1979 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1979 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League, and the 12th overall. Fullback Pete Johnson powered his way to 15 touchdowns, but the Bengals struggled to their second straight 4–12 record. After the season, former Cleveland coach Forrest Gregg was named to replace Homer Rice as Bengals head coach. 1979 marked the end of an era, as the last remaining original Bengal, longtime center Bob Johnson, retired after 12 seasons, 2 in the AFL, and 10 in the NFL, all with the Bengals.

1979 Cincinnati Bengals season
General manager	Paul Brown
Head coach	Homer Rice
Home stadium	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
← 1978 Bengals seasons 1980 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1979 NFL draft

1979 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Jack Thompson	Quarterback	Washington State
1	12	Charles Alexander	Running back	LSU
2	30	Dan Ross *	Tight end	Northeastern
3	59	Barney Cotton	Guard	Nebraska
4	84	Mike White	Defensive tackle	Albany State
4	91	Vaughn Lusby	Defensive back	Arkansas
5	113	Casey Merrill	Defensive end	UC Davis
6	139	Steve Kreider	Wide receiver	Lehigh
7	168	Max Montoya *	Guard	UCLA
8	194	Howie Kurnick	Linebacker	Cincinnati
9	223	Scott Burk	Defensive back	Oklahoma State
10	250	Nathan Poole	Running back	Louisville
11	278	Ken Bungarda	Offensive tackle	Missouri
12	304	Jim Browner	Defensive back	Notre Dame
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

1979 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office President – John Sawyer General Manager – Paul Brown Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Homer Rice Offensive coaches Offensive Backfield – George Sefcik Receivers – Boyd Dowler Offensive Line – Mike McCormack

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Howard Brinker Defensive Line – Dick Modzelewski Defensive Backfield – Charley Winner Special teams coaches Special Teams – Frank Gansz Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1979 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Ken Anderson 12 Jack Thompson Running backs (RB) 40 Charles Alexander 45 Archie Griffin 46 Pete Johnson 35 Nathan Poole 22 Deacon Turner Wide receivers (WR) 84 Don Bass 85 Isaac Curtis 86 Steve Kreider 88 Mike Levenseller Tight ends (TE) 81 Jim Corbett 89 Dan Ross 88 Rick Walker

Offensive linemen (OL) 74 Glenn Bujnoch G 58 Blair Bush C 70 Barney Cotton G 66 Mark Donahue G 76 Vernon Holland T 54 Bob Johnson C 62 Dave Lapham G/C 65 Max Montoya G/T 77 Mike Wilson T Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Ross Browner DE 67 Gary Burley DE 73 Eddie Edwards DT 72 Mack Mitchell DE 63 Mike White DT 75 Wilson Whitley DT

Linebackers (LB) 50 Glenn Cameron OLB 52 Tom Dinkel OLB 53 Bo Harris OLB 59 Howard Kurnick OLB 55 Jim LeClair MLB 51 Tom Ruud OLB Defensive backs (DB) 21 Jim Browner SS 28 Scott Burk SS 24 Marvin Cobb CB/S 29 Vaughn Lusby CB 44 Ray Griffin CB 30 Dick Jauron FS 32 Scott Perry FS 13 Ken Riley CB Special teams (ST) 10 Chris Bahr K 87 Pat McInally P

Reserve 34 Louis Breeden CB (IR) 82 Billy Brooks WR (IR) 57 Reggie Williams LB (IR) Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 2	at Denver Broncos	L 0–10	0–1	Mile High Stadium	74,788
2	September 9	at Buffalo Bills	L 24–51	0–2	Rich Stadium	43,504
3	September 16	New England Patriots	L 14–20	0–3	Riverfront Stadium	41,805
4	September 23	Houston Oilers	L 27–30	0–4	Riverfront Stadium	45,615
5	September 30	at Dallas Cowboys	L 13–38	0–5	Texas Stadium	63,179
6	October 7	Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–10	0–6	Riverfront Stadium	40,041
7	October 14	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–10	1–6	Riverfront Stadium	52,381
8	October 21	at Cleveland Browns	L 27–28	1–7	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	75,119
9	October 28	Philadelphia Eagles	W 37–13	2–7	Riverfront Stadium	42,036
10	November 4	at Baltimore Colts	L 28–38	2–8	Municipal Stadium	37,740
11	November 11	San Diego Chargers	L 24–26	2–9	Riverfront Stadium	40,782
12	November 18	at Houston Oilers	L 21–42	2–10	Astrodome	49,829
13	November 25	St. Louis Cardinals	W 34–28	3–10	Riverfront Stadium	25,103
14	December 2	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–37	3–11	Three Rivers Stadium	46,521
15	December 9	at Washington Redskins	L 14–28	3–12	RFK Stadium	52,882
16	December 16	Cleveland Browns	W 16–12	4–12	Riverfront Stadium	42,183
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(2)	12	4	0	.750	4–2	9–3	416	262	W1
Houston Oilers(4)	11	5	0	.688	4–2	9–3	362	331	L1
Cleveland Browns	9	7	0	.563	2–4	6–6	359	352	L2
Cincinnati Bengals	4	12	0	.250	2–4	2–10	337	421	W1