The 1979 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 30th season with the National Football League.

Season summary In a season which could be titled "The Birth of The Kardiac Kids" the Browns, who finished 9–7, nearly made the playoffs while involved in a number of close games. They won their first three contests, all by three points, over the New York Jets in overtime 25–22, Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 and Baltimore Colts 13–10. They lost to the Washington Redskins by four points, 13–9, midway through the season, then beat the Cincinnati Bengals by one, 28–27, the following Sunday and the Philadelphia Eagles by five, 24–19, two weeks later. The Browns proceeded to lose to the Seattle Seahawks by five points, 29–24, beat the Miami Dolphins by six, 30–24, in overtime and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers by three, 33–30, again in OT. That was the last of the Browns three overtime games that season. Then came a virtual "blowout" – a seven-point victory over the Houston Oilers, 14–7. Followed by two "one-sided" losses, by five points to the Oakland Raiders, 19–14, and by four to the Bengals, 16–12, to end the year. Add it all up, and 12 of the Browns' 16 games were decided by seven points or less. The club went just 7–5 in those games, though, which was the difference in that season from 1980, when the Browns were 10–2 in 12 contests decided by seven points or less.

How tight was the 1979 season overall for the Browns? So much so that they outscored their foes by just seven points all year. The Browns moved to 4–0 – their fastest start since 1963 – by stunning heavily favored Dallas 26–7 on Monday Night Football. The Browns gave up 51 points at home to the Steelers, who would go on to win their second straight Super Bowl and fourth in six years, yet scored 35 on the vaunted Steel Curtain defense and lost by 16. The game was shown on national TV, but NBC cut away to another contest, leaving only the Pittsburgh and Cleveland markets watching, after the Steelers vaulted to a 27–0 lead.

RB Mike Pruitt rushed for 1,294 yards and nine TDs, while wideout Dave Logan led the team in catches with 59 and missed getting 1,000 receiving yards by just 18. Logan, TE Ozzie Newsome and veteran WR Reggie Rucker combined for 22 TD catches.

Offseason

NFL draft The following were selected in the 1979 NFL draft. 1979 Cleveland Browns draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes120Willis AdamsWide receiver Houston240Lawrence JohnsonDefensive back Wisconsin247Sam ClaphanOffensive tackle Oklahoma370Jim RameyDefensive end Kentucky495Matt MillerOffensive tackle Colorado5124Rich DimlerDefensive tackle USC6151Clinton BurrellDefensive back LSU6163Jim RonanDefensive tackle Minnesota7183Cody RisienOffensive tackle Texas A&M8204Kent PerkovDefensive end San Diego State9234Carl McGeeLinebacker Duke9241Curtis WeathersLinebacker Mississippi10261John Henry SmithWide receiver Tennessee State11287Randy PoeschlDefensive end Nebraska12315Dee MethvinCenter Tulane

Undrafted free agents

+ 1979 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeEdward DelgadoKickerGeorgetown

Staff / Coaches

Roster 1979 Cleveland Browns roster Quarterbacks 15 Mark Miller 17 Brian Sipe

Running backs 20 Doug Dennison 25 Pat Moriarty 26 Dino Hall 30 Cleo Miller 35 Calvin Hill 43 Mike Pruitt

Wide receivers 33 Reggie Rucker 80 Willis Adams 83 Ricky Feacher 85 Dave Logan 88 John Smith

Tight ends 82 Ozzie Newsome 87 Curtis Weathers Offensive linemen 54 Tom DeLeone C 63 Cody Risien G 64 George Buehler G 65 Henry Sheppard T 68 Robert Jackson G 71 Matt Miller T 73 Doug Dieken T 79 Gerry Sullivan T/C

Defensive linemen 74 Mike St. Clair DT 77 Lyle Alzado DE 78 Mickey Sims DT 81 Jack Gregory DE 91 Henry Bradley DT 92 Rich Dimler DT Linebackers 47 Ricky Jones OLB 52 Dick Ambrose MLB 55 Dave Graf OLB 56 Robert Jackson MLB 57 Clay Matthews OLB 59 Charlie Hall OLB 86 Gerald Irons OLB

Defensive backs 21 Oliver Davis CB 22 Clarence Scott SS 24 Randy Rich CB 27 Thom Darden FS 28 Ron Bolton CB 48 Lawrence Johnson CB 49 Clinton Burrell CB

Special teams  8 Johnny Evans P/QB 12 Don Cockroft K Reserve lists -- Rickey Anderson RB (IR) 60 Sam Claphan T (IR) 34 Greg Pruitt RB (IR) 99 Kent Perkov DE (IR) 61 Jim Ronan DT (IR) 72 Jerry Sherk DT (IR) 89 Keith Wright WR (IR)

rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 2 at New York Jets W 25–22 1–0 Shea Stadium 48,272 Recap 2 September 9 at Kansas City Chiefs W 27–24 2–0 Arrowhead Stadium 42,181 Recap 3 September 16 Baltimore Colts W 13–10 3–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 72,070 Recap 4 Dallas Cowboys W 26–7 4–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,123 Recap 5 September 30 at Houston Oilers L 10–31 4–1 Houston Astrodome 48,915 Recap 6 October 7 Pittsburgh Steelers L 35–51 4–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 81,260 Recap 7 October 14 Washington Redskins L 9–13 4–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 63,323 Recap 8 October 21 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–27 5–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 75,119 Recap 9 October 28 at St. Louis Cardinals W 38–20 6–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,845 Recap 10 November 4 at Philadelphia Eagles W 24–19 7–3 Veterans Stadium 69,019 Recap 11 November 11 Seattle Seahawks L 24–29 7–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 72,440 Recap 12 November 18 Miami Dolphins W 30–24 8–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,374 Recap 13 November 25 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 30–33 8–5 Three Rivers Stadium 49,112 Recap 14 December 2 Houston Oilers W 14–7 9–5 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 69,112 Recap 15 December 9 at Oakland Raiders L 14–19 9–6 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 52,641 Recap 16 December 16 at Cincinnati Bengals L 12–16 9–7 Riverfront Stadium 42,183 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Awards and records Brian Sipe: NFL Co-Leader, Touchdown Passes (28)Tied with New England's Steve Grogan Notes

References

External links 1979 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference 1979 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 1979 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com at DatabaseFootball.com