1979 Detroit Lions season

1979 Detroit Lions season
Head coachMonte Clark
Home stadiumPontiac Silverdome
Results
Record2–14
Division place5th NFC Central
PlayoffsDid not qualify
All-Prosnone
Pro BowlersTE David Hill
DE Al Baker

The 1979 Detroit Lions season was the 50th season in franchise history. In the midst of a major rebuilding project, the woeful Lions finished the season with a 2–14 record, equal-worst record in the NFL and a tiebreaker with the 49ers gave the Lions the first pick overall in the 1980 NFL Draft. Detroit entered the year as a favorite in the NFC Central,[1] but a season-ending injury to quarterback Gary Danielson in the preseason[2] forced the Lions to ultimately turn to a rookie ninth-round pick, Jeff Komlo, behind center, with disastrous results.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1979 NFL draft
1979 Detroit Lions draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 10 Keith Dorney *  Tackle Penn State
2 37 Ken Fantetti  Linebacker Wyoming
3 67 Bo Robinson  Running back West Texas A&M
4 88 Ulysses Norris  Tight end Georgia
4 92 Jon Brooks  Linebacker Clemson
5 131 Walt Brown  Center Pittsburgh
8 213 John Mohring  Linebacker C.W. Post
9 231 Jeff Komlo  Quarterback Delaware
11 302 Eddie Cole  Linebacker Mississippi
12 313 Bob Forester  Center Brown
12 326 Bryan Sweeney  Wide receiver Texas A&M-Kingsville
      Made roster  

[3]

Undrafted free agents

1979 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
John Arnold Wide receiver Wyoming
Reggie Arnold Wide receiver Purdue
Rade Savich Kicker Central Michigan

Roster

1979 Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 1 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 31–16 0—1 68,225
2 September 9 Washington Redskins L 27–24 0—2 54,991
3 September 16 at New York Jets L 31–10 0—3 49,612
4 September 23 Atlanta Falcons W 24–23 1—3 56,249
5 September 30 Minnesota Vikings L 13–10 1—4 75,295
6 October 7 at New England Patriots L 24–17 1—5 60,629
7 October 14 at Green Bay Packers L 24–16 1—6 53,930
8 October 21 at New Orleans Saints L 17–7 1—7 57,428
9 October 28 Buffalo Bills L 20–17 1—8 61,911
10 November 4 at Chicago Bears L 35–7 1—9 50,108
11 November 11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 16–14 1—10 70,461
12 November 18 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–7 1—11 43,650
13 November 22 Chicago Bears W 20–0 2—11 66,219
14 December 2 at Philadelphia Eagles L 44–7 2—12 66,128
15 December 9 Miami Dolphins L 28–10 2—13 78,087
16 December 15 Green Bay Packers L 18–13 2—14 57,376

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.[4]

Standings

NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Tampa Bay Buccaneers(2) 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–6 273 237 W1
Chicago Bears(5) 10 6 0 .625 5–3 8–4 306 249 W3
Minnesota Vikings 7 9 0 .438 5–3 6–6 259 337 L1
Green Bay Packers 5 11 0 .313 3–5 4–8 246 316 W1
2 14 0 .125 1–7 2–10 219 365 L3

Player stats

Passing

Player Games Completions Attempts Yards Touchdowns Interceptions Rating
Jeff Komlo 16 183 368 2238 11 23 52.8
Scott Hunter 13 18 41 321 1 1 69.3
Joe Reed 2 14 32 164 2 1 67.7
Jerry Golsteyn 1 2 9 16 0 2 0.0
Tom Skladany 2 0 1 0 0 0 28.6
Larry Swider 14 1 1 36 0 0 118.7

[5]

Rushing

Player Games Attempts Yards Touchdowns Longest rush
Dexter Bussey 16 144 625 1 38
Rick Kane 16 94 332 4 26
Bo Robinson 14 87 302 2 29
Horace King 16 39 160 1 23
Jeff Komlo 16 30 107 2 16
Lawrence Gaines 16 23 55 0 6
Freddie Scott 14 6 21 0 18
Leonard Thompson 15 5 24 0 16
Ken Callicut 16 3 6 0 10
Scott Hunter 13 2 3 1 2
Joe Reed 2 2 11 0 11
David Hill 16 1 15 0 15
Gene A. Washington 16 1 24 0 24
Luther Blue 9 1 −8 0 −8
Jerry Golsteyn 1 1 0 0 0
Ed O'Neil 16 1 0 0 0
Larry Swider 14 1 0 0 0

[5]

Receiving

Note: Rec = Receptions; Yds = Yards; Avg = Average Yards per Reception; TD = Touchdowns

Player Games Receptions Yards Average yards
per reception 		Touchdowns Longest
Freddie Scott 14 62 929 15.0 5 50
David Hill 16 47 569 12.1 3 40
Leonard Thompson 15 24 451 18.8 2 82
Horace King 16 18 150 8.3 0 30
Dexter Bussey 16 15 102 6.8 0 22
Gene A. Washington 16 14 192 13.7 1 29
Bo Robinson 14 14 118 8.4 0 14
Rick Kane 16 9 104 11.6 1 36
Luther Blue 9 8 102 12.8 1 26
Ulysses Norris 16 4 43 10.8 1 34
Ken Callicutt 16 2 16 8.0 0 11
Russ Bolinger 16 1 −1 −1.0 0 −1

[5]

References

  1. ^ Wallace, William N.; ‘NFL Preview: Happiness is 23 teams capable of making the playoffs’; The Globe and Mail, August 28, 1979, p. 31
  2. ^ ‘Bus Win Over Lions’; The Globe and Mail, September 3, 1979, p. S10
  3. ^ "1979 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
  4. ^ "1979 Detroit Lions".
  5. ^ a b c "1979 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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