1979 Washington Redskins season

1979 Washington Redskins season
Head coach	Jack Pardee
General manager	Bobby Beathard
Owner	Jack Kent Cooke
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1979 season of the Washington Redskins in American professional football began with the team trying to improve on their 8–8 record from 1978. While the Redskins were able to improve their record; finishing 10–6, the Redskins were eliminated from playoff contention on the final week of the season when, facing the Dallas Cowboys with the NFC East title on the line, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach led a last-minute comeback to defeat Washington 35–34 to win the division; which combined with the Chicago Bears defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 42–6, resulted in the Redskins losing a points tiebreaker for the final wild-card slot.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1979 NFL draft

1979 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
4	103	Don Warren	Tight end	San Diego State
7	182	Rich Milot	Linebacker	Penn State
9	233	Kris Haines	Wide receiver	Notre Dame
11	289	Monte Coleman	Linebacker	Central Arkansas
11	300	Tony Hall	Wide receiver	Knoxville
Made roster

Personnel

Staff

1979 Washington Redskins staff
	Front office President – Edward Bennett Williams Vice President – Jack Kent Cooke General Manager – Bobby Beathard Executive Assistant to the President – Bobby Mitchell Assistant General Manager – Joel Margolis Assistant General Manager – Dick Meyers Director of Player Personnel – Mike Allman Director of Pro Scouting – Kirk Mee Director of College Scouting – Dick Daniels Personnel Scouts – Charley Casserly, Charley Taylor Head coaches Head Coach – Jack Pardee Special Assistant to Head Coach – Bob Bowser Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Walton Running Backs – Fred O'Connor Tight Ends – John Hilton Offensive Line – Ray Callahan			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Doc Urich Linebackers – George Dickson Defensive Secondary – Richie Petitbon Special teams coaches Special Teams – John Hilton

Roster

1979 Washington Redskins roster
	Quarterbacks 11 Kim McQuilken  7 Joe Theismann Running backs 30 Ike Forte 34 Bobby Hammond 22 Buddy Hardeman KR/PR 38 Clarence Harmon FB 25 Benny Malone 35 Lonnie Perrin 44 John Riggins FB Wide receivers 88 Danny Buggs 81 Chris DeFrance 80 Kris Haines 80 John McDaniel 83 Ricky Thompson		Tight ends 86 Phil DuBois 84 Jean Fugett 89 Grady Richardson 85 Don Warren Offensive linemen 63 Fred Dean G 67 Greg Dubinetz T 66 Ted Fritsch C 75 Terry Hermeling T 54 Bob Kuziel C 64 Ron Saul G 74 George Starke T 73 Jeff Williams G		Defensive linemen 79 Coy Bacon DE 69 Perry Brooks DT 65 Dave Butz DT 77 Joe Jones DE 71 Karl Lorch DE 78 Paul Smith DT 72 Diron Talbert DT Linebackers 51 Monte Coleman OLB 59 Brad Dusek OLB 82 Dallas Hickman OLB/DE 58 Don Hover MLB 57 Rich Milot OLB 52 Neal Olkewicz MLB 50 Pete Wysocki OLB		Defensive backs 26 Don Harris FS 27 Ken Houston SS 20 Joe Lavender CB 29 Mark Murphy FS 24 Lemar Parrish CB 23 Tony Peters CB/SS 47 Ray Waddy CB Special teams  4 Mike Bragg P  3 Mark Moseley K Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2, 1979	Houston Oilers	L 29–27	54,582
2	September 9, 1979	at Detroit Lions	W 27–24	54,991
3	September 17, 1979	New York Giants	W 27–0	54,672
4	September 23, 1979	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 17–7	50,680
5	September 30, 1979	at Atlanta Falcons	W 16–7	56,819
6	October 7, 1979	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 28–17	69,142
7	October 14, 1979	at Cleveland Browns	W 13–9	63,323
8	October 21, 1979	Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–7	54,442
9	October 28, 1979	New Orleans Saints	L 14–10	52,133
10	November 4, 1979	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 38–7	49,462
11	November 11, 1979	St. Louis Cardinals	W 30–28	50,868
12	November 18, 1979	Dallas Cowboys	W 34–20	55,031
13	November 25, 1979	at New York Giants	L 14–6	72,641
14	December 2, 1979	Green Bay Packers	W 38–21	51,682
15	December 9, 1979	Cincinnati Bengals	W 28–14	52,882
16	December 16, 1979	at Dallas Cowboys	L 35–34	62,867

Game summaries

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 0 17 7 3 27 Lions 3 0 0 21 24 Date: September 9 Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan Game start: 2:00 p.m. Game attendance: 54,991 Game weather: Indoors (dome)

Scoring summary Q1 DET Benny Ricardo 27 yard field goal DET 3–0 Q2 WSH Ricky Thompson 8 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick) WSH 7–3 Q2 WSH Mark Moseley 35 yard field goal WSH 10–3 Q2 WSH Benny Malone 5 yard run (Mark Moseley kick) WSH 17–3 Q3 WSH Jean Fugett 3 yard pass from Joe Theismann (Mark Moseley kick) WSH 24–3 Q4 DET Bo Robinson 2 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) WSH 24–10 Q4 DET Rick Kane 12 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) WSH 24–17 Q4 DET Freddie Scott 24 yard pass from Jeff Komlo (Benny Ricardo kick) Tie 24–24 Q4 WSH Mark Moseley 41 yard field goal WSH 27–24

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys(1)	11	5	0	.688	6–2	10–2	371	313	W3
Philadelphia Eagles(4)	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	339	282	W1
Washington Redskins	10	6	0	.625	5–3	8–4	348	295	L1
New York Giants	6	10	0	.375	1–7	5–9	237	323	L3
St. Louis Cardinals	5	11	0	.313	2–6	4–8	307	358	L1

External links

• 1979 Washington Redskins at Pro-Football-Reference.com