# 1979 Buffalo Bills season

The 1979 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League, and 20th overall.
Head coach Chuck Knox spent his second season with the Bills in 1979, improving on 1978's record by two games. The Bills were 7–6 with three games left to play, but they lost their final three games to finish with a losing record. (Even if Buffalo had won their final three games, they still would have lost the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Miami Dolphins (who finished 10–6) for the division title.)
Buffalo's loss to Miami in Week Seven was their 20th straight loss to the Dolphins, an NFL record.
The 1979 Bills were dead-last in rushing yards in the NFL, with only total 1,621 yards on the ground. Buffalo's 268 points scored was 23rd of the league's 28 teams.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

Three of Buffalo's first four picks made at least one Pro Bowl: wide receiver Jerry Butler, nose tackle Fred Smerlas, and linebacker Jim Haslett. Haslett was named 1979 AP Rookie of the Year. Smerlas made five Pro Bowls in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1988.
Defensive end Ken Johnson, center Jon Borchardt, and defensive backs Jeff Nixon and Rod Kush all played for the Bills for six years from 1979 to 1984.
1979 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 1 | Tom Cousineau | Linebacker | Ohio State |
| 1 | 5 | Jerry Butler * | Wide receiver | Clemson |
| 2 | 32 | Fred Smerlas * | Defensive tackle | Boston College |
| 2 | 51 | Jim Haslett * | Linebacker | Indiana (PA) |
| 3 | 62 | Jon Borchardt | Guard | Montana State |
| 4 | 83 | Ken Johnson | Defensive end | Knoxville |
| 4 | 87 | Jeff Nixon | Safety | Richmond |
| 5 | 114 | Rod Kush | Safety | Nebraska-Omaha |
| 5 | 116 | Dan Manucci | Quarterback | Kansas State |
| 6 | 141 | Mike Burrow | Guard | Auburn |
| 7 | 170 | Tom Mullady | Tight end | Rhodes |
| 9 | 226 | Kevin Baker | Defensive end | William Penn |
| 10 | 253 | Dave Marler | Quarterback | Mississippi State |
| 11 | 279 | Paul Lawler | Defensive back | Colgate |
| 12 | 308 | Mike Harris | Running back | Arizona State |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

#### Tom Cousineau

Ohio State linebacker Cousineau was drafted first overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Bills, who acquired the pick from San Francisco in a trade for O. J. Simpson. Cousineau never played a game with the Bills. He instead signed with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes where they offered double the money that the Bills originally offered. Cousineau became a star there, becoming the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player in the 1979 season. Cousineau wanted to return to the NFL, and in 1982 the Houston Oilers attempted to sign him, but the Bills (who still held Cousineau's NFL rights) matched the offer. He was then traded from the Bills to the Cleveland Browns for a first-round draft choice (14th overall) in the 1983 NFL draft, which would be used on future Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. Cousineau signed a five-year contract for 2.5 million dollars, the most ever for a Cleveland Brown player at the time.[5]

### Undrafted free agents

1979 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Orlando Alvarez | Wide receiver | Montclair State |
| Rod Broadway | Defensive Tackle | North Carolina |
| Derrick Burnett | Running back | Indiana |
| Robert Cameron | Punter | Acadia |
| Jerome Carter | Cornerback | Delaware State |
| Donald Clayton | Punter | Wyoming |
| Bill Crowley | Linebacker | Yale |
| Leroy McGee | Running back | Michigan State |
| Russell Pope | Cornerback | Purdue |
| Ronald Ricks | Cornerback | Kansas |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 2 | Miami Dolphins | L 7–9 | 0–1 | Rich Stadium | 69,441 |
| 2 | September 9 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 51–24 | 1–1 | Rich Stadium | 43,504 |
| 3 | September 16 | at San Diego Chargers | L 19–27 | 1–2 | San Diego Stadium | 50,709 |
| 4 | September 23 | New York Jets | W 46–31 | 2–2 | Rich Stadium | 68,731 |
| 5 | September 30 | at Baltimore Colts | W 31–13 | 3–2 | Memorial Stadium | 31,904 |
| 6 | October 7 | Chicago Bears | L 0–7 | 3–3 | Rich Stadium | 73,383 |
| 7 | October 14 | at Miami Dolphins | L 7–17 | 3–4 | Miami Orange Bowl | 45,597 |
| 8 | October 21 | Baltimore Colts | L 13–14 | 3–5 | Rich Stadium | 50,581 |
| 9 | October 28 | at Detroit Lions | W 20–17 | 4–5 | Pontiac Silverdome | 61,911 |
| 10 | November 4 | New England Patriots | L 6–26 | 4–6 | Rich Stadium | 67,935 |
| 11 | November 11 | at New York Jets | W 14–12 | 5–6 | Shea Stadium | 50,647 |
| 12 | November 18 | Green Bay Packers | W 19–12 | 6–6 | Rich Stadium | 39,679 |
| 13 | November 25 | at New England Patriots | W 16–13 (OT) | 7–6 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,991 |
| 14 | December 2 | Denver Broncos | L 16–19 | 7—7 | Rich Stadium | 37,886 |
| 15 | December 9 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 3–10 | 7–8 | Metropolitan Stadium | 42,239 |
| 16 | December 16 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 0–28 | 7–9 | Three Rivers Stadium | 48,002 |
| 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 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Jets | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 |

### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| • Bills | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 |

### Week 13 at Patriots

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 16 |
| Patriots | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
at Schaefer Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
* Date: November 25
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 63 °F or 17.2 °C
* Game attendance: 60,991
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
NE – John Smith 47-yard field goal. Patriots 3–0.
BUF – Nick Mike-Mayer 29-yard field goal. Tie 3–3.
Third quarter
BUF – Nick Mike-Mayer 26-yard field goal. Bills 6–3.
Fourth quarter
NE – Steve Grogan 1-yard run (John Smith kick). Patriots 10–6.
NE – John Smith 32-yard field goal. Patriots 13–6.
BUF – Lou Piccone 11-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Tie 13–13.
Overtime
BUF – Nick Mike-Mayer 29-yard field goal. Bills 16–13.
Top passers
BUF – Joe Ferguson – 17/33, 235 yards, TD, 2 INT
NE – Steve Grogan – 9/25, 160 yards, 4 INT
Top rushers
BUF – Curtis Brown – 15 rushes, 42 yards
NE – Horace Ivory – 23 rushes, 83 yards Don Calhoun – 20 rushes, 83 yards
Top receivers
BUF – Jerry Butler – 4 receptions, 95 yards
NE – Harold Jackson – 4 receptions, 87 yards :