# 1979 New England Patriots season

The 1979 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League and 20th overall. The Patriots ended the season with a record of nine wins and seven losses and finished second in the AFC East Division. Ron Erhardt was named the new coach. In their season opener, the Patriots faced the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night as Darryl Stingley returned to Schaffer Stadium. Patriots' fans gave the paralyzed star a long sustained standing ovation. However, the emotion did not carry over as the Pats lost 16–13 in overtime.
The Pats would find themselves at 8–4, as the team featured a more wide-open offense under quarterback Steve Grogan. However, a three-game losing streak ended their playoff chances, as the team settled for a disappointing 9–7 season.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1979 New England Patriots draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 25 | Rick Sanford | Cornerback | South Carolina |
| 2 | 52 | Bob Golic * | Defensive tackle | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 106 | Eddie Hare | Punter | Tulsa |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1979 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Ron Brown | Defensive back | Brown |
| Mark Buben | Defensive tackle | Tufts |
| Kevin Cunningham | Center | Iowa State |
| Dennis Dent | Wide receiver | UMass |
| Rob Forbes | Running back | Drake |
| Bob Hurley | Guard | Holy Cross |
| Mike McLaughlin | Center | UMass |
| Tom McLaughlin | Punter | Iowa |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 13–16 (OT) | 0–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,978 |
| 2 | September 9 | New York Jets | W 56–3 | 1–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 53,113 |
| 3 | September 16 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 20–14 | 2–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 41,805 |
| 4 | September 23 | San Diego Chargers | W 27–21 | 3–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,916 |
| 5 | October 1 | at Green Bay Packers | L 14–27 | 3–2 | Lambeau Field | 52,842 |
| 6 | October 7 | Detroit Lions | W 24–17 | 4–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,629 |
| 7 | October 14 | at Chicago Bears | W 27–7 | 5–2 | Soldier Field | 54,128 |
| 8 | October 21 | Miami Dolphins | W 28–13 | 6–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 61,096 |
| 9 | October 28 | at Baltimore Colts | L 26–31 | 6–3 | Memorial Stadium | 41,029 |
| 10 | November 4 | at Buffalo Bills | W 26–6 | 7–3 | Rich Stadium | 67,935 |
| 11 | November 11 | at Denver Broncos | L 10–45 | 7–4 | Mile High Stadium | 74,379 |
| 12 | November 18 | Baltimore Colts | W 50–21 | 8–4 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,879 |
| 13 | November 25 | Buffalo Bills | L 13–16 (OT) | 8–5 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,991 |
| 14 | November 29 | at Miami Dolphins | L 24–39 | 8–6 | Miami Orange Bowl | 69,174 |
| 15 | December 9 | at New York Jets | L 26–27 | 8–7 | Shea Stadium | 45,131 |
| 16 | December 16 | Minnesota Vikings | W 27–23 | 9–7 | Schaefer Stadium | 54,719 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 5–3 | 6–6 | 341 | 257 | L1 |
| New England Patriots | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 411 | 326 | W1 |
| New York Jets | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 337 | 383 | W3 |
| Buffalo Bills | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 268 | 279 | L3 |
| Baltimore Colts | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3–5 | 4–10 | 271 | 351 | W1 |

## Season summary
### Week 4 vs Chargers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chargers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Patriots | 17 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
at Schaefer Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
* Date: September 23
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C)
* Game attendance: 60,916
* TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
NE – Sam Cunningham 1-yard run (John Smith kick). Patriots 7–0.
NE – Don Calhoun 10-yard run (John Smith kick). Patriots 14–0.
NE – John Smith 31-yard field goal. Patriots 17–0.
Second quarter
NE – John Smith 31-yard field goal. Patriots 20–0.
SD – John Jefferson 19-yard pass from Dan Fouts (Rolf Benirschke kick). Patriots 20–7.
SD – Clarence Williams (Rolf Benirschke kick). Patriots 20–14.
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
NE – Russ Francis 5-yard pass from Steve Grogan (John Smith kick). Patriots 27–14.
SD – Clarence Williams 1-yard run (Rolf Benirschke kick). Patriots 27–21.
Top passers
SD – Dan Fouts – 20/34, 200 yards, TD, 2 INT
NE – Steve Grogan – 13/23, 157 yards, TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
SD – Clarence Williams – 13 rushes, 34 yards, 2 TD
NE – Sam Cunningham – 22 rushes, 75 yards, TD
Top receivers
SD – John Jefferson – 4 receptions, 59 yards, TD
NE – Russ Francis – 4 receptions, 85 yards, TD :