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1979 Washington Redskins season

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1979 Washington Redskins season
OwnerJack Kent Cooke
General managerBobby Beathard
PresidentEdward Bennett Williams
Head coachJack Pardee
Offensive coordinatorJoe Walton
Defensive coordinatorDoc Urich
Home fieldRFK Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place3rd NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1979 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 48th season in the National Football League. The team improved on their 8–8 record from 1978 and finishing 10–6. Although the Redskins were able to improve their record, they were eliminated from playoff contention on the final week of the season after 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

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NFL draft

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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  

[1]

Undrafted free agents

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1979 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Willie Banks Linebacker Penn State
Willie Blasher linebacker Oregon
Charley Bloxsom Guard Miami (FL)
James Willie Brown Tackle Louisville
Antonio Castle Wide receiver Eastern New Mexico
Ronnie Cullins Cornerback Colorado
Darryl Drake Wide receiver Western Kentucky
Phil DuBois Tight End San Diego State
Ricky Dunaway Safety Tulane
Keith Ellis Wide receiver New Mexico
Tony Hernandez Defensive back BYU
Neal Olkewicz Linebacker Maryland
Louis Orlando III Center Yale
Pedro Posadas Kicker Louisville
Jonathan Sutton Safety New Mexico
Ray Waddy Cornerback Texas A&I
Jimmy Jaye Wells Center Wisconsin–Superior
Dale White Defensive tackle Arkansas
Anthony Young Safety Jackson State

Personnel

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Staff

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1979 Washington Redskins staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Jack Pardee
  • Special Assistant to Head Coach – Bob Bowser

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – John Hilton



[2]

Roster

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1979 Washington Redskins roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

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Preseason

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Attendance
1 August 4 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 9–7 1–0 Tampa Stadium 64,493
2 August 11 at Denver Broncos L 6–13 1–1 Mile High Stadium 58,799
3 August 18 at Atlanta Falcons W 16–6 2–1 Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium 52,478
4 August 24 Cleveland Browns L 9–21 2–2 RFK Stadium 40,039

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site Attendance Recap
1 September 2 Houston Oilers L 27–29 0–1 RFK Stadium 54,582 Recap
2 September 9 at Detroit Lions W 27–24 1–1 Pontiac Silverdome 54,991 Recap
3 September 17 New York Giants W 27–0 2–1 RFK Stadium 54,672 Recap
4 September 23 at St. Louis Cardinals W 17–7 3–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 50,680 Recap
5 September 30 at Atlanta Falcons W 16–7 4–1 Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium 56,819 Recap
6 October 7 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–28 4–2 Veterans Stadium 69,142 Recap
7 October 14 at Cleveland Browns W 13–9 5–2 Cleveland Stadium 63,323 Recap
8 October 21 Philadelphia Eagles W 17–7 6–2 RFK Stadium 54,442 Recap
9 October 28 New Orleans Saints L 10–14 6–3 RFK Stadium 52,133 Recap
10 November 4 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–38 6–4 Three Rivers Stadium 49,462 Recap
11 November 11 St. Louis Cardinals W 30–28 7–4 RFK Stadium 50,868 Recap
12 November 18 Dallas Cowboys W 34–20 8–4 RFK Stadium 55,031 Recap
13 November 25 at New York Giants L 6–14 8–5 Giants Stadium 72,641 Recap
14 December 2 Green Bay Packers W 38–21 9–5 RFK Stadium 51,682 Recap
15 December 9 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–14 10–5 RFK Stadium 52,882 Recap
16 December 16 at Dallas Cowboys L 34–35 10–6 Texas Stadium 62,867 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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[4]

Week 1: vs. Houston Oilers

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See also: 1979 Houston Oilers season
Week 1: Houston Oilers at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oilers 6 0 71629
Redskins 0 17 7327

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 2: at Detroit Lions

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See also: 1979 Detroit Lions season
Week 2: Washington Redskins at Detroit Lions
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 17 7327
Lions 3 0 02124

at Pontiac Silverdome • Pontiac, Michigan

Game information

Week 3: vs. New York Giants

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See also: 1979 New York Giants season
Week 3: New York Giants at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 0 0 000
Redskins 3 14 7327

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 4: at St. Louis Cardinals

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See also: 1979 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) season
Week 4: Washington Redskins at St. Louis Cardinals
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 14 0 0317
Cardinals 0 0 707

at Busch Memorial Stadium • St. Louis, Missouri

Game information

Week 5: at Atlanta Falcons

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See also: 1979 Atlanta Falcons season
Week 5: Washington Redskins at Atlanta Falcons
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 3 10 3016
Falcons 7 0 007

at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium • Atlanta, Georgia

Game information

Week 6: at Philadelphia Eagles

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See also: 1979 Philadelphia Eagles season
Week 6: Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 7 01017
Eagles 7 7 14028

at Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Game information

Week 7: at Cleveland Browns

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See also: 1979 Cleveland Browns season
Week 7: Washington Redskins at Cleveland Browns
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 3 3713
Browns 0 6 309

at Cleveland Stadium • Cleveland, Ohio

Game information

Week 8: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

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Week 8: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Eagles 0 0 077
Redskins 0 7 7317

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 9: vs. New Orleans Saints

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See also: 1979 New Orleans Saints season
Week 9: New Orleans Saints at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Saints 7 7 0014
Redskins 3 7 0010

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 10: at Pittsburgh Steelers

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See also: 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Week 10: Washington Redskins at Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 7 007
Steelers 7 17 7738

at Three Rivers Stadium • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Week 11: vs. St. Louis Cardinals

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Week 11: St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 7 0 02128
Redskins 7 10 31030

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 12: vs. Dallas Cowboys

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See also: 1979 Dallas Cowboys season
Week 12: Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cowboys 0 3 31420
Redskins 7 7 101034

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 13: at New York Giants

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Week 13: Washington Redskins at New York Giants
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 3 306
Giants 7 0 0714

at Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Week 14: vs. Green Bay Packers

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See also: 1979 Green Bay Packers season
Week 14: Green Bay Packers at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Packers 0 21 0021
Redskins 7 0 72438

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

This would prove the last time the Green Bay Packers would ever play at RFK Stadium before its closure in 1997: in fact, the Packers would not play an away game against the Redskins again until 2004.[5] This occurred because between 1978 and the admission of the Texans in 2002, non-division conference matchups had no rotation but were entirely based upon previous season’s standings.

Week 15: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

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See also: 1979 Cincinnati Bengals season
Week 15: Cincinnati Bengals at Washington Redskins
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bengals 14 0 0014
Redskins 7 14 0728

at RFK Stadium • Washington, D.C.

Game information

Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys

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Week Sixteen: Washington Redskins (10–5) at Dallas Cowboys (10–5)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Redskins 10 7 01734
Cowboys 0 14 71435

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

The loss knocked the Redskins out of the playoffs.

Team Category Player Statistics
Redskins Passing Joe Theismann 12/23, 200 Yds, TD
Rushing John Riggins 22 Rush, 151 Yds, 2 TD
Receiving Benny Malone 1 Rec, 55 Yds, TD
Cowboys Passing Roger Staubach 24/42, 326 Yds, 3 TD, INT
Rushing Ron Springs 20 Rush, 79 Yds, TD
Receiving Tony Hill 8 Rec, 113 Yds, TD

Standings

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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

References

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  1. ^ "1979 Washington Redskins draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  2. ^ Washington Redskins 1979 Press Guide. pp. 2–21.
  3. ^ "1979 Washington Redskins starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  4. ^ "1979 Washington Redskins Statistics & Players".
  5. ^ Urena, Ivan (2014). Pro Football Schedules: A Comple Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. pp. 15, 17. ISBN 9780786473519.
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