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1979 Dallas Cowboys

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Record: 11-5-0, Finished 1st in NFC East Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 371 points (23.2/g), 5th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 313 points (19.6/g), 12th.
 Differential of 58 points (3.6/g), 5th.
 Expected W-L: 9.6-6.4.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -11 (-0.7/g), 25th.

Coached by Tom Landry (11-5-0)

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

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 2 box W 1-0 @ St. Louis Cardinals 22 21 24 455 294 161 1 17 342 105 237 2
2 Sun September 9 box W 2-0 @ San Francisco 49ers 21 13 19 347 249 98 1 16 294 231 63 2
3 Sun September 16 box W 3-0 Chicago Bears 24 20 26 420 206 214 3 14 318 118 200 2
4 Mon September 24 box L 3-1 @ Cleveland Browns 7 26 20 394 271 123 5 15 311 229 82 1
5 Sun September 30 box W 4-1 Cincinnati Bengals 38 13 24 370 176 194 1 20 285 181 104 3
6 Sun October 7 box W 5-1 @ Minnesota Vikings 36 20 25 446 167 279 2 14 240 179 61 2
7 Sun October 14 box W 6-1 Los Angeles Rams 30 6 23 403 202 201 1 11 158 99 59 3
8 Sun October 21 box W 7-1 St. Louis Cardinals 22 13 12 319 164 155 3 18 235 98 137 2
9 Sun October 28 box L 7-2 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 3 14 16 278 199 79 1 16 288 115 173
10 Sun November 4 box W 8-2 @ New York Giants 16 14 19 344 238 106 1 12 249 133 116 1
11 Mon November 12 box L 8-3 Philadelphia Eagles 21 31 17 408 285 123 3 17 328 158 170
12 Sun November 18 box L 8-4 @ Washington Redskins 20 34 27 384 299 85 5 19 306 202 104
13 Thu November 22 box L 8-5 Houston Oilers 24 30 20 371 279 92 3 17 378 154 224
14 Sun December 2 box W 9-5 New York Giants 28 7 21 316 150 166 14 197 98 99 3
15 Sat December 8 box W 10-5 @ Philadelphia Eagles 24 17 19 279 94 185 1 18 284 204 80 1
16 Sun December 16 box W 11-5 Washington Redskins 35 34 27 434 320 114 3 21 373 167 206 1
Playoffs
Division Sun December 30 box L 11-6 Los Angeles Rams 19 21

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 371 5968 1122 5.3 339 287 503 3593 29 13 6.6 195 578 2375 15 4.1 122 34 21 22
Team Defense 313 4586 978 4.7 413 207 435 2471 21 13 5.2 134 500 2115 15 4.2 259 23 10 20
Lg Rank Offense 5 2 2 8 4 2 1 5 8 10 18 11 6 24
Lg Rank Defense 12 8 4 6 3 15 28 8 4 11 10 20 28 28

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS 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%
Roger Staubach* 37 QB 16 16 267 461 57.9 3586 27 5.9 11 2.4 75 7.8 7.3 13.4 224.1 92.3 36 240 6.7 6.3 7.2
Danny White 27 P 16 0 19 39 48.7 267 1 2.6 2 5.1 45 6.8 4.8 14.1 16.7 58.4 4 46 5.1 3.3 9.3
Ron Springs 23 RET 16 0 1 3 33.3 30 1 33.3 0 0.0 30 10.0 13.3 30.0 1.9 111.1 1 4 6.5 9.0 25.0
Team Total 26.4 16 287 503 57.1 3883 29 5.8 13 2.6 75 7.7 7.1 13.5 242.7 90.2 41 290 6.6 6.1 7.5
Opp Total 16 207 435 47.6 2471 21 4.8 13 3.0 5.7 4.8 11.9 154.4 69.0 43 362 5.2 3.6

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
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
Tony Dorsett 25 RB 14 14 250 1107 6 41 4.4 79.1 17.9 45 375 8.3 1 32 3.2 26.8 1482 7 9
Robert Newhouse 29 FB 14 12 124 449 3 21 3.6 32.1 8.9 7 55 7.9 1 21 0.5 3.9 504 4 2
Scott Laidlaw 26 16 3 69 236 3 15 3.4 14.8 4.3 12 59 4.9 0 12 0.8 3.7 295 3 5
Ron Springs 23 RET 16 0 67 248 2 15 3.7 15.5 4.2 25 251 10.0 1 27 1.6 15.7 499 3 2
Roger Staubach* 37 QB 16 16 37 172 0 20 4.6 10.8 2.3 172 0 8
Larry Brinson 25 14 0 14 48 0 10 3.4 3.4 1.0 48 0 1
Preston Pearson 34 14 0 7 14 1 11 2.0 1.0 0.5 26 333 12.8 1 26 1.9 23.8 347 2 0
Drew Pearson 28 WR 15 0 3 27 0 16 9.0 1.8 0.2 55 1026 18.7 8 56 3.7 68.4 1053 8 0
Tony Hill* 23 WR 16 0 2 18 0 12 9.0 1.1 0.1 60 1062 17.7 10 75 3.8 66.4 1080 10 1
Billy Joe DuPree 29 TE 16 16 2 19 0 20 9.5 1.2 0.1 29 324 11.2 5 33 1.8 20.3 343 5 1
Jay Saldi 25 16 0 1 -1 0 -1 -1.0 -0.1 0.1 14 181 12.9 1 23 0.9 11.3 180 1 0
Butch Johnson 25 11 1 1 13 0 13 13.0 1.2 0.1 6 105 17.5 1 28 0.5 9.5 118 1 0
Danny White 27 P 16 0 1 25 0 25 25.0 1.6 0.1 25 0 1
Doug Cosbie 23 16 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 5 36 7.2 0 12 0.3 2.3 36 0 1
Steve Wilson 22 RET 16 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 3 76 25.3 0 45 0.2 4.8 76 0 1
Team Total 26.4 16 578 2375 15 41 4.1 148.4 36.1 287 3883 13.5 29 75 17.9 242.7 6258 44 34
Opp Total 16 500 2115 15 4.2 132.2 31.3 207 2471 11.9 21 12.9 154.4 4586 36 20

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Steve Wilson 22 RET 16 0 35 236 0 13 6.7 19 328 0 26 17.3 640
Ron Springs 23 RET 16 0 38 780 0 70 20.5 1279
Wade Manning 24 9 0 10 55 0 17 5.5 7 145 0 47 20.7 200
Tony Hill* 23 WR 16 0 6 43 0 12 7.2 1 32 0 32 32.0 1155
Larry Brinson 25 14 0 2 23 0 17 11.5 71
Bruce Huther 25 16 0 1 8 0 8 8.0 8
Team Total 26.4 16 51 334 0 17 6.5 68 1316 0 70 19.4 7908
Opp Total 16 34 0 68 1578 1 23.2

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0--19 20--29 30--39 40--49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
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
Danny White 27 P 16 0 76 3168 73 0 41.7
Rafael Septien 26 K 16 0 7 7 11 7 8 3 3 2 29 19 65.5% 44 40 90.9%
Team Total 26.4 16 7 7 11 7 8 3 3 2 29 19 65.5% 44 40 90.9% 76 3168 73 0 41.7
Opp Total 16 27 17 63.0% 38 34 89.5% 96 3917 40.8

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Benny Barnes 28 LCB 15 15 2 20 0 11 0 2 33 1
Larry Brinson 25 14 0 1 0 0 0
Jim Cooper 24 RT 15 11 0 1 0 0
Doug Cosbie 23 16 1 1 0 0 0
Pat Donovan* 26 LT 16 0 0 1 0 0
Tony Dorsett 25 RB 14 14 9 1 0 0
Billy Joe DuPree 29 TE 16 16 1 1 0 0
Cliff Harris* 31 FS 16 0 2 35 0 20 0 1 0 0
Tony Hill* 23 WR 16 0 1 0 0 0
Randy Hughes 26 SS 15 0 2 91 0 68 0 1 0 0
Aaron Kyle 25 RCB 16 16 2 0 0 0
Scott Laidlaw 26 16 3 5 0 0 0
D.D. Lewis 34 RLB 16 0 2 8 0 5
Wade Manning 24 9 0 1 0 0 0
Aaron Mitchell 23 16 1 1 36 0 36 0 1 0 0
Robert Newhouse 29 FB 14 12 2 0 0 0
Tom Rafferty 25 RG 16 16 0 1 0 0
Robert Shaw 23 16 1 1 0 -34 0
Ron Springs 23 RET 16 0 2 2 0 0
Dave Stalls 24 LDT 16 12 0 1 0 0
Roger Staubach* 37 QB 16 16 8 6 0 0
Bruce Thornton 21 16 0 1 3 0 3
Dennis Thurman 23 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Danny White 27 P 16 0 1 0 0 0
Randy White*+ 26 RDT 15 14 0 1 0 0
Steve Wilson 22 RET 16 0 1 1 0 0
Team Total 26.4 16 13 193 0 68 34 22 -1 1 1
Opp Total 16 41 20 10

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
Rafael Septien 26 K 16 0 40 19 97
Tony Hill* 23 WR 16 0 10 60
Drew Pearson 28 WR 15 0 8 48
Tony Dorsett 25 RB 14 14 6 1 42
Billy Joe DuPree 29 TE 16 16 5 30
Robert Newhouse 29 FB 14 12 3 1 24
Scott Laidlaw 26 16 3 3 18
Ron Springs 23 RET 16 0 2 1 18
Preston Pearson 34 14 0 1 1 12
Benny Barnes 28 LCB 15 15 1 6
Butch Johnson 25 11 1 1 6
Jay Saldi 25 16 0 1 6
Harvey Martin* 29 RDE 16 0 1 2
Team Total 26.4 16 15 29 1 40 19 1 369
Opp Total 16 15 21 1 34 17 313