1979 Cincinnati Bengals season

1979 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Homer Rice
General manager	Paul Brown
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1979 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 12th year in professional football and its tenth with the National Football League (NFL). 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.

Offseason

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 14 Ken Anderson 12 Jack Thompson Running backs 40 Charles Alexander FB 45 Archie Griffin 46 Pete Johnson FB 35 Nathan Poole FB 22 Deacon Turner KR Wide receivers 84 Don Bass 82 Billy Brooks 85 Isaac Curtis 86 Steve Kreider 88 Mike Levenseller		Tight ends 81 Jim Corbett 89 Dan Ross 83 Rick Walker Offensive linemen 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 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 50 Glenn Cameron MLB/OLB 52 Tom Dinkel OLB 53 Bo Harris OLB 59 Howard Kurnick OLB 55 Jim LeClair MLB 51 Tom Ruud OLB 57 Reggie Williams OLB		Defensive backs 34 Louis Breeden CB 21 Jim Browner SS 28 Scott Burk SS 24 Marvin Cobb CB/SS 29 Vaughn Lusby CB/PR 44 Ray Griffin CB 30 Dick Jauron FS 32 Scott Perry FS 13 Ken Riley CB Special teams 10 Chris Bahr K 87 Pat McInally P Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2, 1979	at Denver Broncos	L 10–0	74,788
2	September 9, 1979	at Buffalo Bills	L 51–24	43,504
3	September 16, 1979	New England Patriots	L 20–14	41,805
4	September 23, 1979	Houston Oilers	L 30–27	45,615
5	September 30, 1979	at Dallas Cowboys	L 38–13	63,179
6	October 7, 1979	Kansas City Chiefs	L 10–7	40,041
7	October 14, 1979	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–10	52,381
8	October 21, 1979	at Cleveland Browns	L 28–27	75,119
9	October 28, 1979	Philadelphia Eagles	W 37–13	42,036
10	November 4, 1979	at Baltimore Colts	L 38–28	37,740
11	November 11, 1979	San Diego Chargers	L 26–24	40,782
12	November 18, 1979	at Houston Oilers	L 42–21	49,829
13	November 25, 1979	St. Louis Cardinals	W 34–28	25,103
14	December 2, 1979	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 37–17	46,521
15	December 9, 1979	at Washington Redskins	L 28–14	52,882
16	December 16, 1979	Cleveland Browns	W 16–12	42,183

Standings

AFC Central
	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

References

1. "1979 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
2. "1979 Cincinnati Bengals starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.

External links

• 1979 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com