1979 Houston Oilers 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 [1979 1979 Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos] 13–7, and then defeated the [1979 1979 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers] 17–14 in San Diego to reach their second straight AFC Championship game. The Oilers then played the [1979 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers season|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, 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.

Pre season

Week P3 (Saturday, August 18, 1979): at Dallas Cowboys">1979 Dallas Cowboys season">Dallas Cowboys

  • Point spread:
  • Over/under:
  • Time of game:
OilersGame statisticsCowboys
First downs
Rushes–yards
Passing yards
Sacked–yards
Net passing yards
Total yards
Return yards
Fumbles–lost
Penalties–yards
Time of possession

Week P4 (Friday, August 24, 1979): at [1979 [New Orleans Saints season|New Orleans Saints]]

  • Point spread:
  • Over/under:
  • Time of game:
OilersGame statisticsSaints
First downs
Rushes–yards
Passing yards
Sacked–yards
Net passing yards
Total yards
Return yards
Fumbles–lost
Penalties–yards
Time of possession

Regular Season Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 2, 1979): at Washington Redskins">1979 Washington Redskins season">Washington Redskins

  • Point spread: Oilers –4
  • Over/under: 33.0
  • Time of game:
OilersGame statisticsRedskins
21First downs14
45–199Rushes–yards34–142
176Passing yards123
12–30–37–14–1
1–10Sacked–yards2–19
166Net passing yards104
365Total yards246
99Return yards215
3–45.74–36.5
1–0Fumbles–lost2–2
5–44Penalties–yards6–55
Time of Possession

Individual stats
'''Starting Lineups'''

Week 2 (Sunday, September 9, 1979): at Pittsburgh Steelers">1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season">Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Point spread: Oilers +6
  • Over/under: 37.0
  • Time of game:
OilersGame statisticsSteelers
12First downs17
39–102Rushes–yards29–82
57Passing yards198
8–27–512–29–2
5–35Sacked–yards3–24
22Net passing yards174
124Total yards256
155Return yards160
9–46.17–40.1
4–1Fumbles–lost5–0
10–64Penalties–yards8–74
Time of possession

Individual stats
'''Starting Lineups'''

Week 6 (Sunday, October 7, 1979): vs. St. Louis Cardinals">1979 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season">St. Louis Cardinals

  • Point spread:
  • Over/under:
  • Time of game:
CardinalsGame statisticsOilers
First downs
Rushes–yards
Passing yards
Sacked–yards
Net passing yards
Total yards
Return yards
Fumbles–lost
Penalties–yards
Time of Possession

Week 10 (Monday, November 5, 1979): at Miami Dolphins">1979 Miami Dolphins season">Miami Dolphins

  • Point spread: Oilers +3
  • Over/under: 39.0
  • Time of game: 2 hours, 46 minutes
OilersGame statisticsDolphins
10First downs13
46–179Rushes–yards26–102
25Passing yards158
6–10–014–26–2
2–14Sacked–yards2–20
11Net passing yards138
190Total yards240
108Return yards72
7–36.95–38.8
0–0Fumbles–lost3–2
8–70Penalties–yards4–35
31:26Time of Possession28:34

Individual stats
'''Starting Lineups'''

Week 13 (Thursday, November 22, 1979): at Dallas Cowboys">1979 Dallas Cowboys season">Dallas Cowboys

  • Point spread: Oilers +1
  • Over/under: 41.0
  • Time of game:
OilersGame statisticsCowboys
17First downs20
41–224Rushes–yards30–92
163Passing yards287
9–17–021–30–2
1–9Sacked–yards1–8
154Net passing yards279
378Total yards371
113Return yards124
4–44.53–36.7
1–0Fumbles–lost2–1
4–45Penalties–yards7–42
Time of Possession

Individual stats
'''Starting Lineups'''

Week 15 (Monday, December 10, 1979): vs. Pittsburgh Steelers">1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season">Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Point spread: Oilers +3
  • Over/under: 42.5
  • Time of game:
SteelersGame statisticsOilers
15First downs20
22–120Rushes–yards54–190
237Passing yards170
14–29–210–17–0
3–19Sacked–yards1–10
218Net passing yards160
338Total yards350
114Return yards113
4–46.05–34.8
1–0Fumbles–lost1–0
10–79Penalties–yards4–28
Time of possession

Individual stats
'''Starting Lineups'''

Week 16 (Sunday, December 16, 1979): vs. Philadelphia Eagles">1979 Philadelphia Eagles season">Philadelphia Eagles

  • Point spread: Oilers –4
  • Over/under: 39.0
  • Time of game: 3 hours, 15 minutes
EaglesGame statisticsOilers
20First downs19
31–168Rushes–yards40–235
202Passing yards137
16–29–012–27–3
0–0Sacked–yards4–33
202Net passing yards104
370Total yards339
156Return yards143
5–42.65–42.0
1–1Fumbles–lost0–0
5–40Penalties–yards8–49
26:59Time of Possession33:01

Individual stats
'''Starting Lineups'''

Postseason

1979 AFC Wild Card Playoffs (Sunday, December 23, 1979): vs. (A5) Denver Broncos">1979 Denver Broncos season">Denver Broncos

  • Point spread:
  • Over/under:
  • Time of game:
BroncosGame statisticsOilers
First downs
Rushes–yards
Passing yards
Sacked–yards
Net passing yards
Total yards
Return yards
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 San Diego Chargers season">San Diego Chargers

  • Point spread: Oilers +8
  • Over/under:
  • Time of game:
OilersGame statisticsChargers
15First downs25
40–148Rushes–yards19–63
111Passing yards333
11–19–025–47–5
0–0Sacked–yards2–16
111Net passing yards317
259Total yards380
89Return yards113
6–40.72–32.0
0–0Fumbles–lost0–0
5–45Penalties–yards6–30
30:06Time of possession29:54

Individual stats
Starting Lineups
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 Pittsburgh Steelers season">Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Point spread: Oilers +9½
  • Over/under:
  • Time of game:
OilersGame statisticsSteelers
11First downs22
22–24Rushes–yards36–161
212Passing yards219
20–29–118–30–1
1–9Sacked–yards3–22
203Net passing yards197
227Total yards358
147Return yards90
4–30.03–51.0
4–2Fumbles–lost1–1
2–10Penalties–yards5–34
27:06Time of possession32:54

Individual stats
Starting Lineups
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

Milestones

  • Earl Campbell, 2nd 1,000 yard rushing season
  • Earl Campbell, 2nd NFL Rushing Title