1979 Detroit Lions season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Detroit Lions 1979 2–14 5th NFC Central Monte Clark Pontiac Silverdome Did not qualify TE David HillDE Al Baker none Lions seasons The 1979 Detroit Lions season was the 50th season in franchise history. In the midst of a major rebuilding project, the woeful Lions finished the season with a 2–14 record, equal-worst record in the NFL and a tiebreaker with the 49ers gave the Lions the first pick overall in the 1980 NFL Draft. Detroit entered the year as a favorite in the NFC Central,Wallace, William N.; ‘NFL Preview: Happiness is 23 teams capable of making the playoffs’; The Globe and Mail, August 28, 1979, p. 31 but a season-ending injury to quarterback Gary Danielson in the preseason‘Bus Win Over Lions’; The Globe and Mail, September 3, 1979, p. S10 forced the Lions to ultimately turn to a rookie ninth-round pick, Jeff Komlo, behind center, with disastrous results. After the season, Nate Allen and Karl Chandler retired. Offseason NFL draft 1979 NFL draft 1979 Detroit Lions 1 10 Keith Dorney Tackle Penn State yes yes 2 37 Ken Fantetti Linebacker Wyoming yes 3 67 Bo Robinson Running back West Texas A&M yes 4 88 Ulysses Norris Tight end Georgia yes 4 92 Jon Brooks Linebacker Clemson yes 5 131 Walt Brown Center Pittsburgh no 8 213 John Mohring Linebacker C.W. Post yes 9 231 Jeff Komlo Quarterback Delaware yes 11 302 Eddie Cole Linebacker Mississippi yes 12 313 Bob Forester Center Brown no 12 326 Bryan Sweeney Wide receiver Texas A&M-Kingsville no no no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1979.htm dead https://web.archive.org/web/20071221193418/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1979.htm 2007-12-21 1979 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com Undrafted free agents + 1979 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJohn ArnoldWide receiverWyomingReggie ArnoldWide receiverPurdueRade SavichKickerCentral Michigan Roster 1979 Detroit Lions 10 Scott Hunter American football 19 Jeff Komlo y 14 Joe Reed quarterback 24 Dexter Bussey 31 Ken Callicutt 38 Lawrence Gaines 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King American football 36 Bo Robinson y 47 John Arnold American football y 87 Freddie Scott American football, born 1952 39 Leonard Thompson American football 18 Gene Washington American football, born 1947 81 David Hill tight end 80 Ulysses Norris y 76 Karl Baldischwiler T 73 Russ Bolinger G 70 Keith Dorney y T 61 Homer Elias G 58 Dennis Franks C 65 Amos Fowler G 62 Don Morrison American football T 67 Wally Pesuit C/G 60 Al Baker DE 78 Doug English DT 71 Dave Gallagher American football DT 79 William Gay defensive lineman DE 75 Dave Pureifory DE 53 Jon Brooks American football y OLB 50 Eddie Cole linebacker y MLB 63 Garry Cobb y OLB 57 Ken Fantetti y MLB 51 James Harrell American football y OLB 55 Ed O'Neil OLB 40 Jimmy Allen American football SS 42 Nate Allen cornerback CB 27 Luther Bradley CB 28 James Hunter American football CB/S 48 Eddie Lewis American football CB 44 Dave Parkin y FS 43 Don Patterson defensive back y CB 46 Jimmy Stewart no SS  1 Benny Ricardo K 15 Tom Skladany P 12 Larry Swider P 89 Luther Blue WR IR 16 Gary Danielson QB IR 72 Cleveland Elam DT IR 64 Dan Gray American football DE IR 26 Tony Leonard American football CB IR 68 Mark Markovich C PUP —- John Mohring linebacker, born 1956 y LB IR 54 Larry Tearry C IR 84 Jesse Thompson American football WR IR 52 Dave Washington LB IR 59 Charlie Weaver LB IR 21 Walt Williams cornerback CB IR 77 John Woodcock American football DT PUP Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 1, 1979 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 31–16 0—1 68,225 2 September 9 Washington Redskins L 27–24 0—2 54,991 3 September 16 at New York Jets L 31–10 0—3 49,612 4 September 23 Atlanta Falcons W 24–23 1—3 56,249 5 September 30 Minnesota Vikings L 13–10 1—4 75,295 6 October 7 at New England Patriots L 24–17 1—5 60,629 7 October 14 at Green Bay Packers L 24–16 1—6 53,930 8 October 21 at New Orleans Saints L 17–7 1—7 57,428 9 October 28 Buffalo Bills L 20–17 1—8 61,911 10 November 4 at Chicago Bears L 35–7 1—9 50,108 11 November 11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 16–14 1—10 70,461 12 November 18 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–7 1—11 43,650 13 November 22, 1979 Chicago Bears W 20–0 2—11 66,219 14 December 2 at Philadelphia Eagles L 44–7 2—12 66,128 15 December 9 Miami Dolphins L 28–10 2—13 78,087 16 December 15, 1979 Green Bay Packers L 18–13 2—14 57,376 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1979-det 1979 Detroit Lions Standings Player stats Passing Player Games Completions Attempts Yards Touchdowns Interceptions Rating Jeff Komlo 16 183 368 2238 11 23 52.8 Scott Hunter 13 18 41 321 1 1 69.3 Joe Reed 2 14 32 164 2 1 67.7 Jerry Golsteyn 1 2 9 16 0 2 0.0 Tom Skladany 2 0 1 0 0 0 28.6 Larry Swider 14 1 1 36 0 0 118.7 https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/1979.htm 1979 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players Pro-Football-Reference.com Rushing Player Games Attempts Yards Touchdowns Longest rushDexter Bussey 16 144 625 138 Rick Kane16 94 3324 26 Bo Robinson 14 87 302 2 29 Horace King 16 39 160 123 Jeff Komlo 16 30 107 2 16 Lawrence Gaines 16 23 550 6 Freddie Scott 14 6 21 0 18 Leonard Thompson 15 5 24 0 16 Ken Callicut 16 3 6 0 10 Scott Hunter 13 2 3 1 2 Joe Reed 2 2 11 0 11 David Hill 16 1 15 0 15 Gene A. Washington 16 1 24 0 24 Luther Blue 9 1 −8 0 −8 Jerry Golsteyn 1 1 0 0 0 Ed O'Neil 16 1 0 0 0 Larry Swider 14 1 0 0 0 Receiving Note: Rec = Receptions; Yds = Yards; Avg = Average Yards per Reception; TD = Touchdowns Player Games Receptions Yards Average yardsper reception Touchdowns Longest Freddie Scott 14 62 929 15.0 550 David Hill 1647 569 12.1 3 40 Leonard Thompson 15 24 451 18.8 2 82 Horace King 16 18150 8.30 30Dexter Bussey 16 15 1026.8 0 22Gene A. Washington 16 14 19213.7129 Bo Robinson 14 14 118 8.4014 Rick Kane 16 9 104 11.61 36 Luther Blue 9 8 102 12.81 26 Ulysses Norris 16 4 43 10.8134 Ken Callicutt 16 2 16 8.0011 Russ Bolinger 16 1 −1 −1.00−1 References Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com Detroit Lions on The Football Database Detroit Lions Category:Detroit Lions seasons Detroit Lions Category:Long stubs with short prose