1979 Houston Oilers (NFL) |
| 2nd place American Football Conference Central Division 11-5-0 .688 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: Bum Phillips |
| Ed Biles | Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers |
| Andy Bourgeois | Offensive Backs |
| Joe Bugel | Offensive Line |
| Bob Gambold | Defensive Backs |
| King Hill | Receivers |
| Wade Phillips | Defensive Line |
| John Paul Young | Linebackers/Special Teams |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Thu | 8/2/1979 | H | St. Louis Cardinals | 9-7 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 46252 | |
| Sun | 8/12/1979 | H | New York Jets | 14-26 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 43350 | |
| Sat | 8/18/1979 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 13-16 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 62803 | |
| Fri | 8/24/1979 | A | New Orleans Saints | 7-10 | L | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 54469 | |
| Sun | 9/2/1979 | A | Washington Redskins | 29-27 | W | Washington, DC | RFK Stadium | 54582 | |
| Sun | 9/9/1979 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-38 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 49792 | |
| Sun | 9/16/1979 | H | Kansas City Chiefs | 20-6 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 45684 | |
| Sun | 9/23/1979 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 30-27 | W | OT | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 45615 |
| Sun | 9/30/1979 | H | Cleveland Browns | 31-10 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 48915 | |
| Sun | 10/7/1979 | H | St. Louis Cardinals | 17-24 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 53043 | |
| Sun | 10/14/1979 | A | Baltimore Colts | 28-16 | W | Baltimore, MD | Memorial Stadium | 45021 | |
| Sun | 10/21/1979 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 14-34 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 60705 | |
| Sun | 10/28/1979 | H | New York Jets | 27-24 | W | OT | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 45825 |
| Mon | 11/5/1979 | A | Miami Dolphins | 9-6 | W | Miami, FL | Orange Bowl | 72073 | |
| Sun | 11/11/1979 | H | Oakland Raiders | 31-17 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 48000 | |
| Sun | 11/18/1979 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 42-21 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 49829 | |
| Thu | 11/22/1979 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 30-24 | W | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 63897 | |
| Sun | 12/2/1979 | A | Cleveland Browns | 7-14 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 69112 | |
| Mon | 12/10/1979 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 20-17 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 55293 | |
| Sun | 12/16/1979 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 20-26 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 49407 | |
| AFC Wild Card Playoff | |||||||||
| Sun | 12/23/1979 | H | Denver Broncos | 13-7 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 48776 | |
| AFC Divisional Playoff | |||||||||
| Sat | 12/29/1979 | A | San Diego Chargers | 17-14 | W | San Diego, CA | San Diego Stadium | 51192 | |
| AFC Championship | |||||||||
| Sun | 1/6/1980 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 13-27 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 50475 | |
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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| 19 | Willie Alexander | CB | 6-3 | 192 | 30 | Alcorn State | 13 | 0 |
| 75 | Jesse Baker | RDE | 6-5 | 271 | 22 | Jacksonville State | 16 | 2 |
| 86 | Mike Barber | TE | 6-3 | 237 | 26 | Louisiana Tech | 15 | 15 |
| 63 | Steve Baumgartner | LB | 6-7 | 245 | 28 | Purdue | 12 | 0 |
| 65 | Elvin Bethea | RDE | 6-3 | 255 | 33 | North Carolina A&T State | 14 | 14 |
| 54 | Gregg Bingham | LILB | 6-1 | 227 | 28 | Purdue | 16 | 16 |
| 52 | Robert Brazile | ROLB | 6-4 | 238 | 26 | Jackson State | 16 | 16 |
| 00 | Ken Burrough | WR | 6-3 | 215 | 31 | Texas Southern | 16 | 16 |
| 34 | Earl Campbell | RB | 5-11 | 238 | 24 | Texas | 16 | 15 |
| 26 | Rob Carpenter | RB | 6-1 | 226 | 24 | Miami (Ohio) | 16 | 1 |
| 58 | David Carter | ROT-C-OG | 6-2 | 260 | 26 | Western Kentucky | 16 | 2 |
| 88 | Rich Caster | WR | 6-5 | 228 | 31 | Jackson State | 16 | 13 |
| 42 | Boobie Clark | RB | 6-2 | 245 | 30 | Bethune-Cookman | 15 | 0 |
| 47 | Ronnie Coleman | RB | 5-10 | 197 | 28 | Alabama A&M | 14 | 0 |
| 78 | Curley Culp | MG | 6-1 | 265 | 33 | Arizona State | 16 | 16 |
| 20 | Bill Currier | S | 6-0 | 193 | 24 | South Carolina | 16 | 0 |
| 69 | Andy Dorris | LDE | 6-4 | 248 | 28 | New Mexico State | 16 | 16 |
| 85 | Rich Ellender | WR | 5-11 | 171 | 22 | McNeese State | 13 | 0 |
| 57 | Jimbo Elrod | LB | 6-0 | 223 | 25 | Oklahoma | 4 | 0 |
| 60 | Ed Fisher | ROG | 6-3 | 249 | 30 | Arizona State | 16 | 16 |
| 89 | Eddie Foster | WR | 5-10 | 185 | 25 | Houston | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Toni Fritsch | K | 5-7 | 188 | 34 | none | 16 | 0 |
| 74 | Leon Gray | LOT | 6-3 | 261 | 28 | Jackson State | 16 | 16 |
| 81 | Jeff Groth | WR | 5-10 | 172 | 22 | Bowling Green State | 6 | 0 |
| 36 | Carter Hartwig | CB-S | 6-0 | 203 | 23 | Southern California | 16 | 0 |
| 70 | Conway Hayman | LOG | 6-3 | 255 | 30 | Delaware | 16 | 16 |
| 50 | Daryl Hunt | RILB | 6-3 | 243 | 23 | Oklahoma | 16 | 7 |
| 21 | Charles Jefferson | CB | 6-0 | 178 | 22 | McNeese State | 5 | 0 |
| 84 | Billy Johnson | WR | 5-9 | 170 | 27 | Widener | 2 | 2 |
| 71 | Ken Kennard | MG | 6-2 | 255 | 25 | Angelo State | 16 | 0 |
| 30 | Kenny King | RB | 5-11 | 205 | 22 | Oklahoma | 12 | 0 |
| 55 | Carl Mauck | C | 6-3 | 242 | 32 | Southern Illinois | 16 | 16 |
| 12 | Guido Merkens | QB-WR | 6-1 | 200 | 24 | Sam Houston State | 16 | 0 |
| 56 | Mike Murphy | LB | 6-2 | 222 | 22 | Missouri State | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | Gifford Nielsen | QB | 6-4 | 205 | 25 | Brigham Young | 16 | 1 |
| 18 | Cliff Parsley | P | 6-1 | 211 | 25 | Oklahoma State | 16 | 0 |
| 7 | Dan Pastorini | QB | 6-3 | 205 | 30 | Santa Clara | 15 | 15 |
| 32 | Vernon Perry | SS | 6-2 | 211 | 26 | Jackson State | 16 | 16 |
| 61 | Wes Phillips | OT | 6-5 | 275 | 26 | Savannah State; Lenoir-Rhyne | 8 | 0 |
| 68 | Tom Randall | OG | 6-5 | 245 | 23 | Iowa State | 13 | 0 |
| 64 | George Reihner | OG | 6-4 | 263 | 24 | Penn State | 2 | 0 |
| 37 | Mike Reinfeldt | WS | 6-2 | 192 | 26 | Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 16 | 16 |
| 82 | Mike Renfro | WR | 6-0 | 189 | 24 | Texas Christian | 15 | 2 |
| 87 | Conrad Rucker | TE-WR | 6-3 | 260 | 25 | Southern University | 16 | 0 |
| 27 | Greg Stemrick | RCB | 5-11 | 178 | 28 | Colorado State | 16 | 16 |
| 67 | Mike Stensrud | DE | 6-5 | 280 | 23 | Iowa State | 6 | 0 |
| 53 | Art Stringer | RILB | 6-1 | 223 | 25 | Ball State | 9 | 9 |
| 51 | Ted Thompson | LOLB | 6-1 | 218 | 26 | Southern Methodist | 16 | 2 |
| 76 | Morris Towns | ROT | 6-4 | 263 | 25 | Missouri | 16 | 14 |
| 59 | Ted Washington | LOLB | 6-1 | 250 | 31 | Mississippi Valley State | 15 | 14 |
| 33 | J.C. Wilson | LCB | 6-0 | 177 | 23 | Tampa; Pittsburgh | 16 | 16 |
| 45 | Tim Wilson | FB | 6-3 | 235 | 25 | Maryland | 16 | 16 |
| 77 | James Young | DE | 6-2 | 260 | 29 | Texas Southern | 5 | 0 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 2 | 31 | Mike Stensrud | DE | Iowa State |
| 2 | 50 | Jesse Baker | DE | Jacksonville State |
| 3 | 72 | Kenny King | RB | Oklahoma |
| 6 | 143 | Daryl Hunt | LB | Oklahoma |
| 6 | 159 | Mike Murphy | LB | Missouri State |
| 7 | 171 | Tim Ries | DB | Missouri State |
| 8 | 214 | Carter Hartwig | DB | Southern California |
| 9 | 243 | Rich Ellender | WR | McNeese State |
| 11 | 298 | Mike Taylor | T | Georgia Tech |
| 12 | 324 | Wayne Wilson | RB | Shepherd |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 58 | 144 | 81 | 73 | 6 |
| Opponents Totals | 81 | 87 | 50 | 113 | 0 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 30:42 | 268 | 149 | 100 | 19 | 107/253 42.3% | / % | 109 | 947 |
| Opponents Totals | 29:18 | 304 | 125 | 158 | 21 | 97/226 42.9% | / % | 103 | 920 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Campbell | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 114 | ||
| Toni Fritsch | 0 | 41 | 43 | 95.3 | 21 | 25 | 84.0 | 0 | 104 |
| Ken Burrough | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Rob Carpenter | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Mike Barber | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Tim Wilson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Mike Renfro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Jesse Baker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Rich Caster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Ronnie Coleman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Billy Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Guido Merkens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| J.C. Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 43 | 41 | 43 | 95.3 | 21 | 25 | 84.0 | 0 | 362 |
| Opponents Totals | 40 | 37 | 40 | 92.5 | 18 | 28 | 64.3 | 0 | 331 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toni Fritsch | 21 | 25 | 84.0 | 1 | 51 | 0/0 | 7/7 | 5/6 | 7/10 | 2/2 |
| Team Totals | 21 | 25 | 84.0 | 1 | 51 | 0/0 | 7/7 | 5/6 | 7/10 | 2/2 |
| Opponents Totals | 18 | 28 | 64.3 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 8/12 | 5/9 | 3/4 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Campbell | 368 | 1697 | 4.6 | 61t | 19 |
| Rob Carpenter | 92 | 355 | 3.9 | 13 | 3 |
| Tim Wilson | 84 | 319 | 3.8 | 19 | 2 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 21 | 81 | 3.9 | 10 | 0 |
| Boobie Clark | 22 | 51 | 2.3 | 7 | 0 |
| Rich Caster | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 10 | 0 |
| Dan Pastorini | 15 | 23 | 1.5 | 14 | 0 |
| Kenny King | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Gifford Nielsen | 5 | 7 | 1.4 | 7 | 0 |
| Mike Barber | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 616 | 2571 | 4.2 | 61t | 24 |
| Opponents Totals | 522 | 2225 | 4.3 | 40 | 19 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Pastorini | 324 | 163 | 50.3 | 143 | 2090 | 6.5 | 12.8 | 55t | 14 | 4.3 | 18 | 5.6 | 29 | 212 | 1878 | 62.1 |
| Gifford Nielsen | 61 | 32 | 52.5 | 26 | 404 | 6.6 | 12.6 | 41 | 3 | 4.9 | 3 | 4.9 | 3 | 26 | 378 | 69.3 |
| Ken Burrough | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Team Totals | 386 | 195 | 50.5 | 170 | 2494 | 6.5 | 12.8 | 55t | 17 | 4.4 | 21 | 5.4 | 32 | 238 | 2256 | 63.1 |
| Opponents Totals | 465 | 242 | 52.0 | 189 | 3186 | 6.9 | 13.2 | 56t | 18 | 3.9 | 34 | 7.3 | 51 | 421 | 2765 | 56.4 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Burrough | 40 | 752 | 18.8 | 55t | 6 |
| Tim Wilson | 29 | 208 | 7.2 | 24t | 1 |
| Mike Barber | 27 | 377 | 14.0 | 37t | 3 |
| Rich Caster | 18 | 239 | 13.3 | 36 | 1 |
| Mike Renfro | 16 | 323 | 20.2 | 49 | 2 |
| Rob Carpenter | 16 | 116 | 7.3 | 22 | 1 |
| Earl Campbell | 16 | 94 | 5.9 | 46 | 0 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 12 | 114 | 9.5 | 17 | 1 |
| Billy Johnson | 6 | 108 | 18.0 | 29 | 1 |
| Boobie Clark | 6 | 58 | 9.7 | 38 | 0 |
| Conrad Rucker | 4 | 40 | 10.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 3 | 44 | 14.7 | 20 | 1 |
| Rich Ellender | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Jeff Groth | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 195 | 2494 | 12.8 | 55t | 17 |
| Opponents Totals | 242 | 3186 | 13.2 | 56t | 18 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Reinfeldt | 12 | 205 | 17.1 | 39 | 0 |
| J.C. Wilson | 6 | 135 | 22.5 | 66 | 1 |
| Gregg Bingham | 3 | 78 | 26.0 | 54 | 0 |
| Vernon Perry | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 24 | 0 |
| Greg Stemrick | 2 | 50 | 25.0 | 50 | 0 |
| Robert Brazile | 2 | 45 | 22.5 | 26 | 0 |
| Willie Alexander | 2 | 27 | 13.5 | 19 | 0 |
| Carter Hartwig | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 24 | 0 |
| Art Stringer | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 21 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 34 | 618 | 18.2 | 66 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 21 | 290 | 13.8 | 68 | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliff Parsley | 93 | 3777 | 40.6 | 59 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 726 | 2951 | 31.7 |
| Team Totals | 93 | 3777 | 40.6 | 59 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 726 | 2951 | 31.7 |
| Opponents Totals | 73 | 2992 | 41.0 | 57 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 221 | 2611 | 35.8 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Ellender | 31 | 2 | 203 | 6.5 | 36 | 0 |
| Billy Johnson | 4 | 0 | 17 | 4.3 | 16 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 1 | 0 | -5 | -5.0 | -5 | 0 |
| Ted Thompson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Team Totals | 38 | 8 | 221 | 5.8 | 36 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 64 | 9 | 726 | 11.3 | 55t | 1 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Ellender | 24 | 514 | 21.4 | 35 | 0 | |
| Ronnie Coleman | 16 | 321 | 20.1 | 27 | 0 | |
| Carter Hartwig | 13 | 238 | 18.3 | 37 | 0 | |
| Billy Johnson | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 12 | 0 | |
| Rob Carpenter | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Tim Wilson | 2 | 30 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Guido Merkens | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Jeff Groth | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 | 0 | |
| Kenny King | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Rich Caster | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Greg Stemrick | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 67 | 1234 | 18.4 | 37 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 69 | 1310 | 19.0 | 58 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Dorris | 9.5 | |
| Ted Washington | 8.0 | |
| Robert Brazile | 5.0 | |
| Ken Kennard | 4.5 | |
| Curley Culp | 4.0 | |
| Elvin Bethea | 1.5 | |
| Gregg Bingham | 1.0 | |
| Jesse Baker | 15.5 | |
| Mike Stensrud | 2.0 | |
| Team Totals | 51.0 | 421.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 32.0 | 238.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesse Baker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
| Mike Barber | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Elvin Bethea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Gregg Bingham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Brazile | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Burrough | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Earl Campbell | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | |
| Rob Carpenter | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | |
| Rich Caster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Boobie Clark | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronnie Coleman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bill Currier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rich Ellender | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Carter Hartwig | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Daryl Hunt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Mauck | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Guido Merkens | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gifford Nielsen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | |
| Dan Pastorini | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike Renfro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Greg Stemrick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Thompson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Morris Towns | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J.C. Wilson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Wilson | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 31 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 17 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 29 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 1 |
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