1979 Detroit Lions season

1979 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Monte Clark
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	2–14
Division place	5th NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1979 Detroit Lions season was the 50th season in franchise history. In the midst of what was a major rebuilding project, the woeful Lions finished the season with the worst record in the NFL and would have the first pick overall in the 1980 NFL Draft. Detroit entered the year as a favorite in the NFC Central, but a season-ending injury to quarterback Gary Danielson in the preseason forced the Lions to ultimately turn to a rookie ninth-round pick, Jeff Komlo, behind center, with disastrous results.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1	10	Keith Dorney	Tackle	Penn State
2	37	Ken Fantetti	Linebacker	Wyoming
3	67	Bo Robinson	Running Back	West Texas A&M
4	88	Ulysses Norris	Tight End	Georgia
4	92	Jon Brooks	Linebacker	Clemson
5	131	Walt Brown	Center	Pittsburgh
8	213	John Mohring	Linebacker	C.W. Post
9	231	Jeff Komlo	Quarterback	Delaware
11	302	Eddie Cole	Linebacker	Mississippi
12	313	Bob Forester	Center	Brown
12	326	Bryan Sweeney	Wide Receiver	Texas A&M-Kingsville

^[1]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 1, 1979	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 31–16	68,225
2	September 9, 1979	Washington Redskins	L 27–24	54,991
3	September 16, 1979	at New York Jets	L 31–10	49,612
4	September 23, 1979	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–23	56,249
5	September 30, 1979	Minnesota Vikings	L 13–10	75,295
6	October 7, 1979	at New England Patriots	L 24–17	60,629
7	October 14, 1979	at Green Bay Packers	L 24–16	53,930
8	October 21, 1979	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–7	57,428
9	October 28, 1979	Buffalo Bills	L 20–17	61,911
10	November 4, 1979	at Chicago Bears	L 35–7	50,108
11	November 11, 1979	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 16–14	70,461
12	November 18, 1979	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–7	43,650
13	November 22, 1979	Chicago Bears	W 20–0	66,219
14	December 2, 1979	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 44–7	66,128
15	December 9, 1979	Miami Dolphins	L 28–10	78,087
16	December 15, 1979	Green Bay Packers	L 18–13	57,376

^[2]

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Tampa Bay Buccaneers⁽²⁾	10	6	0	.625	6–2	8–6	273	237	W1
Chicago Bears⁽⁵⁾	10	6	0	.625	5–3	8–4	306	249	W3
Minnesota Vikings	7	9	0	.438	5–3	6–6	259	337	L1
Green Bay Packers	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–8	246	316	W1
Detroit Lions	2	14	0	.125	1–7	2–10	219	365	L3

Roster

Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Reserve Lists

Currently vacant

Rookies in italics

Player stats

Passing

Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions

Player	Games	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Rating
Jeff Komlo	16	183	368	2238	11	23	52.8
Scott Hunter	13	18	41	321	1	1	69.3
Joe Reed	2	14	32	164	2	1	67.7
Jerry Golsteyn	1	2	9	16	0	2	0.0
Tom Skladany	2	0	1	0	0	0	28.6
Larry Swider	14	1	1	36	0	0	118.7

^[3]

Rushing

Note: Att = Attempts; Yds = Yards; TD = Touchdowns

Player	Games	Att	Yds	TD	Long
Dexter Bussey	16	144	625	1	38
Rick Kane	16	94	332	4	26
Bo Robinson	14	87	302	2	29
Horace King	16	39	160	1	23
Jeff Komlo	16	30	107	2	16
Lawrence Gaines	16	23	55	0	6
Freddie Scott	14	6	21	0	18
Leonard Thompson	15	5	24	0	16
Ken Callicut	16	3	6	0	10
Scott Hunter	13	2	3	1	2
Joe Reed	2	2	11	0	11
David Hill	16	1	15	0	15
Gene A. Washington	16	1	24	0	24
Luther Blue	9	1	−8	0	−8
Jerry Golsteyn	1	1	0	0	0
Ed O'Neil	16	1	0	0	0
Larry Swider	14	1	0	0	0

^[3]

Receiving

Note: Rec = Receptions; Yds = Yards; Avg = Average Yards per Reception; TD = Touchdowns

Player	Games	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Freddie Scott	14	62	929	15.0	5	50
David Hill	16	47	569	12.1	3	40
Leonard Thompson	15	24	451	18.8	2	82
Horace King	16	18	150	8.3	0	30
Dexter Bussey	16	15	102	6.8	0	22
Gene A. Washington	16	14	192	13.7	1	29
Bo Robinson	14	14	118	8.4	0	14
Rick Kane	16	9	104	11.6	1	36
Luther Blue	9	8	102	12.8	1	26
Ulysses Norris	16	4	43	10.8	1	34
Ken Callicutt	16	2	16	8.0	0	11
Russ Bolinger	16	1	−1	−1.0	0	−1

^[3]

References

Detroit Lions

Founded in 1930 Formerly the Portsmouth Spartans (1930–1933) Based in Detroit, Michigan Headquartered in Allen Park, Michigan

Franchise	Franchise Team history Seasons Players First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches

Stadiums	Universal Stadium University of Detroit Stadium Tiger Stadium Pontiac Silverdome Ford Field

Culture	NFL on Thanksgiving Day Paper Lion (film) "What's Going On" (Marvin Gaye song) Home Improvement Cheerleaders

Lore	1932 Playoff Game Curse of Bobby Layne Mike Utley gives a thumbs up Marty Mornhinweg takes the wind "Fire Millen" 0–16 "Calvin Johnson rule" Miracle in Motown

Rivalries	Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings

Notable people	William Clay & Martha Firestone Ford Barry Sanders Bobby Layne Glenn Presnell

Division championships (4)	1935 1983 1991 1993

Conference championships (4)	1952 1953 1954 1957

League championships (4)	1935 1952 1953 1957

Broadcasters	Radio: Radio network Dan Miller Jim Brandstatter Tony Ortiz WJR TV: Television network Matt Shepard Chris Spielman Jennifer Hammond WJBK Fox Sports Detroit

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (87)	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Portsmouth Spartans–Detroit Lions seasons

Portsmouth Spartans 1930 1931 1932 1933 Detroit 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1979 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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