1979 Green Bay Packers season

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1979 Green Bay Packers season
Head coachBart Starr
Home fieldLambeau Field
Milwaukee County Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place4th NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1979 Green Bay Packers season was their 61st season overall and their 59th in the National Football League. The team posted a 5–11 record under coach Bart Starr, earning them a fourth-place finish in the NFC Central division. The offense was still one of the worst in the NFL and the defense could not pick up the slack finishing dead last against the run.

The only notable win the Packers had was a 27–14 victory on a Monday night against the New England Patriots, the first night game at Lambeau Field (previous night games had to be played at Milwaukee County Stadium, since Lambeau Field's original light standards were insufficient for night broadcasts). The Packers also defeated the archrival Minnesota Vikings at home for the first time since 1970.

Offseason[edit]

Draft[edit]

1979 Green Bay Packers draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 15 Eddie Lee Ivery Running back Georgia Tech
2 44 Steve Atkins Running Back Maryland
3 71 Charles Johnson Defensive tackle Maryland
6 153 Dave Simmons Linebacker North Carolina
7 184 Rich Wingo Linebacker Alabama
8 193 Ron Cassidy Wide receiver Utah State
9 235 John Thompson Tight end Utah State
10 264 Frank Lockett Wide Receiver Nebraska
11 290 Mark Thorson Defensive back Ottawa
12 318 Bill Moats Punter South Dakota

Undrafted free agents[edit]

1979 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Kyle Grossart Quarterback Oregon State
Bobby Kimball Wide Receiver Oklahoma
Randy Hughley Linebacker Wyoming
Scott O'Brien Defensive end Wisconsin–Superior
Bob Pfister Defensive Tackle Arizona State
James Pickens Defensive Back Michigan
Michael Rieker Quarterback Lehigh
Ron Smith Linebacker Clemson

Roster[edit]

1979 Green Bay Packers Final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Injured Reserve

Practice Squad

Rookies in italics

Regular season[edit]

Schedule[edit]

Week Opponent Result Stadium Record Attendance
1 at Chicago Bears L 3–6 Soldier Field 0–1 56,515
2 New Orleans Saints W 28–19 Milwaukee County Stadium 1–1 53,184
3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 21–10 Lambeau Field 1–2 55,498
4 at Minnesota Vikings L 27–21 (OT) Metropolitan Stadium 1–3 46,524
5 New England Patriots W 27–14 Lambeau Field 2–3 52,842
6 at Atlanta Falcons L 7–25 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 2–4 56,184
7 Detroit Lions W 24–16 Milwaukee County Stadium 3–4 53,930
8 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–21 Tampa Stadium 3–5 67,186
9 at Miami Dolphins L 7–27 Orange Bowl 3–6 47,741
10 New York Jets L 22–27 Lambeau Field 3–7 54,201
11 Minnesota Vikings W 19–7 Milwaukee County Stadium 4–7 52,706
12 at Buffalo Bills L 12–19 Rich Stadium 4–8 39,679
13 Philadelphia Eagles L 10–21 Lambeau Field 4–9 50,023
14 at Washington Redskins L 21–38 RFK Stadium 4–10 51,682
15 Chicago Bears L 14–15 Lambeau Field 4–11 54,207
16 at Detroit Lions W 18–13 Pontiac Silverdome 5–11 57,376

Season summary[edit]

Week 15: vs. Chicago Bears[edit]

Week 15: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Period 1 2 34Total
Bears 3 3 0915
Packers 0 7 0714

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Game information

Standings[edit]

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

In popular media[edit]

The Packers versus Bears game of week 15 was used in an episode of That '70s Show ("Street Fighting Man") and was part of the seventh season. Eric invites his father, Red, to the game at Lambeau Field. Oddly, the Packers win in this episode, as opposed to real life, where they lost.[1] Eric refers to the Bears as the "underdogs", when the Packers would have likely been the underdogs in the game, since the Packers were 4–10 heading into the game and the Bears were 9–5 heading to the game.

References[edit]