The

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

season was the team's 20th year in professional football and its 10th with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Led by third-year head coach

Red Miller Robert "Red" Miller (October 31, 1927 – September 27, 2017) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1980. In his first year as Denver's head coach, h ...

, the Broncos were 10–6, second in the

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

, and made the

postseason The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

a third consecutive year.

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1

Pro-Football-Reference.com
/ref>

Week 5

* Date: September 30, 1979 * Network:

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

* Announcers:

Dick Enberg Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including N ...

and

Merlin Olsen Merlin Jay Olsen (; September 15, 1940 – March 11, 2010) was an American football player, announcer, and actor. For his entire 15-year professional football career he was a defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football Le ...

All-Pro

Dave Casper David John Casper (born February 2, 1952) nicknamed "the Ghost", is an American former football player best known for being a prominent member of the Oakland Raiders in the National Football League (NFL). He was a tight end and also played as a ...

returns to Oakland's starting lineup after four weeks as a second stringer, caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from

Ken Stabler Kenneth Michael Stabler (December 25, 1945 – July 8, 2015) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Nicknamed "Snake", he played col ...

to open the scoring as the Oakland Raiders upset the Denver Broncos, and ending their three-game losing streak. The Raiders used a two tight end formation throughout most of this game. Casper who reported late to training camp following a contract dispute caught four passes for 92 yards. Casper's final catch of the day was a 42-yard bomb from Stabler which set up one of two

Jim Breech James Thomas Breech (born April 11, 1956) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL), who played for Oakland Raiders in 1979 and Cincinnati Bengals from 1980-1992. Before his NFL career, Breech played for t ...

field goals in the final period. The Raiders drove 81 yards for their first touchdown late in the first quarter. Denver's Jim Turner made the score 7-3 late in the second period with a 19-yard field goal, but Larry Brunson's 50-yard kickoff return put the Raiders in scoring position and Mark Van Eeghen ran one yard for a touchdown 16 seconds before halftime. The Raiders, 2-3 used a four-man defensive line. It was a switch from their usual three-man front, and

Ray Guy William Ray Guy (December 22, 1949 – November 3, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a punter for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Guy was a first-team All-American selection ...

of Oakland contribute to the offensive frustrations of 3-2 Denver with some great punting. Guy's last punt pinned the Broncos near their goal line and linebacker Monte Johnson fell on the fumble in the end zone late in the game for the Raiders' final touchdown.

Standings

Playoffs

: The Oilers managed to shut down the Broncos offense for most of the game en route to a 13–7 win, holding the Broncos to 216 yards and recording six sacks. After

Toni Fritsch Anton K. "Toni" Fritsch (10 July 1945 – 14 September 2005) was an Austrian footballer who later started a successful career in American football in the United States. He is distinguished as being the first Austrian to play in the National Footba ...

kicked a 31-yard field goal on Houston's first drive, Denver marched 80 yards in 13 plays to score on quarterback

Craig Morton Larry Craig Morton (born February 5, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. He played college football at California, ...

's 7-yard touchdown pass to running back Dave Preston. From that point on, the Oilers controlled the rest of the game. With less than 3 minutes left in the first half, Houston advanced 74 yards to score on running back

Earl Campbell Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football player who played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. Kn ...

's 3-yard touchdown run. Although Campbell and starting quarterback

Dan Pastorini Dante Anthony Pastorini (born May 26, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. He played college football at Santa Clara University and wa ...

both missed the second half with injuries, the Oilers defense continued to dominate. In the fourth quarter, a 15-yard interception return by linebacker

Gregg Bingham Gregory Raleigh Bingham (born March 13, 1951) is a former National Football League linebacker, who played from 1973 through 1985 for the Houston Oilers. He played football at Chicago's Gordon Tech High School as a tight end and linebacker and w ...

set up Fritsch's 20-yard field goal with 4:18 left in regulation.

References

External links

Denver Broncos
– 1979 media guide

at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

Denver Broncos seasons 1979 in sports in Colorado {{Americanfootball-season-stub