1979 Detroit Lions season

1979 Detroit Lions season
Head Coach	Monte Clark
Home Field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	2–14
Place	5th NFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1978	1980

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, but a season-ending injury to quarterback Gary Danielson in the preseason forced the Lions to ultimately turn to a rookie ninth-round pick, Jeff Komlo, behind center, with disastrous results.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1	10	Keith Dorney	Tackle	Penn State
2	37	Ken Fantetti	Linebacker	Wyoming
3	67	Bo Robinson	Running Back	West Texas A&M
4	88	Ulysses Norris	Tight End	Georgia
4	92	Jon Brooks	Linebacker	Clemson
5	131	Walt Brown	Center	Pittsburgh
8	213	John Mohring	Linebacker	C.W. Post
9	231	Jeff Komlo	Quarterback	Delaware
11	302	Eddie Cole	Linebacker	Mississippi
12	313	Bob Forester	Center	Brown
12	326	Bryan Sweeney	Wide Receiver	Texas A&M-Kingsville

Roster

Detroit Lions roster
Quarterbacks 10 Scott Hunter 19 Jeff Komlo 14 Joe Reed Running Backs 24 Dexter Bussey 31 Ken Callicutt 38 Lawrence Gaines 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King 36 Bo Robinson Wide Receivers 47 John Arnold 89 Luther Blue 87 Freddie Scott 39 Leonard Thompson 18 Gene Washington 42 Robert Woods Tight Ends 81 David Hill 80 Ulysses Norris		Offensive Linemen 76 Karl Baldischwiler T 73 Russ Bolinger G 70 Keith Dorney T 61 Homer Elias G 58 Dennis Franks C 65 Amos Fowler C 62 Don Morrison G 54 Larry Tearry C Defensive Linemen 60 Al Baker DE 72 Cleveland Elam DE/DT 78 Doug English DT 71 Dave Gallagher DT 79 William Gay DT 75 Dave Pureifory DE 82 Ken Sanders DE		Linebackers 50 Eddie Cole 63 Garry Cobb 57 Ken Fantetti 51 James Harrell 55 Ed O'Neil 59 Charlie Weaver 52 Dave Washington Defensive Backs 40 Jimmy Allen SS 27 Luther Bradley CB 28 James Hunter FS 46 Doug Jones SS 48 Eddie Lewis CB 43 Don Patterson 21 Walt Williams CB Special Teams 1 Benny Ricardo K 12 Larry Swider P		Reserve Lists 15 Tom Skladany P (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 1, 1979	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 31–16	68,225
2	September 9, 1979	Washington Redskins	L 27–24	54,991
3	September 16, 1979	at New York Jets	L 31–10	49,612
4	September 23, 1979	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–23	56,249
5	September 30, 1979	Minnesota Vikings	L 13–10	75,295
6	October 7, 1979	at New England Patriots	L 24–17	60,629
7	October 14, 1979	at Green Bay Packers	L 24–16	53,930
8	October 21, 1979	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–7	57,428
9	October 28, 1979	Buffalo Bills	L 20–17	61,911
10	November 4, 1979	at Chicago Bears	L 35–7	50,108
11	November 11, 1979	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 16–14	70,461
12	November 18, 1979	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–7	43,650
13	November 22, 1979	Chicago Bears	W 20–0	66,219
14	December 2, 1979	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 44–7	66,128
15	December 9, 1979	Miami Dolphins	L 28–10	78,087
16	December 15, 1979	Green Bay Packers	L 18–13	57,376

Standings

Template:1979 NFC Central standings

Player stats

Passing

Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions

Player	Games	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	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

Rushing

Note: Att = Attempts; Yds = Yards; TD = Touchdowns

Player	Games	Att	Yds	TD	Long
Dexter Bussey	16	144	625	1	38
Rick Kane	16	94	332	4	26
Bo Robinson	14	87	302	2	29
Horace King	16	39	160	1	23
Jeff Komlo	16	30	107	2	16
Lawrence Gaines	16	23	55	0	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	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Freddie Scott	14	62	929	15.0	5	50
David Hill	16	47	569	12.1	3	40
Leonard Thompson	15	24	451	18.8	2	82
Horace King	16	18	150	8.3	0	30
Dexter Bussey	16	15	102	6.8	0	22
Gene A. Washington	16	14	192	13.7	1	29
Bo Robinson	14	14	118	8.4	0	14
Rick Kane	16	9	104	11.6	1	36
Luther Blue	9	8	102	12.8	1	26
Ulysses Norris	16	4	43	10.8	1	34
Ken Callicutt	16	2	16	8.0	0	11
Russ Bolinger	16	1	−1	−1.0	0	−1

References

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com
• Detroit Lions on The Football Database