1979 St. Louis Cardinals season
OwnerBill Bidwill
Head coachBud Wilkinson
Larry Wilson (interim)
Home fieldBusch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place5th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersG Bob Young
RB Ottis Anderson
CB Roger Wehrli

The 1979 St. Louis Cardinals season was the franchise's 60th year with the National Football League and its 20th season in St. Louis. Bud Wilkinson would be fired in Week 13 after starting 3–10; Larry Wilson, a Pro Football Hall of Fame safety for the Cardinals from 1960 to 1972, would take over as interim head coach and lead the Cardinals to a 2–1 record to finish the season. Wilson would not return for the 1980 season but would return as vice president and General Manager nine years later when the Cardinals had moved to Phoenix.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1979 St. Louis Cardinals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 9 Ottis Anderson *  Running back Miami (FL)
2 35 Theotis Brown  Running back UCLA
2 46 Calvin Favron  Linebacker Southeastern Louisiana
3 64 Joe Bostic  Offensive tackle Clemson
4 89 Roy Green *  Defensive back Henderson State
5 118 Steve Henry  Defensive back Emporia State
5 130 Mark Bell  Wide receiver Colorado State
6 144 Thomas Lott  Running back Oklahoma
7 173 Kirk Gibson  Wide receiver Michigan State
8 199 Larry Miller  Linebacker BYU
9 228 Bob Rozier  Defensive end California
10 255 Jerry Holloway  Tight end Western Illinois
12 309 Rick McBride  Linebacker Georgia
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1979 St. Louis Cardinals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Jerry Thompson

Strength and conditioning

  • Flexibility and Strength – Don Brown

Roster

1979 St. Louis Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 2 at Houston Oilers L 7–9 0–1 Houston Astrodome 46,252
2 August 9 Atlanta Falcons W 42–17 1–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,705
3 August 18 at Kansas City Chiefs L 3–20 1–2 Arrowhead Stadium 43,214
4 August 25 Chicago Bears W 10–7 2–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 43,541

[1]

Regular season

In his NFL debut, Ottis Anderson had 193 rushing yards.[2]

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 2 Dallas Cowboys L 21–22 0–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 50,855 Recap
2 September 9 at New York Giants W 27–14 1–1 Giants Stadium 71,370 Recap
3 September 16 Pittsburgh Steelers L 21–24 1–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 50,416 Recap
4 September 23 Washington Redskins L 7–17 1–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 50,680 Recap
5 September 30 at Los Angeles Rams L 0–21 1–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 48,160 Recap
6 October 7 at Houston Oilers W 24–17 2–4 Astrodome 53,043 Recap
7 October 14 Philadelphia Eagles L 20–24 2–5 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,367 Recap
8 October 21 at Dallas Cowboys L 13–22 2–6 Texas Stadium 64,300 Recap
9 October 28 Cleveland Browns L 20–38 2–7 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,845 Recap
10 November 4 Minnesota Vikings W 37–7 3–7 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,213 Recap
11 November 11 at Washington Redskins L 28–30 3–8 RFK Stadium 50,868 Recap
12 November 18 at Philadelphia Eagles L 13–16 3–9 Veterans Stadium 70,235 Recap
13 November 25 at Cincinnati Bengals L 28–34 3–10 Riverfront Stadium 25,103 Recap
14 December 2 San Francisco 49ers W 13–10 4–10 Busch Memorial Stadium 41,593 Recap
15 December 9 New York Giants W 29–20 5–10 Busch Memorial Stadium 39,802 Recap
16 December 16 at Chicago Bears L 6–42 5–11 Soldier Field 42,810 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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

Awards and records

  • Ottis Anderson, Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year[2]

Milestones

References

  1. ↑ "1979 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Sports Illustrated, Oct. 27, 2008, p.24, Vol. 109, No. 16
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