# 1979 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season

The 1979 St. Louis Cardinals season was the franchise's 60th year with the National Football League and its 20th season in St. Louis. Bud Wilkinson would be fired in Week 13 after starting 3–10; Larry Wilson, a Pro Football Hall of Fame safety for the Cardinals from 1960 to 1972, would take over as interim head coach and lead the Cardinals to a 2–1 record to finish the season. Wilson would not return for the 1980 season but would return as vice president and General Manager nine years later when the Cardinals had moved to Phoenix.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1979 St. Louis Cardinals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 9 | Ottis Anderson * | Running back | Miami (FL) |
| 2 | 35 | Theotis Brown | Running back | UCLA |
| 2 | 46 | Calvin Favron | Linebacker | Southeastern Louisiana |
| 3 | 64 | Joe Bostic | Offensive tackle | Clemson |
| 4 | 89 | Roy Green * | Defensive back | Henderson State |
| 5 | 118 | Steve Henry | Defensive back | Emporia State |
| 5 | 130 | Mark Bell | Wide receiver | Colorado State |
| 6 | 144 | Thomas Lott | Running back | Oklahoma |
| 7 | 173 | Kirk Gibson | Wide receiver | Michigan State |
| 8 | 199 | Larry Miller | Linebacker | BYU |
| 9 | 228 | Bob Rozier | Defensive end | California |
| 10 | 255 | Jerry Holloway | Tight end | Western Illinois |
| 12 | 309 | Rick McBride | Linebacker | Georgia |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 2 | at Houston Oilers | L 7–9 | 0–1 | Houston Astrodome | 46,252 |
| 2 | August 9 | Atlanta Falcons | W 42–17 | 1–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 39,705 |
| 3 | August 18 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 3–20 | 1–2 | Arrowhead Stadium | 43,214 |
| 4 | August 25 | Chicago Bears | W 10–7 | 2–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 43,541 |

## Regular season

In his NFL debut, Ottis Anderson had 193 rushing yards.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 2 | Dallas Cowboys | L 21–22 | 0–1 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,855 | Recap |
| 2 | September 9 | at New York Giants | W 27–14 | 1–1 | Giants Stadium | 71,370 | Recap |
| 3 | September 16 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 21–24 | 1–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,416 | Recap |
| 4 | September 23 | Washington Redskins | L 7–17 | 1–3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,680 | Recap |
| 5 | September 30 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 0–21 | 1–4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 48,160 | Recap |
| 6 | October 7 | at Houston Oilers | W 24–17 | 2–4 | Astrodome | 53,043 | Recap |
| 7 | October 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 20–24 | 2–5 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 48,367 | Recap |
| 8 | October 21 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 13–22 | 2–6 | Texas Stadium | 64,300 | Recap |
| 9 | October 28 | Cleveland Browns | L 20–38 | 2–7 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47,845 | Recap |
| 10 | November 4 | Minnesota Vikings | W 37–7 | 3–7 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 47,213 | Recap |
| 11 | November 11 | at Washington Redskins | L 28–30 | 3–8 | RFK Stadium | 50,868 | Recap |
| 12 | November 18 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 13–16 | 3–9 | Veterans Stadium | 70,235 | Recap |
| 13 | November 25 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 28–34 | 3–10 | Riverfront Stadium | 25,103 | Recap |
| 14 | December 2 | San Francisco 49ers | W 13–10 | 4–10 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 41,593 | Recap |
| 15 | December 9 | New York Giants | W 29–20 | 5–10 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 39,802 | Recap |
| 16 | December 16 | at Chicago Bears | L 6–42 | 5–11 | Soldier Field | 42,810 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

## Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Dallas Cowboys$^{(1)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–2 | 10–2 | 371 | 313 | W3 |
| Philadelphia Eagles$^{(4)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 339 | 282 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 5–3 | 8–4 | 348 | 295 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–7 | 5–9 | 237 | 323 | L3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–6 | 4–8 | 307 | 358 | L1 |

## Awards and records

* Ottis Anderson, Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year