1979 Dallas Cowboys Statistics
Team Record: 11-5
Finishing 1st in the NFL's East Division of the National Football Conference
Postseason: 0-1 Lost Division Playoff
Coach: Tom Landry (11-5)
Location: Dallas, Texas
1979 Dallas Cowboys Results
The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League ended the 1979 season with a record of 11 wins and 5 losses, finishing first in the NFL's East Division of the National Football Conference. The team compiled a postseason mark of 0-1.
Dallas moved the ball well, scoring 371 points, while the defensive squad surrendered 313. Roger Staubach led the charge, passing for 3,586 yards. Tony Hill paced pass catchers, hauling in 60 passes for 1,062 yards. Tony Dorsett and Drew Pearson were targeted regularly as well.
Tony Dorsett ran for a team-best 1,107 yards for the Cowboys.
Benny Barnes, Cliff Harris, Aaron Kyle, Randy Hughes and D.D. Lewis each snatched 2 opponent throws.
Tom Landry coached the team. The 1979 Dallas Cowboys lost in the Division Playoff.
Click on column headings to sort.
Passing:
| Player | Att | Comp | Comp % | Yds | Yds/Att | TDs | TD % | Ints | Int % | Long | Sacked | Yds Lost | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Staubach | 461 | 267 | 57.9 | 3586 | 7.8 | 27 | 5.9 | 11 | 2.4 | 75 | 36 | 240 | 92.3 |
| Danny White | 39 | 19 | 48.7 | 267 | 6.8 | 1 | 2.6 | 2 | 5.1 | 45 | 4 | 46 | 58.4 |
| Ron Springs | 3 | 1 | 33.3 | 30 | 10.0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 111.1 |
| Totals | 503 | 287 | 57.1 | 3883 | 7.7 | 29 | 5.8 | 13 | 2.6 | 75 | 41 | 290 |
Rushing:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Dorsett | 250 | 1107 | 4.4 | 41 | 6 |
| Robert Newhouse | 124 | 449 | 3.6 | 21 | 3 |
| Ron Springs | 67 | 248 | 3.7 | 15 | 2 |
| Scott Laidlaw | 69 | 236 | 3.4 | 15 | 3 |
| Roger Staubach | 37 | 172 | 4.6 | 20 | 0 |
| Larry Brinson | 14 | 48 | 3.4 | 10 | 0 |
| Drew Pearson | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Danny White | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 25 | 0 |
| Billy DuPree | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Tony Hill | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Preston Pearson | 7 | 14 | 2.0 | 11 | 1 |
| Butch Johnson | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Jay Saldi | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 |
| Totals | 578 | 2375 | 4.1 | 41 | 15 |
Receiving:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Hill | 60 | 1062 | 17.7 | 75 | 10 |
| Drew Pearson | 55 | 1026 | 18.7 | 56 | 8 |
| Tony Dorsett | 45 | 375 | 8.3 | 32 | 1 |
| Billy DuPree | 29 | 324 | 11.2 | 33 | 5 |
| Preston Pearson | 26 | 333 | 12.8 | 26 | 1 |
| Ron Springs | 25 | 251 | 10.0 | 27 | 1 |
| Jay Saldi | 14 | 181 | 12.9 | 23 | 1 |
| Scott Laidlaw | 12 | 59 | 4.9 | 12 | 0 |
| Robert Newhouse | 7 | 55 | 7.9 | 21 | 1 |
| Butch Johnson | 6 | 105 | 17.5 | 28 | 1 |
| Doug Cosbie | 5 | 36 | 7.2 | 12 | 0 |
| Steve Wilson | 3 | 76 | 25.3 | 45 | 0 |
| Totals | 287 | 3883 | 13.5 | 75 | 29 |
Kicking:
Punting:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny White | 76 | 3168 | 41.7 | 73 |
| Totals | 76 | 3168 | 41.7 | 73 |
Punt Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Wilson | 35 | 236 | 6.7 | 13 | 0 |
| Wade Manning | 10 | 55 | 5.5 | 17 | 0 |
| Tony Hill | 6 | 43 | 7.2 | 12 | 0 |
| Totals | 51 | 334 | 6.5 | 17 | 0 |
Kick Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Springs | 38 | 780 | 20.5 | 70 | 0 |
| Steve Wilson | 19 | 328 | 17.3 | 26 | 0 |
| Wade Manning | 7 | 145 | 20.7 | 47 | 0 |
| Tony Hill | 1 | 32 | 32.0 | 32 | 0 |
| Larry Brinson | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 17 | 0 |
| Bruce Huther | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Totals | 68 | 1316 | 19.4 | 70 | 0 |
Interceptions:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Hughes | 2 | 91 | 45.5 | 68 | 0 |
| Cliff Harris | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Benny Barnes | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 11 | 0 |
| D.D. Lewis | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Aaron Kyle | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Mitchell | 1 | 36 | 36.0 | 36 | 0 |
| Bruce Thornton | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Dennis Thurman | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 13 | 193 | 14.8 | 68 | 0 |
Defense and Fumbles:
| Player | Tackle | Brup | Fum | FRec | FYds | FTD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Staubach | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Benny Barnes | 0 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 0 | |
| Ron Springs | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Aaron Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cliff Harris | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tony Dorsett | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Randy White | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Billy DuPree | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Dennis Thurman | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Steve Wilson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Tom Rafferty | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Pat Donovan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Randy Hughes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim Cooper | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dave Stalls | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Scott Laidlaw | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Wade Manning | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Larry Brinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Robert Shaw | 1 | 0 | -34 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Doug Cosbie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Tony Hill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Danny White | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Robert Newhouse | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 34 | 22 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
Total Scoring:
| Touchdowns | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rush | Rec | Punt | Kick | MFG | Int | Fum | Other | FG | X/C | Single | 2Pt | Saf | Points |
| Rafael Septien | 19 | 40 | 0 | 97 | ||||||||||
| Tony Hill | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | ||||||
| Drew Pearson | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||||||||
| Tony Dorsett | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | ||||||||
| Billy DuPree | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||||||||
| Robert Newhouse | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||||||||
| Scott Laidlaw | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||||||||
| Ron Springs | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |||||||
| Preston Pearson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||
| Jay Saldi | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
| Butch Johnson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
| Benny Barnes | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
| Harvey Martin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Totals | 15 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 369 |
