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1979 St. Louis Cardinals season
1979 St. Louis Cardinals season
Owner	Bill Bidwill
Head coach	Bud Wilkinson; Larry Wilson (interim)
Home field	Busch Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	5th NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	G Bob Young; RB Ottis Anderson; CB Roger Wehrli
	← 1978; Cardinals seasons; 1980 →;

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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1979 St. Louis Cardinals draft
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 Owner – Bill Bidwill Vice President of Operations – Joe Sullivan Director of Pro Personnel – Larry Wilson Head coaches Head Coach – Bud Wilkinson Interim HC – Larry Wilson Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Harry Gilmer Offensive Backfield – Jim Sweeney Offensive Line – Duane Putnam Special Assistant – Leon McLaughlin			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Tom Bettis Defensive Line – Rudy Feldman Defensive Secondary – Fred Glick Special teams coaches Special Teams – Jerry Thompson Strength and conditioning Flexibility and Strength – Don Brown

Roster

**1979 St. Louis Cardinals roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Jim Hart 14 Mike Loyd 15 Steve Pisarkiewicz Running backs (RB) 32 Ottis Anderson 33 Theotis Brown FB 39 Willard Harrell 40 Randy Love 24 Wayne Morris FB Wide receivers (WR) 86 Jimmy Childs 85 Mel Gray 25 Roy Green 84 Dave Stief 83 Pat Tilley Tight ends (TE) 80 Bill Murrell 87 Richard Osborne 89 Gary Parris		Offensive linemen (OL) 54 Tom Banks C 61 Chuck Brown G 71 Joe Bostic T 51 Tom Brahaney C 66 George Collins T 65 Brad Oates G 68 Terry Stieve G 62 Keith Wortman T 64 Bob Young G Defensive linemen (DL) 76 Charlie Davis DT 73 Mike Dawson DE 82 Bob Pollard DE 79 Jim Ramey DE 70 Keith Simons DT 78 Ron Yankowski DE		Linebackers (LB) 50 Kurt Allerman 57 Mark Arneson 58 John Barefield 52 Sean Claney 59 Calvin Favron 60 Chris Garlich 55 Eric Williams Defensive backs (DB) 27 Carl Allen CB 37 Ken Greene SS 48 Steve Henry CB 38 Lee Nelson FS 45 Perry Smith 23 Ken Stone FS 22 Roger Wehrli CB Special teams 12 Steve Little K/P		Reserve 81 Mark Bell WR (IR) 72 Dan Dierdorf T (IR) 56 Tim Kearney LB (IR) 46 Jeff Lee WR (IR) -- Leo Lewis WR (IR) 26 Thomas Lott RB (IR) 53 Steve Neils LB (IR) 36 Rod Phillips RB (IR) 75 Bob Rozier DE (IR) 63 John Zook DE (IR) 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
view talk edit	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

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