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1979 Buffalo Bills

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Record: 7-9-0, Finished 4th in AFC East Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 268 points (16.8/g), 23rd of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 279 points (17.4/g), 8th.
 Differential of -11 points (-0.7/g), 17th.
 Expected W-L: 7.6-8.4.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +7 (0.4/g), 7th.

Simple Rating System: Total -0.2, Offense: -3.3, Defense: 3.1, SoS: 0.4, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Chuck Knox (7-9-0)

1979 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Day Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 2 box L 0-1 Miami Dolphins 7 9 5 121 76 45 1 20 293 118 175 1
2 Sun September 9 box W 1-1 Cincinnati Bengals 51 24 23 455 246 209 2 16 335 201 134 3
3 Sun September 16 box L 1-2 @ San Diego Chargers 19 27 14 298 238 60 18 339 94 245 1
4 Sun September 23 box W 2-2 New York Jets 46 31 25 497 348 149 1 22 416 151 265 4
5 Sun September 30 box W 3-2 @ Baltimore Colts 31 13 16 374 308 66 2 18 349 265 84 2
6 Sun October 7 box L 3-3 Chicago Bears 0 7 7 106 42 64 2 15 258 18 240 2
7 Sun October 14 box L 3-4 @ Miami Dolphins 7 17 11 178 108 70 1 14 279 101 178 1
8 Sun October 21 box L 3-5 Baltimore Colts 13 14 20 324 242 82 2 12 261 151 110 2
9 Sun October 28 box W 4-5 @ Detroit Lions 20 17 18 424 319 105 3 20 377 169 208 1
10 Sun November 4 box L 4-6 New England Patriots 6 26 15 264 181 83 5 20 438 327 111 3
11 Sun November 11 box W 5-6 @ New York Jets 14 12 15 270 132 138 16 237 170 67 3
12 Sun November 18 box W 6-6 Green Bay Packers 19 12 20 400 213 187 1 14 290 195 95 5
13 Sun November 25 box W 7-6 @ New England Patriots 16 13 18 281 201 80 2 21 309 136 173 4
14 Sun December 2 box L 7-7 Denver Broncos 16 19 19 398 298 100 7 11 226 129 97 4
15 Sun December 9 box L 7-8 @ Minnesota Vikings 3 10 18 291 186 105 2 12 189 104 85 1
16 Sun December 16 box L 7-9 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 0 28 8 156 78 78 3 24 415 201 214 4

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 268 4837 982 4.9 252 241 465 3216 14 15 6.3 147 474 1621 11 3.4 83 34 19 22
Team Defense 279 5011 1022 4.9 273 193 382 2530 14 24 6.2 117 617 2481 18 4.0 137 41 17 19
Lg Rank Offense 23 21 25 14 9 25 3 7 27 28 26 27 6 20
Lg Rank Defense 8 14 9 1 6 4 8 23 25 24 15 16 10 12

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
12 Joe Ferguson 29 QB 16 16 7-9-0 238 458 52.0 3572 14 3.1 15 3.3 84 7.8 6.9 15.0 223.3 74.4 43 387 6.4 5.6 8.6
9 Bill Munson 38 3 0 3 7 42.9 31 0 0.0 0 0.0 16 4.4 4.4 10.3 10.3 56.2 0 0 4.4 4.4 0.0
Team Total 26.1 16 7-9-0 241 465 51.8 3603 14 3.0 15 3.2 84 7.7 6.9 15.0 225.2 74.2 43 387 6.3 5.6 8.5
Opp Total 16 193 382 50.5 2713 14 3.7 24 6.3 7.1 5.0 14.1 169.6 59.8 23 183 6.2 4.3

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
No. Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
47 Curtis Brown 25 FB 15 15 172 574 1 25 3.3 38.3 11.5 39 401 10.3 3 84 2.6 26.7 975 4 10
40 Terry Miller 23 RB 16 0 139 484 1 75 3.5 30.3 8.7 10 111 11.1 0 52 0.6 6.9 595 1 2
25 Roland Hooks 26 16 0 89 320 6 32 3.6 20.0 5.6 26 254 9.8 0 42 1.6 15.9 574 6 4
35 Mike Collier 26 16 1 34 130 2 22 3.8 8.1 2.1 7 43 6.1 0 19 0.4 2.7 173 2 3
12 Joe Ferguson 29 QB 16 16 22 68 1 15 3.1 4.3 1.4 68 1 5
23 Steve Powell 23 15 0 10 29 0 9 2.9 1.9 0.7 29 0 0
39 Dennis D. Johnson 23 3 0 3 5 0 2 1.7 1.7 1.0 5 0 0
82 Frank Lewis 32 WR 15 15 2 -6 0 -1 -3.0 -0.4 0.1 54 1082 20.0 2 55 3.6 72.1 1076 2 1
80 Jerry Butler 22 WR 13 13 2 13 0 12 6.5 1.0 0.2 48 834 17.4 4 75 3.7 64.2 847 4 1
5 Nick Mike-Mayer 29 K 13 0 1 4 0 4 4.0 0.3 0.1 4 0 0
89 Lou Piccone 30 16 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 33 556 16.8 2 49 2.1 34.8 556 2 1
88 Reuben Gant 27 TE 14 14 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 19 245 12.9 2 22 1.4 17.5 245 2 1
87 Joe Shipp 24 16 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3 43 14.3 1 27 0.2 2.7 43 1 0
80 Danny Fulton 23 6 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 34 17.0 0 18 0.3 5.7 34 0 0
Team Total 26.1 16 474 1621 11 75 3.4 101.3 29.6 241 3603 15.0 14 84 15.1 225.2 5224 25 32
Opp Total 16 617 2481 18 4.0 155.1 38.6 193 2530 13.1 14 12.1 158.1 5011 32 31

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
46 Keith Moody 26 RET 16 0 38 318 0 32 8.4 27 556 0 35 20.6 874
40 Terry Miller 23 RB 16 0 8 160 0 24 20.0 755
35 Mike Collier 26 16 1 7 129 0 27 18.4 302
23 Steve Powell 23 15 0 6 97 0 36 16.2 126
86 Leonard Willis 26 7 0 4 92 0 33 23.0 92
47 Curtis Brown 25 FB 15 15 3 42 0 22 14.0 1017
89 Lou Piccone 30 16 4 3 41 0 17 13.7 597
52 Chris Keating 22 16 0 1 14 0 14 14.0 14
Team Total 26.1 16 38 318 0 32 8.4 59 1131 0 36 19.2 6673
Opp Total 16 61 1 54 1142 0 21.1

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
No. Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
4 Rusty Jackson 29 P 16 0 96 3671 60 0 38.2
5 Nick Mike-Mayer 29 K 13 0 8 8 10 8 11 4 29 20 69.0% 18 17 94.4%
6 Tom Dempsey 32 3 0 1 1 2 1 4 1 25.0% 11 8 72.7%
Team Total 26.1 16 1 1 8 8 12 8 12 4 33 21 63.6% 29 25 86.2% 96 3671 60 0 38.2
Opp Total 16 31 16 51.6% 34 27 79.4% 92 3514 38.2

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
47 Curtis Brown 25 FB 15 15 10 1 0 0
80 Jerry Butler 22 WR 13 13 1 0 0 0
29 Mario Clark 25 LCB 16 16 5 95 0 36 0 1 12 0
35 Mike Collier 26 16 1 3 2 0 0
70 Joe Devlin 25 RT 16 16 0 2 0 0
12 Joe Ferguson 29 QB 16 16 5 3 0 0
22 Steve Freeman 26 SS 16 16 3 62 1 50 0 2 0 0
88 Reuben Gant 27 TE 14 14 1 0 0 0
21 Doug Greene 23 15 0 1 21 0 21
43 Tony Greene 30 FS 16 12 1 10 0 10 0 2 3 0
55 Jim Haslett 24 LILB 16 16 2 15 0 11 0 2 0 0
25 Roland Hooks 26 16 0 4 1 0 0
72 Ken Jones 27 LT 16 16 0 1 0 0
71 Mike Kadish 29 NT 16 13 0 2 4 0
82 Frank Lewis 32 WR 15 15 1 0 0 0
40 Terry Miller 23 RB 16 0 2 1 0 0
46 Keith Moody 26 RET 16 0 4 2 5 0
59 Shane Nelson 24 RILB 16 16 1 13 0 13 0 1 0 0
38 Jeff Nixon 23 16 4 6 81 0 43
61 Willie Parker 31 C 16 16 0 1 0 0
89 Lou Piccone 30 16 4 1 0 0 0
58 Isiah Robertson 30 LOLB 16 16 2 29 1 23 0 2 12 0
26 Charles Romes 25 RCB 16 16 1 0 0 0 0 1 -10 0
57 Lucius Sanford 23 ROLB 16 16 2 44 0 25
76 Fred Smerlas 22 13 3 0 3 23 1
Team Total 26.1 16 24 370 2 50 32 30 49 1
Opp Total 16 43 31 14

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
5 Nick Mike-Mayer 29 K 13 0 17 20 77
25 Roland Hooks 26 16 0 6 6 36
47 Curtis Brown 25 FB 15 15 1 3 4 24
80 Jerry Butler 22 WR 13 13 4 4 24
35 Mike Collier 26 16 1 2 2 12
88 Reuben Gant 27 TE 14 14 2 2 12
82 Frank Lewis 32 WR 15 15 2 2 12
89 Lou Piccone 30 16 4 2 2 12
6 Tom Dempsey 32 3 0 8 1 11
12 Joe Ferguson 29 QB 16 16 1 1 6
22 Steve Freeman 26 SS 16 16 1 1 6
40 Terry Miller 23 RB 16 0 1 1 6
58 Isiah Robertson 30 LOLB 16 16 1 1 6
26 Charles Romes 25 RCB 16 16 1 1 6
57 Lucius Sanford 23 ROLB 16 16 1 1 6
87 Joe Shipp 24 16 2 1 1 6
76 Fred Smerlas 22 13 3 1 1 6
Team Total 26.1 16 11 14 1 2 2 30 25 21 268
Opp Total 16 18 14 1 27 16 279