1979 New England Patriots Statistics
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 9-7
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's East Division of the American Football Conference
Coach: Ron Erhardt (9-7)
Location: Foxborough, Massachusetts
1979 New England Patriots RosterTeam Record: 9-7
Finishing 2nd in the NFL's East Division of the American Football Conference
Coach: Ron Erhardt (9-7)
Location: Foxborough, Massachusetts
1979 New England Patriots Results
The New England Patriots of the National Football League ended the 1979 season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses, finishing second in the NFL's East Division of the American Football Conference.
New England moved the ball well, scoring 411 points, while the defensive squad yielded 326. Steve Grogan triggered the aerial attack, throwing for 3,286 yards. Harold Jackson paced all receivers, catching 45 passes for 1,013 yards. Russ Francis and Stanley Morgan were targeted regularly, too.
Sam Cunningham rushed for a team-best 563 yards for the Patriots, while Horace Ivory and Don Calhoun additionally contributed to the rushing attack.
The opportunistic defense created 43 turnovers. Raymond Clayborn snatched 5 opponent throws.
Ron Erhardt coached the team.
Click on column headings to sort.
Passing:
| Player | Att | Comp | Comp % | Yds | Yds/Att | TDs | TD % | Ints | Int % | Long | Sacked | Yds Lost | Rating | Steve Grogan | 423 | 206 | 48.7 | 3286 | 7.8 | 28 | 6.6 | 20 | 4.7 | 63 | 45 | 341 | 77.4 | Tom Owen | 47 | 27 | 57.4 | 248 | 5.3 | 2 | 4.3 | 3 | 6.4 | 32 | 4 | 41 | 59.5 | Don Westbrook | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 52 | 26.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 118.8 | Matt Cavanaugh | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 108.3 | Eddie Hare | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 83.3 | Harold Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 475 | 237 | 49.9 | 3600 | 7.6 | 30 | 6.3 | 23 | 4.8 | 63 | 49 | 382 |
Rushing:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Sam Cunningham | 159 | 563 | 3.5 | 27 | 5 | Horace Ivory | 143 | 522 | 3.7 | 52 | 1 | Don Calhoun | 137 | 456 | 3.3 | 29 | 5 | Steve Grogan | 64 | 368 | 5.8 | 26 | 2 | Andy Johnson | 43 | 132 | 3.1 | 15 | 1 | Allan Clark | 19 | 84 | 4.4 | 19 | 2 | Mosi Tatupu | 23 | 71 | 3.1 | 12 | 0 | Stanley Morgan | 7 | 39 | 5.6 | 17 | 0 | Harold Jackson | 3 | 12 | 4.0 | 12 | 0 | Don Westbrook | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | Eddie Hare | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | Tom Owen | 2 | -1 | -0.5 | 0 | 0 | Matt Cavanaugh | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | -2 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 604 | 2252 | 3.7 | 52 | 16 |
Receiving:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Harold Jackson | 45 | 1013 | 22.5 | 59 | 7 | Stanley Morgan | 44 | 1002 | 22.8 | 63 | 12 | Russ Francis | 39 | 557 | 14.3 | 44 | 5 | Sam Cunningham | 29 | 236 | 8.1 | 20 | 0 | Horace Ivory | 23 | 216 | 9.4 | 24 | 2 | Don Calhoun | 15 | 66 | 4.4 | 14 | 1 | Don Hasselbeck | 13 | 158 | 12.2 | 41 | 0 | Don Westbrook | 9 | 173 | 19.2 | 38 | 1 | Andy Johnson | 9 | 68 | 7.6 | 11 | 0 | Carlos Pennywell | 4 | 35 | 8.8 | 13 | 1 | Allan Clark | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 20 | 0 | Ray Jarvis | 2 | 30 | 15.0 | 15 | 1 | Mosi Tatupu | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 5 | 0 | Al Chandler | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 237 | 3600 | 15.2 | 63 | 30 |
Kicking:
Punting:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | Eddie Hare | 83 | 3038 | 36.6 | 58 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 83 | 3038 | 36.6 | 58 |
Punt Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Stanley Morgan | 29 | 289 | 10.0 | 80 | 1 | Mike Haynes | 5 | 16 | 3.2 | 5 | 0 | Don Westbrook | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 0 | Rick Sanford | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 37 | 311 | 8.4 | 80 | 1 |
Kick Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Allan Clark | 37 | 816 | 22.1 | 38 | 0 | Rick Sanford | 10 | 179 | 17.9 | 23 | 0 | Don Westbrook | 11 | 151 | 13.7 | 30 | 0 | Raymond Clayborn | 2 | 33 | 16.5 | 20 | 0 | Mark Washington | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 | Horace Ivory | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 | Mosi Tatupu | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 12 | 0 | Stanley Morgan | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 66 | 1239 | 18.8 | 38 | 0 |
Interceptions:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Raymond Clayborn | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 27 | 0 | Mike Haynes | 3 | 66 | 22.0 | 33 | 0 | Prentice McCray | 3 | 48 | 16.0 | 26 | 0 | Tim Fox | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 25 | 0 | Mike Hawkins | 2 | 35 | 17.5 | 35 | 1 | Rick Sanford | 1 | 39 | 39.0 | 27 | 0 | Doug Beaudoin | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 | Ray Costict | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 22 | 0 | Steve Nelson | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 | Rod Shoate | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 20 | 352 | 17.6 | 35 | 1 |
Defense and Fumbles:
| Player | Tackle | Brup | Fum | FRec | FYds | FTD | FF | Steve Grogan | 12 | 4 | -12 | 0 | 0 | Mike Haynes | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rick Sanford | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | Eddie Hare | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Doug Beaudoin | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Allan Clark | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mel Lunsford | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ray Costict | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | Steve Nelson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Julius Adams | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rod Shoate | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | John Hannah | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Prentice McCray | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tim Fox | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Bob Cryder | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Shelby Jordan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Horace Ivory | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sam Hunt | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Richard Bishop | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill Lenkaitis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Don Calhoun | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mark Buben | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Don Westbrook | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sam Cunningham | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tom Owen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dwight Wheeler | 1 | 0 | -14 | 0 | 0 | Don Hasselbeck | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stanley Morgan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pete Brock | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 29 | 34 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Total Scoring:
| Touchdowns | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rush | Rec | Punt | Kick | MFG | Int | Fum | Other | FG | X/C | Single | 2Pt | Saf | Points | John Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 46 | 0 | 115 | Stanley Morgan | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | Harold Jackson | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | Don Calhoun | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | Russ Francis | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | Sam Cunningham | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | Horace Ivory | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Steve Grogan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Allan Clark | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Don Westbrook | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Carlos Pennywell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Ray Jarvis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Rick Sanford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Andy Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Mike Hawkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Totals | 16 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 409 |
