You Are Here > Pro-Football-Reference.com > Teams > Detroit Lions > 1979 Statistics & Players

1979 Detroit Lions

Franchise Index: Previous Season / Next Season

Record: 2-14-0, Finished 5th in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 219 points (13.7/g), 28th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 365 points (22.8/g), 23rd.
 Differential of -146 points (-9.1/g), 28th.
 Expected W-L: 3.7-12.3.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -20 (-1.2/g), 28th.

Coached by Monte Clark (2-14-0)

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 Sat September 1 box L 0-1 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 31 16 231 89 142 3 18 334 105 229 1
2 Sun September 9 box L 0-2 Washington Redskins 24 27 20 374 157 217 6 23 321 139 182 2
3 Sun September 16 box L 0-3 @ New York Jets 10 31 12 229 176 53 3 22 387 178 209 1
4 Sun September 23 box W 1-3 Atlanta Falcons 24 23 22 400 249 151 1 11 270 126 144 1
5 Sun September 30 box L 1-4 Minnesota Vikings 10 13 11 193 97 96 2 18 287 150 137 2
6 Sun October 7 box L 1-5 @ New England Patriots 17 24 9 211 156 55 3 22 251 111 140 2
7 Sun October 14 box L 1-6 @ Green Bay Packers 16 24 13 247 154 93 2 18 298 109 189 2
8 Sun October 21 box L 1-7 @ New Orleans Saints 7 17 13 197 117 80 4 18 284 125 159 3
9 Sun October 28 box L 1-8 Buffalo Bills 17 20 20 377 169 208 1 18 424 319 105 3
10 Sun November 4 box L 1-9 @ Chicago Bears 7 35 11 199 117 82 5 21 308 147 161
11 Sun November 11 box L 1-10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 16 16 267 229 38 3 17 286 182 104 1
12 Sun November 18 box L 1-11 @ Minnesota Vikings 7 14 13 167 102 65 3 20 295 121 174 1
13 Thu November 22 box W 2-11 Chicago Bears 20 0 18 331 225 106 3 14 220 142 78 3
14 Sun December 2 box L 2-12 @ Philadelphia Eagles 7 44 5 180 127 53 1 29 384 217 167 2
15 Sun December 9 box L 2-13 Miami Dolphins 10 28 10 182 100 82 3 22 321 179 142 2
16 Sat December 15 box L 2-14 Green Bay Packers 13 18 18 228 72 156 3 20 287 92 195

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 219 4013 944 4.3 227 218 452 2336 14 27 4.6 131 441 1677 11 3.8 85 46 19 11
Team Defense 365 4957 1085 4.6 480 220 402 2442 15 14 5.5 128 638 2515 22 3.9 311 26 12 41
Lg Rank Offense 28 26 27 16 23 25 26 25 28 25 26 21 26 20
Lg Rank Defense 23 11 16 2 2 8 26 10 27 25 20 12 27 25

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%
Jeff Komlo 23 QB 16 14 183 368 49.7 2238 11 3.0 23 6.3 40 6.1 3.6 12.2 139.9 52.8 40 361 4.6 2.3 9.8
Scott Hunter 32 13 0 18 41 43.9 321 1 2.4 1 2.4 82 7.8 7.0 17.8 24.7 69.3 4 33 6.4 5.6 8.9
Joe Reed 31 2 1 14 32 43.8 164 2 6.3 1 3.1 50 5.1 4.3 11.7 82.0 67.7 5 27 3.7 3.0 13.5
Jerry Golsteyn 25 1 1 2 9 22.2 16 0 0.0 2 22.2 15 1.8 -8.2 8.0 16.0 0.0 2 18 -0.2 -8.4 18.2
Tom Skladany 24 2 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Larry Swider 24 P 14 0 1 1 100.0 36 0 0.0 0 0.0 36 36.0 36.0 36.0 2.6 118.7 0 0 36.0 36.0 0.0
Team Total 25.7 16 218 452 48.2 2775 14 3.1 27 6.0 82 6.1 3.8 12.7 173.4 53.3 51 439 4.6 2.5 10.1
Opp Total 16 220 402 54.7 2442 15 3.7 14 3.5 6.1 4.9 11.1 152.6 70.9 45 345 5.5 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
Dexter Bussey 27 RB 16 10 144 625 1 38 4.3 39.1 9.0 15 102 6.8 0 22 0.9 6.4 727 1 3
Rick Kane 25 rb 16 6 94 332 4 26 3.5 20.8 5.9 9 104 11.6 1 36 0.6 6.5 436 5 4
Bo Robinson 23 FB 14 12 87 302 2 29 3.5 21.6 6.2 14 118 8.4 0 14 1.0 8.4 420 2 3
Horace King 26 16 4 39 160 1 23 4.1 10.0 2.4 18 150 8.3 0 30 1.1 9.4 310 1 1
Jeff Komlo 23 QB 16 14 30 107 2 16 3.6 6.7 1.9 107 2 11
Lawrence Gaines 26 16 0 23 55 0 6 2.4 3.4 1.4 55 0 1
Freddie Scott 27 WR 14 14 6 21 0 18 3.5 1.5 0.4 62 929 15.0 5 50 4.4 66.4 950 5 2
Leonard Thompson 27 15 1 5 24 0 16 4.8 1.6 0.3 24 451 18.8 2 82 1.6 30.1 475 2 3
Ken Callicutt 24 RET 16 0 3 6 0 10 2.0 0.4 0.2 2 16 8.0 0 11 0.1 1.0 22 0 2
Scott Hunter 32 13 0 2 3 1 2 1.5 0.2 0.2 3 1 0
Joe Reed 31 2 1 2 11 0 11 5.5 5.5 1.0 11 0 0
David Hill* 25 TE 16 15 1 15 0 15 15.0 0.9 0.1 47 569 12.1 3 40 2.9 35.6 584 3 1
Gene A. Washington 32 WR 16 0 1 24 0 24 24.0 1.5 0.1 14 192 13.7 1 29 0.9 12.0 216 1 0
Luther Blue 25 9 0 1 -8 0 -8 -8.0 -0.9 0.1 8 102 12.8 1 26 0.9 11.3 94 1 0
Jerry Golsteyn 25 1 1 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0 0 1
Ed O'Neil 27 LLB 16 12 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0 0 0
Larry Swider 24 P 14 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0 0 1
Ulysses Norris 22 16 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 4 43 10.8 1 34 0.3 2.7 43 1 0
Russ Bolinger 25 RG 16 16 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 -1 -1.0 0 -1 0.1 -0.1 -1 0 0
Team Total 25.7 16 441 1677 11 38 3.8 104.8 27.6 218 2775 12.7 14 82 13.6 173.4 4452 25 37
Opp Total 16 638 2515 22 3.9 157.2 39.9 220 2442 11.1 15 13.8 152.6 4957 37 30

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
John Arnold 24 RET 7 0 19 164 0 27 8.6 23 539 0 69 23.4 703
Ken Callicutt 24 RET 16 0 4 25 0 13 6.3 24 406 0 31 16.9 453
Leonard Thompson 27 15 1 9 117 0 31 13.0 6 151 0 26 25.2 743
Rick Kane 25 rb 16 6 13 281 0 37 21.6 717
Ken Ellis 32 7 0 8 43 0 15 5.4 43
Tony Leonard 26 1 0 1 7 0 7 7.0 3 70 0 28 23.3 77
Robert Woods 24 1 0 2 12 0 9 6.0 2 34 0 17 17.0 46
Ken Fantetti 22 mlb 16 8 2 18 0 17 9.0 18
Horace King 26 16 4 2 36 0 20 18.0 346
Luther Blue 25 9 0 1 26 0 26 26.0 120
William Gay 24 15 2 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Eddie Lewis 26 8 0 1 -1 0 -1 -1.0 -1
Wally Pesuit 25 16 0 1 5 0 5 5.0 5
Bo Robinson 23 FB 14 12 1 8 0 8 8.0 428
Team Total 25.7 16 45 372 0 31 8.3 78 1569 0 69 20.1 6393
Opp Total 16 57 1 51 987 1 19.4

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
Larry Swider 24 P 14 0 88 3523 72 0 40.0
Benny Ricardo 25 K 16 0 4 4 4 4 8 2 2 18 10 55.6% 26 25 96.2%
Tom Skladany 24 2 0 10 406 52 0 40.6
Team Total 25.7 16 4 4 4 4 8 2 2 18 10 55.6% 26 25 96.2% 98 3929 72 0 40.1
Opp Total 16 36 24 66.7% 42 41 97.6% 83 3320 40.0

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
Jimmy Allen 27 SS 16 14 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Al Baker* 23 RDE 16 16 0 1 0 0
Luther Bradley 24 RCB 16 16 4 11 0 11 0 1 0 0
Jon Brooks 22 15 0 0 1 0 0
Dexter Bussey 27 RB 16 10 3 0 0 0
Ken Callicutt 24 RET 16 0 2 1 0 0
Eddie Cole 23 15 2 0 1 0 0
Ken Ellis 32 7 0 1 1 0 0
Doug English 26 RDT 16 0 0 2 0 0 1
Dennis Franks 26 13 0 1 0 -10 0
Lawrence Gaines 26 16 0 1 0 0 0
Dave Gallagher 27 LDT 10 0 0 1 0 0
William Gay 24 15 2 1 1 0 1
Jerry Golsteyn 25 1 1 1 1 -1 0
David Hill* 25 TE 16 15 1 1 0 0
James Hunter 25 FS 15 15 3 6 0 6
Doug Jones 29 10 0 0 1 0 0
Rick Kane 25 rb 16 6 4 2 0 0
Horace King 26 16 4 1 2 0 0
Jeff Komlo 23 QB 16 14 11 6 -22 0
Tony Leonard 26 1 0 1 0 0 0
Dave Pureifory 30 LDE 15 15 0 1 37 0
Bo Robinson 23 FB 14 12 3 1 0 0
Freddie Scott 27 WR 14 14 2 1 0 0
Larry Swider 24 P 14 0 1 2 0 0
Leonard Thompson 27 15 1 3 0 0 0
Charlie Weaver 30 MLB 8 0 1 17 0 17 0 1 0 0
Walt Williams 25 LCB 12 7 2 39 1 36
Team Total 25.7 16 14 73 1 36 37 30 4 1 1
Opp Total 16 51 30 18

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
Benny Ricardo 25 K 16 0 25 10 55
Rick Kane 25 rb 16 6 4 1 30
Freddie Scott 27 WR 14 14 5 30
David Hill* 25 TE 16 15 3 18
Jeff Komlo 23 QB 16 14 2 12
Bo Robinson 23 FB 14 12 2 12
Leonard Thompson 27 15 1 2 12
Luther Blue 25 9 0 1 6
Dexter Bussey 27 RB 16 10 1 6
William Gay 24 15 2 1 6
Scott Hunter 32 13 0 1 6
Horace King 26 16 4 1 6
Ulysses Norris 22 16 2 1 6
Gene A. Washington 32 WR 16 0 1 6
Walt Williams 25 LCB 12 7 1 6
Doug English 26 RDT 16 0 1 2
Team Total 25.7 16 11 14 1 1 25 10 1 219
Opp Total 16 22 15 1 1 41 24 365