1979 Season

The 1979 Dallas Cowboys season was their 20th in the league. The team was unable to improve on their previous output of 12–4, winning only eleven games.^[1] They qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the Divisional round.

The Cowboys still possessed a great offense, but suffered defensive losses as defensive tackle Jethro Pugh and safety Mark Washington retired, safety Charlie Waters missed the season with injury, Ed "Too Tall" Jones left the team while he embarked on a professional boxing career (Jones would return in 1980), and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson was cut in November for erratic play and behavior. The season began 8–2 before a three-game losing streak placed the season in jeopardy (one of the three being a 30–24 loss to Houston in which Oilers coach Bum Phillips declared the Oilers as "Texas's Team"). The team rallied to win their final three to finish at 11–5 and gain the number one seed in the NFC.

In the season's final regular season game against the Redskins, with the NFC East Title at issue, Roger Staubach rallied the Cowboys from a 34–21 deficit in the last four minutes to win, 35–34. It turned out to be Staubach's last win. The Cowboys were upset at home in the divisional playoff by the Rams and Staubach retired after the season.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2, 1979	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 22–21	50,855
2	September 9, 1979	at San Francisco 49ers	W 21–13	56,728
3	September 16, 1979	Chicago Bears	W 24–20	64,056
4	September 24, 1979	at Cleveland Browns	L 26–7	80,123
5	September 30, 1979	Cincinnati Bengals	W 38–13	63,179
6	October 7, 1979	at Minnesota Vikings	W 36–20	47,572
7	October 14, 1979	Los Angeles Rams	W 30–6	64,462
8	October 21, 1979	St. Louis Cardinals	W 22–13	64,300
9	October 28, 1979	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–3	50,199
10	November 4, 1979	at New York Giants	W 16–14	76,490
11	November 12, 1979	Philadelphia Eagles	L 31–21	62,417
12	November 18, 1979	at Washington Redskins	L 34–20	55,031
13	November 22, 1979	Houston Oilers	L 30–24	63,897
14	December 2, 1979	New York Giants	W 28–7	63,787
15	December 8, 1979	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–17	71,434
16	December 16, 1979	Washington Redskins	W 35–34	62,867

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1979 roster
Quarterbacks 18 Glenn Carano 12 Roger Staubach 11 Danny White P Running Backs 36 Larry Brinson 33 Tony Dorsett 35 Scott Laidlaw FB 44 Robert Newhouse FB 26 Preston Pearson 20 Ron Springs RB/FB/KR Wide Receivers 80 Tony Hill 86 Butch Johnson 88 Drew Pearson 81 Steve Wilson CB/PR Tight Ends 84 Doug Cosbie 89 Billy Joe DuPree 87 Jay Saldi		Offensive Linemen 61 Jim Cooper T/C 67 Pat Donovan T 62 John Fitzgerald C 71 Andy Frederick T 66 Burton Lawless G 64 Tom Rafferty G 68 Herbert Scott G 52 Robert Shaw C 70 Rayfield Wright T Defensive Linemen 76 Larry Bethea DT 63 Larry Cole DE/DT 78 John Dutton DE 79 Harvey Martin DE 65 Dave Stalls DT/DE 77 Bruce Thornton DE 54 Randy White DT		Linebackers 53 Bob Breunig MLB 59 Guy Brown OLB 58 Mike Hegman OLB 57 Bruce Huther MLB 50 D. D. Lewis OLB Defensive Backs 31 Benny Barnes CB 43 Cliff Harris FS 42 Randy Hughes SS 25 Aaron Kyle CB 22 Wade Manning CB/WR 34 Aaron Mitchell CB 32 Dennis Thurman FS/CB Special Teams  1 Rafael Septien K		Reserve Lists 41 Charlie Waters FS (IR)  Rookies in italics 45 Active, 1 Inactive