1979 Denver Broncos season

The 1979 Denver Broncos season was the team's 20th year in professional football and its 10th with the National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coach Red Miller, the Broncos were 10–6, second in the AFC West, and made the postseason a third consecutive year.[1]

1979 Denver Broncos season
OwnerGerald Phipps
Head coachRed Miller
General managerFred Gehrke
Home fieldMile High Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place2nd AFC West
Playoff finishLost AFC Wild Card Playoffs
(at Oilers) 7–13

Offseason

NFL draft
Main article: 1979 NFL Draft
1979 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 22 Kelvin Clark  Tackle Nebraska
3 77 Bruce Radford  NT Grambling State
4 105 Charles Jefferson  DB McNeese State
5 132 Rick Leach  QB Michigan
6 148 Jeff McIntyre  LB Arizona State
7 188 Luke Prestridge *  P Baylor
9 242 Charlie Taylor  WR Rice
11 297 Zach Dixon  RB Temple
12 325 Dave Jacobs  K Syracuse
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff
1979 Denver Broncos staff
Front office
  • Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps
  • President – Allan Phipps
  • Vice President/General Manager – Fred Gehrke
  • Director of Player Personnel – Carroll Hardy
  • Pro Scouting – John Beake

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Roster
1979 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Source:

Regular season
Main article: 1979 NFL season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Attendance
1 September 2 Cincinnati Bengals W 10–0 1–0 Mile High Stadium
74,788
2 September 6 Los Angeles Rams L 9–13 1–1 Mile High Stadium
74,884
3 September 16 at Atlanta Falcons W 20–17OT 2–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
57,677
4 September 23 Seattle Seahawks W 37–34 3–1 Mile High Stadium
74,879
5 September 30 at Oakland Raiders L 3–27 3–2 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
52,632
6 October 7 San Diego Chargers W 7–0 4–2 Mile High Stadium
74,997
7 October 14 at Kansas City Chiefs W 24–10 5–2 Arrowhead Stadium
74,292
8 October 22 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–42 5–3 Three Rivers Stadium
49,699
9 October 28 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–3 6–3 Mile High Stadium
74,908
10 November 4 New Orleans Saints W 10–3 7–3 Mile High Stadium
74,482
11 November 11 New England Patriots W 45–10 8–3 Mile High Stadium
74,379
12 November 18 at San Francisco 49ers W 38–28 9–3 Candlestick Park
42,910
13 November 25 Oakland Raiders L 10–14 9–4 Mile High Stadium
74,186
14 December 2 at Buffalo Bills W 19–16 10–4   Rich Stadium
37,886
15 December 8 at Seattle Seahawks L 23–28 10–5   Kingdome
60,038
16 December 17 at San Diego Chargers L 7–17 10–6   San Diego Stadium
51,906
  • Thursday night (September 6), Monday night (October 22, December 17), Saturday (December 8)

Week 1
1 234Total
Bengals 0 000 0
• Broncos 0 370 10

[2]

Standings
AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Diego Chargers(1) 12 4 0 .750 6–2 9–3 411 246 W2
Denver Broncos(5) 10 6 0 .625 4–4 7–5 289 262 L2
Seattle Seahawks 9 7 0 .563 3–5 6–6 378 372 W2
Oakland Raiders 9 7 0 .563 3–5 5–7 365 337 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 7 9 0 .438 4–4 7–7 238 262 L1

Playoffs
Main article: 1979–80 NFL playoffs
Round Date Opponent Result Game site Attendance
Wild Card December 23 at Houston Oilers L 7–13 Astrodome
48,776
Source:[3][4]
Game summary
1 2 34Total
Broncos 7 0 007
Oilers 3 7 0313

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

The Oilers managed to shut down the Broncos offense for most of the game en route to a 13–7 win, holding the Broncos to 216 yards and recording six sacks.

After Toni Fritsch kicked a 31-yard field goal on Houston's first drive, Denver marched 80 yards in 13 plays to score on quarterback Craig Morton's 7-yard touchdown pass to running back Dave Preston. From that point on, the Oilers controlled the rest of the game. With less than 3 minutes left in the first half, Houston advanced 74 yards to score on running back Earl Campbell's 3-yard touchdown run. Although Campbell and starting quarterback Dan Pastorini both missed the second half with injuries, the Oilers defense continued to dominate. In the fourth quarter, a 15-yard interception return by linebacker Gregg Bingham set up Fritsch's 20-yard field goal with 4:18 left in regulation.[3][4]

References
  1. "Denver defense gives Campbell premier test". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 23, 1979. p. 2B.
  2. Pro-Football-Reference.com
  3. "Houston wins without Earl or Pastorini". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. December 24, 1979. p. 1B.
  4. "A Wild Card day". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. December 24, 1979. p. 1C.
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