1979 New York Giants season
NFL team season
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The 1979 New York Giants season was the franchise's 55th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Giants had a 6–10 record in 1979 and finished in fourth place in the National Football Conference East Division.[1]
The Giants were one of three franchises, not including the Seattle Seahawks (an expansion team that began play in 1976), which did not make the playoffs during any year of the 1970s. The others were the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints.[2]
Offseason
Before the 1979 NFL Draft, Bill Walsh, who was the new coach of the San Francisco 49ers, flew to Morehead State University with assistant coach Sam Wyche to work out quarterback Phil Simms.[3] Walsh was so impressed with him that he planned to draft Simms, actually preferring him over another young quarterback they scouted and ultimately drafted, Joe Montana.[4] The Giants, however, decided to make Simms their first-round pick to the surprise of many.[5] As Simms acknowledged, "most people have never heard of me."[5] When Simms' name was announced by Commissioner Pete Rozelle, his selection was booed loudly by Giants fans.[6] However, he became more popular with his teammates, who jokingly dubbed him "Prince Valiant" in his rookie training camp.[7]
Draft
| 1979 New York Giants draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Phil Simms * | QB | Morehead State | |
| 2 | 36 | Earnest Gray | WR | Memphis | |
| 4 | 90 | Phillip Tabor | DE | Oklahoma | |
| 5 | 117 | Cleveland Jackson | TE | UNLV | |
| 6 | 145 | Bob Torrey | RB | Penn State | |
| 6 | 158 | Eddie Hicks | RB | East Carolina | |
| 7 | 172 | Steve Alvers | TE | Miami (FL) | |
| 8 | 200 | D.K. Perry | DB | SMU | |
| 8 | 201 | Roy Simmons | OG | Georgia Tech | |
| 9 | 227 | Tom Rusk | LB | Iowa | |
| 10 | 256 | Dan Fowler | OG | Kentucky | |
| 11 | 282 | Mike Mince | DB | Fresno State | |
| 11 | 284 | Ken Johnson | RB | Miami (FL) | |
| 12 | 310 | Tim Gillespie | OG | NC State | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Personnel
Staff
| Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
|
Roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
| Reserve lists
| ||||||
Regular season
Simms won his first four starts in his rookie year.[9] He led the team to a 6–4 record as a starter, throwing for 1,743 yards and 13 touchdown passes, and was named to the NFL All Rookie Team.[10] According to his 1981 Topps trading card, he was runner-up in 1979 for Rookie of the Year, losing out to future teammate Ottis Anderson.[11]
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 2 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 17–23 | 0–1 | 67,366 |
| 2 | September 9 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 14–27 | 0–2 | 71,370 |
| 3 | September 17 | at Washington Redskins | L 0–27 | 0–3 | 54,672 |
| 4 | September 23 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 13–17 | 0–4 | 74,265 |
| 5 | September 30 | at New Orleans Saints | L 14–24 | 0–5 | 51,543 |
| 6 | October 7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 17–14 | 1–5 | 72,841 |
| 7 | October 14 | San Francisco 49ers | W 32–16 | 2–5 | 70,352 |
| 8 | October 21 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 21–17 | 3–5 | 44,362 |
| 9 | October 28 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 20–14 | 4–5 | 43,376 |
| 10 | November 4 | Dallas Cowboys | L 14–16 | 4–6 | 76,490 |
| 11 | November 11 | Atlanta Falcons | W 24–3 | 5–6 | 60,860 |
| 12 | November 18 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 3–31 | 5–7 | 70,261 |
| 13 | November 25 | Washington Redskins | W 14–6 | 6–7 | 72,641 |
| 14 | December 2 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 7–28 | 6–8 | 63,787 |
| 15 | December 9 | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 20–29 | 6–9 | 39,802 |
| 16 | December 16 | Baltimore Colts | L 7–31 | 6–10 | 58,711 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 6
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Standings
| NFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Dallas Cowboys(1) | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–2 | 10–2 | 371 | 313 | W3 |
| Philadelphia Eagles(4) | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 339 | 282 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 5–3 | 8–4 | 348 | 295 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–7 | 5–9 | 237 | 323 | L3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–6 | 4–8 | 307 | 358 | L1 |
See also
References
- ^ "1979 New York Giants". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on July 8, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ 2000 National Football League Record & Fact Book. New York City: Workman Publishing Company. 2000. pp. 293–295. ISBN 0-7611-1982-5.
- ^ Simms, Phil and Meier, Rick. Phil Simms On Passing. New York City: William Morrow and Company, 1998. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-688-16108-1.
- ^ King, Peter (August 27, 2001). "The Rating Game: NFL Quarterback". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
- ^ a b Katz, Michael (May 5, 1979). "Giants Defend 'Value' in Choice of Simms". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
- ^ Mooney, Roger. "No team takes Phil Simms first in today's NFL", The Bradenton Herald, April 22, 2007, p. 1D.
- ^ Katz, Michael (May 11, 1979). "Giants Test Simms in A Workout". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
- ^ "1979 New York Giants Draft". The Football Database. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
- ^ Smith, Michael David (November 17, 2020). "Tua Tagovailoa aims to be first rookie QB since Ben Roethlisberger to win first 4 starts". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ^ Neft, David S., Cohen, Richard M., and Korch, Rick. The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 to the Present. New York City: St. Martin's Press, 1994. p. 660. ISBN 0-312-11435-4.
- ^ Topps Football (1981). Card #55.
- ^ "Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 at New York Giants 17". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
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