/1979 | A | San Francisco 49ers | 21-13 | W | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 56728 | |
| Sun | 9/16/1979 | H | Chicago Bears | 24-20 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 64056 | |
| Mon | 9/24/1979 | A | Cleveland Browns | 7-26 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 80123 | |
| Sun | 9/30/1979 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 38-13 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 63179 | |
| Sun | 10/7/1979 | A | Minnesota Vikings | 36-20 | W | Bloomington, MN | Metropolitan Stadium | 47572 | |
| Sun | 10/14/1979 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 30-6 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 64462 | |
| Sun | 10/21/1979 | H | St. Louis Cardinals | 22-13 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 64300 | |
| Sun | 10/28/1979 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 3-14 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50199 | |
| Sun | 11/4/1979 | A | New York Giants | 16-14 | W | East Rutherford, NJ | Giants Stadium | 76490 | |
| Mon | 11/12/1979 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 21-31 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 62417 | |
| Sun | 11/18/1979 | A | Washington Redskins | 20-34 | L | Washington, DC | RFK Stadium | 55031 | |
| Thu | 11/22/1979 | H | Houston Oilers | 24-30 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 63897 | |
| Sun | 12/2/1979 | H | New York Giants | 28-7 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 63787 | |
| Sat | 12/8/1979 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 24-17 | W | Philadelphia, PA | Veterans Stadium | 71434 | |
| Sun | 12/16/1979 | H | Washington Redskins | 35-34 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 62867 | |
| NFC Divisional Playoff | |||||||||
| Sun | 12/30/1979 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 19-21 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 64792 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Benny Barnes | 31 | LCB | 6-1 | 190 | 28 | Contra Costa JC; Stanford | 15 | 15 |
| Larry Bethea | 76 | RDT | 6-5 | 251 | 23 | Michigan State | 16 | 2 |
| Alois Blackwell | 24 | RB | 5-10 | 195 | 25 | Houston | 6 | 0 |
| Bob Breunig | 53 | MLB | 6-2 | 236 | 26 | Arizona State | 16 | 16 |
| Larry Brinson | 36 | RB | 6-0 | 214 | 25 | Florida | 14 | 0 |
| Guy Brown | 59 | LLB | 6-4 | 223 | 24 | Houston | 15 | 1 |
| Glenn Carano | 18 | QB | 6-3 | 201 | 24 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 3 | 0 |
| Larry Cole | 63 | LDE-LDT | 6-4 | 245 | 33 | Air Force; Houston; Hawaii | 16 | 16 |
| Jim Cooper | 61 | ROT | 6-5 | 265 | 24 | Temple | 15 | 11 |
| Doug Cosbie | 84 | TE | 6-6 | 238 | 23 | Holy Cross; DeAnza JC; Santa Clara | 16 | 1 |
| Pat Donovan | 67 | LOT | 6-5 | 260 | 26 | Stanford | 16 | 16 |
| Tony Dorsett | 33 | RB | 5-11 | 189 | 25 | Pittsburgh | 14 | 14 |
| Billy Joe DuPree | 89 | TE | 6-4 | 225 | 29 | Michigan State | 16 | 16 |
| John Dutton | 78 | LDE | 6-7 | 261 | 28 | Nebraska | 8 | 4 |
| John Fitzgerald | 62 | C | 6-5 | 255 | 31 | Boston College | 15 | 15 |
| Andy Frederick | 71 | OT | 6-6 | 265 | 25 | New Mexico | 16 | 0 |
| Cliff Harris | 43 | FS | 6-0 | 188 | 31 | Ouachita Baptist | 16 | 16 |
| Mike Hegman | 58 | LLB | 6-1 | 227 | 26 | Alabama A&M; Tennessee State | 16 | 5 |
| Thomas Henderson | 56 | LLB | 6-2 | 220 | 26 | Langston | 11 | 10 |
| Tony Hill | 80 | WR | 6-2 | 205 | 23 | Stanford | 16 | 15 |
| Randy Hughes | 42 | SS | 6-4 | 207 | 26 | Oklahoma | 15 | 15 |
| Bruce Huther | 57 | LB | 6-1 | 220 | 25 | New Hampshire | 16 | 0 |
| Butch Johnson | 86 | WR | 6-1 | 187 | 25 | UC Riverside | 11 | 1 |
| Aaron Kyle | 25 | RCB | 5-11 | 185 | 25 | Wyoming | 16 | 16 |
| Scott Laidlaw | 35 | FB | 6-0 | 205 | 26 | Stanford | 16 | 3 |
| Burton Lawless | 66 | OG | 6-4 | 255 | 26 | Florida | 15 | 0 |
| D.D. Lewis | 50 | RLB | 6-2 | 218 | 34 | Mississippi State | 16 | 16 |
| Wade Manning | 22 | CB | 5-11 | 190 | 24 | Ohio State | 9 | 0 |
| Harvey Martin | 79 | RDE | 6-5 | 260 | 29 | Texas A&M-Commerce | 16 | 16 |
| Aaron Mitchell | 34 | LCB | 6-1 | 196 | 23 | Morris Brown; Canyons JC; Nevada-Las Vegas | 16 | 1 |
| Robert Newhouse | 44 | FB | 5-10 | 219 | 29 | Houston | 14 | 12 |
| Drew Pearson | 88 | WR | 6-0 | 182 | 28 | Tulsa | 15 | 15 |
| Preston Pearson | 26 | RB | 6-1 | 190 | 34 | Illinois | 14 | 0 |
| Tom Rafferty | 64 | ROG | 6-3 | 262 | 25 | Penn State | 16 | 16 |
| Jay Saldi | 87 | TE | 6-3 | 227 | 25 | South Carolina | 16 | 1 |
| Herbert Scott | 68 | LOG | 6-2 | 260 | 26 | Virginia Union | 16 | 16 |
| Rafael Septien | 1 | K | 5-9 | 171 | 26 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 16 | 0 |
| Robert Shaw | 52 | C | 6-4 | 261 | 23 | Tennessee | 16 | 1 |
| Ron Springs | 20 | RB | 6-1 | 224 | 23 | Coffeyville CC; Ohio State | 16 | 2 |
| Dave Stalls | 65 | LDT | 6-4 | 245 | 24 | Northern Colorado | 16 | 12 |
| Roger Staubach | 12 | QB | 6-2 | 198 | 37 | New Mexico Military Institute JC; Navy | 16 | 16 |
| Bruce Thornton | 77 | DE | 6-5 | 265 | 21 | Illinois | 16 | 0 |
| Dennis Thurman | 32 | SS-CB | 5-11 | 178 | 23 | Southern California | 16 | 1 |
| Danny White | 11 | P-QB | 6-3 | 195 | 27 | Arizona State | 16 | 0 |
| Randy White | 54 | RDT | 6-4 | 260 | 26 | Maryland | 15 | 14 |
| Steve Wilson | 81 | WR | 5-10 | 195 | 22 | Howard | 16 | 0 |
| Rayfield Wright | 70 | ROT | 6-7 | 242 | 34 | Fort Valley State | 16 | 5 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 27 | Robert Shaw | C | Tennessee |
| 2 | 55 | Aaron Mitchell | DB | Nevada-Las Vegas |
| 3 | 76 | Doug Cosbie | TE | Santa Clara |
| 4 | 109 | Ralph DeLoach | DE | California |
| 5 | 121 | Bob Hukill | G | North Carolina |
| 5 | 128 | Curtis Anderson | DE | Central State (Ohio) |
| 5 | 136 | Ron Springs | RB | Ohio State |
| 6 | 155 | Tim Lavender | DB | Southern California |
| 6 | 160 | Mike Salzano | G | North Carolina |
| 6 | 164 | Chris DeFance | WR | Arizona State |
| 7 | 191 | Greg Fitzpatrick | LB | Youngstown State |
| 8 | 219 | Bruce Thornton | DT | Illinois |
| 9 | 247 | Garry Cobb | LB | Southern California |
| 10 | 274 | Mike Calhoun | DT | Notre Dame |
| 12 | 329 | Quentin Lowry | LB | Youngstown State |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 73 | 102 | 87 | 109 | 371 |
| Opponents Totals | 87 | 88 | 60 | 78 | 313 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 339 | 122 | 195 | 22 | 120/241 49.8% | 2/9 22.2% | 100 | 845 | |
| Opponents Totals | 259 | 105 | 134 | 20 | 82/228 36.0% | 5/11 45.5% | 70 | 704 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael Septien | 0 | 40 | 44 | 90.9 | 19 | 29 | 65.5 | 0 | 97 |
| Tony Hill | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | ||
| Drew Pearson | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| Tony Dorsett | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | ||
| Billy Joe DuPree | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Robert Newhouse | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Scott Laidlaw | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Ron Springs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Preston Pearson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Benny Barnes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Butch Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jay Saldi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Harvey Martin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| (Team) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Team Totals | 45 | 40 | 45 | 88.9 | 19 | 29 | 65.5 | 2 | 371 |
| Opponents Totals | 38 | 34 | 38 | 89.5 | 17 | 27 | 63.0 | 0 | 313 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael Septien | 19 | 29 | 65.5 | 1 | 51 | 0/0 | 7/7 | 7/11 | 3/8 | 2/3 |
| Team Totals | 19 | 29 | 65.5 | 1 | 51 | 0/0 | 7/7 | 7/11 | 3/8 | 2/3 |
| Opponents Totals | 17 | 27 | 63.0 | 0/0 | 4/4 | 4/6 | 7/13 | 2/4 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Dorsett | 250 | 1107 | 4.4 | 41 | 6 |
| Robert Newhouse | 124 | 449 | 3.6 | 21 | 3 |
| Ron Springs | 67 | 248 | 3.7 | 15 | 2 |
| Scott Laidlaw | 69 | 236 | 3.4 | 15 | 3 |
| Roger Staubach | 37 | 172 | 4.6 | 20 | 0 |
| Larry Brinson | 14 | 48 | 3.4 | 10 | 0 |
| Drew Pearson | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Danny White | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 25 | 0 |
| Billy Joe Dupree | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Tony Hill | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Preston Pearson | 7 | 14 | 2.0 | 11 | 1 |
| Butch Johnson | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Jay Saldi | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 578 | 2375 | 4.1 | 41 | 15 |
| Opponents Totals | 500 | 2115 | 4.2 | 76t | 15 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Staubach | 461 | 267 | 57.9 | 183 | 3586 | 7.8 | 13.4 | 75t | 27 | 5.9 | 11 | 2.4 | 36 | 240 | 3346 | 92.3 |
| Danny White | 39 | 19 | 48.7 | 18 | 267 | 6.8 | 14.1 | 45 | 1 | 2.6 | 2 | 5.1 | 4 | 46 | 221 | 58.4 |
| Ron Springs | 3 | 1 | 33.3 | 2 | 30 | 10.0 | 30.0 | 30t | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 111.1 |
| Team Totals | 503 | 287 | 57.1 | 203 | 3883 | 7.7 | 13.5 | 75t | 29 | 5.8 | 13 | 2.6 | 41 | 290 | 3593 | 90.2 |
| Opponents Totals | 435 | 207 | 47.6 | 215 | 2833 | 6.5 | 13.7 | 64t | 21 | 4.8 | 13 | 3.0 | 43 | 362 | 2471 | 72.5 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Hill | 60 | 1062 | 17.7 | 75t | 10 |
| Drew Pearson | 55 | 1026 | 18.7 | 56t | 8 |
| Tony Dorsett | 45 | 375 | 8.3 | 32 | 1 |
| Billy Joe Dupree | 29 | 324 | 11.2 | 33 | 5 |
| Preston Pearson | 26 | 333 | 12.8 | 26t | 1 |
| Ron Springs | 25 | 251 | 10.0 | 27 | 1 |
| Jay Saldi | 14 | 181 | 12.9 | 23t | 1 |
| Scott Laidlaw | 12 | 59 | 4.9 | 12 | 0 |
| Robert Newhouse | 7 | 55 | 7.9 | 21t | 1 |
| Butch Johnson | 6 | 105 | 17.5 | 28 | 1 |
| Doug Cosbie | 5 | 36 | 7.2 | 12 | 0 |
| Steve Wilson | 3 | 76 | 25.3 | 45 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 287 | 3883 | 13.5 | 75t | 29 |
| Opponents Totals | 207 | 2833 | 13.7 | 64t | 21 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Hughes | 2 | 91 | 45.5 | 68 | 0 |
| Cliff Harris | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Benny Barnes | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 11 | 0 |
| D.D. Lewis | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Aaron Kyle | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Mitchell | 1 | 36 | 36.0 | 36 | 0 |
| Bruce Thornton | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Dennis Thurman | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 13 | 193 | 14.8 | 68 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 13 | 114 | 8.8 | 39t | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny White | 76 | 3168 | 41.7 | 73 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 252 | 2736 | 36.0 |
| Team Totals | 76 | 3168 | 41.7 | 73 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 252 | 2736 | 36.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 96 | 3916 | 40.8 | 72 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 334 | 3422 | 35.6 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Wilson | 35 | 12 | 236 | 6.7 | 13 | 0 |
| Wade Manning | 10 | 2 | 55 | 5.5 | 17 | 0 |
| Tony Hill | 6 | 1 | 43 | 7.2 | 12 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 51 | 15 | 334 | 6.5 | 17 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 34 | 18 | 252 | 7.4 | 32 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Springs | 38 | 780 | 20.5 | 70 | 0 | |
| Steve Wilson | 19 | 328 | 17.3 | 26 | 0 | |
| Wade Manning | 7 | 145 | 20.7 | 47 | 0 | |
| Larry Brinson | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 17 | 0 | |
| Tony Hill | 1 | 32 | 32.0 | 32 | 0 | |
| Bruce Huther | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 68 | 1316 | 19.4 | 70 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 68 | 1578 | 23.2 | 106t | 1 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Harvey Martin | 8.5 | |
| Thomas Henderson | 6.0 | |
| Bruce Thornton | 5.5 | |
| Randy White | 5.0 | |
| Dave Stalls | 5.0 | |
| Larry Bethea | 4.0 | |
| Bob Breunig | 3.0 | |
| Larry Cole | 2.0 | |
| D.D. Lewis | 1.0 | |
| John Dutton | 1.0 | |
| Cliff Harris | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 43.0 | 362.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 41.0 | 290.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benny Barnes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 1 |
| Larry Brinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim Cooper | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Cosbie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pat Donovan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Dorsett | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Billy Joe DuPree | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cliff Harris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Hill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Randy Hughes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Laidlaw | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wade Manning | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Aaron Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Newhouse | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Rafferty | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Shaw | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -34 | 0 | |
| Ron Springs | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dave Stalls | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Roger Staubach | 8 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dennis Thurman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny White | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Randy White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Wilson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 34 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 22 | -1 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 20 | 10 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 0 |
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