The 1979 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 10th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

, and 20th overall. Head coach

Chuck Knox Charles Robert Knox (April 27, 1932 – May 12, 2018) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He served as head coach of three National Football League (NFL) teams, the Los Angeles Rams (1973–197 ...

spent his second season with the Bills in 1979, improving on 1978's record by two games. The Bills were 7–6 with three games left to play, but they lost their final three games to finish with a losing record. (Even if Buffalo had won their final three games, they still would have lost the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Miami Dolphins (who finished 10–6) for the division title.) Buffalo's loss to Miami in Week Seven was their 20th straight loss to the Dolphins, an NFL record. The 1979 Bills were dead-last in rushing yards in the NFL, with only total 1,621 yards on the ground. Buffalo's 268 points scored was 23rd of the league's 28 teams.

Offseason

NFL draft

Three of Buffalo's first four picks made at least one Pro Bowl: wide receiver

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) was an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, who were inducted into the Rock and ...

, nose tackle

Fred Smerlas Frederic Charles Smerlas (born April 8, 1957) is an American former professional football player who was a nose tackle for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A five-time Pro Bowl selection with the Buffalo Bills, he also played f ...

, and linebacker

Jim Haslett James Donald Haslett (born December 9, 1955) is an American football coach and former linebacker who was most recently the head coach of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He played college football for the IUP Crimson Hawks before being dra ...

. Haslett was named 1979 AP Rookie of the Year. Smerlas made five Pro Bowls in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. Defensive end Ken Johnson, center Jon Borchardt, and defensive backs

Jeff Nixon Jeffry Allen Nixon (born October 13, 1956) is an American former college and professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He played college football at ...

and

Rod Kush Rod Kush (born December 29, 1956), is also known as "the Krusher". He is an American former professional football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a pro ...

all played for the Bills for six years from 1979 to 1984.

Tom Cousineau

Ohio State linebacker Cousineau was drafted first overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Bills, who acquired the pick from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in a trade for

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...

. Cousineau never played a game with the Bills. He instead signed with the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

where they offered double the money that the Bills originally offered. Cousineau became a star there, becoming the

Grey Cup Most Valuable Player The Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is awarded annually since 1959 to the player of the winning team who deemed to have had the best performance in the Grey Cup Game, the Canadian Football League's championship game. This award is prese ...

in the 1979 season. Cousineau wanted to return to the NFL, and in 1982 the Houston Oilers attempted to sign him, but the Bills (who still held Cousineau's NFL rights) matched the offer. He was then traded from the Bills to the Cleveland Browns for a first-round draft choice (14th overall) in the

1983 NFL draft The 1983 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sh ...

,Sports People; Browns Get Cousineau
from the New York Times archives, retrieved March 8, 2006 which would be used on future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

quarterback

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers o ...

. Cousineau signed a five-year contract for 2.5 million dollars, the most ever for a Cleveland Brown player at the time.

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Staff/coaches

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Standings

Season summary

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13 at Patriots

Notes

References

Bills on Pro Football Reference

Bills on jt-sw.com

Bills Stats on jt-sw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 Buffalo Bills Season Buffalo Bills seasons

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...