The 1979 Denver Broncos season was the team's 20th year in professional football and its 10th with the National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coach Red Miller, the Broncos were 10–6, second in the AFC West, and made the postseason a third consecutive year. In the Wild Card round the Broncos lost to the Houston Oilers 13–7.
Offseason NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1979 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeWylie TurnerDefensive BackAngelo State
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 2 Cincinnati Bengals W 10–0 1–0 Mile High Stadium 74,788 2 Los Angeles Rams L 9–13 1–1 Mile High Stadium 74,884 3 September 16 at Atlanta Falcons W 20–17OT 2–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,677 4 September 23 Seattle Seahawks W 37–34 3–1 Mile High Stadium 74,879 5 September 30 at Oakland Raiders L 3–27 3–2 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 52,632 6 October 7 San Diego Chargers W 7–0 4–2 Mile High Stadium 74,997 7 October 14 at Kansas City Chiefs W 24–10 5–2 Arrowhead Stadium 74,292 8 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–42 5–3 Three Rivers Stadium 49,699 9 October 28 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–3 6–3 Mile High Stadium 74,908 10 November 4 New Orleans Saints W 10–3 7–3 Mile High Stadium 74,482 11 November 11 New England Patriots W 45–10 8–3 Mile High Stadium 74,379 12 November 18 at San Francisco 49ers W 38–28 9–3 Candlestick Park 42,910 13 November 25 Oakland Raiders L 10–14 9–4 Mile High Stadium 74,186 14 December 2 at Buffalo Bills W 19–16 10–4 Rich Stadium 37,886 15 at Seattle Seahawks L 23–28 10–5 Kingdome 60,038 16 at San Diego Chargers L 7–17 10–6 San Diego Stadium 51,906 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 5 Date: September 30, 1979 Network: NBC Announcers: Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen All-Pro Dave Casper returns to Oakland's starting lineup after four weeks as a second stringer, caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Ken Stabler to open the scoring as the Oakland Raiders upset the Denver Broncos, and ending their three-game losing streak. The Raiders used a two tight end formation throughout most of this game. Casper who reported late to training camp following a contract dispute caught four passes for 92 yards. Casper's final catch of the day was a 42-yard bomb from Stabler which set up one of two Jim Breech field goals in the final period. The Raiders drove 81 yards for their first touchdown late in the first quarter. Denver's Jim Turner made the score 7-3 late in the second period with a 19-yard field goal, but Larry Brunson's 50-yard kickoff return put the Raiders in scoring position and Mark Van Eeghen ran one yard for a touchdown 16 seconds before halftime. The Raiders, 2-3 used a four-man defensive line. It was a switch from their usual three-man front, and Ray Guy of Oakland contribute to the offensive frustrations of 3-2 Denver with some great punting. Guy's last punt pinned the Broncos near their goal line and linebacker Monte Johnson fell on the fumble in the end zone late in the game for the Raiders' final touchdown.
Week 12 (Sunday, November 18, 1979): at San Francisco 49ers
Point spread: Broncos —9 Over/under: 39.0 (over) Time of game:
BroncosGame statistics49ers22 First downs 1828–144 Rushes–yards 34–74225 Passing yards 16619–35–1 23–41–00–0 Sacked–yards 0–0225 Net passing yards 166369 Total yards 240109 Return yards 2396–38.5 6–45.21–1 Fumbles–lost 4–211–90 Penalties–yards 9–75 Time of possession
Individual stats
Standings
Playoffs
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Wild Card December 23 at Houston Oilers (4) L 7–13 0–1 Astrodome 48,776
The Oilers managed to shut down the Broncos offense for most of the game en route to a 13–7 win, holding the Broncos to 216 yards and recording six sacks.
After Toni Fritsch kicked a 31-yard field goal on Houston's first drive, Denver marched 80 yards in 13 plays to score on quarterback Craig Morton's 7-yard touchdown pass to running back Dave Preston. From that point on, the Oilers controlled the rest of the game. With less than 3 minutes left in the first half, Houston advanced 74 yards to score on running back Earl Campbell's 3-yard touchdown run. Although Campbell and starting quarterback Dan Pastorini both missed the second half with injuries, the Oilers defense continued to dominate. In the fourth quarter, a 15-yard interception return by linebacker Gregg Bingham set up Fritsch's 20-yard field goal with 4:18 left in regulation.
References
External links Denver Broncos – 1979 media guide 1979 Denver Broncos season at jt-sw.com 1979 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com