The 1979 Houston Oilers season was the franchise’s 20th overall….and the 10th in the National Football League…..in a year that the offense scored an average of 23 points per game for 362 total points…..while the defense gave up an average of 20 points per game for 331 points…..as the ended the season with a record of 11 wins and 5 losses…..which resulted in a second-place finish in the AFC Central Division.
The Oilers appeared once on Monday Night Football on December 10, 1979 where the sports promotion Luv Ya Blue was launched….as they would return to the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year…..in a season that RB Earl Campbell would lead the NFL in rushing for the second consecutive year….while setting a franchise record for most touchdowns in a season with 19. The Oilers would make the playoffs again as a wild card…..which ended up in a victory over the Denver Broncos by a score of 13 – 7…..then defeated the San Diego Chargers 17 – 14 in San Diego to reach their second straight AFC Championship game…..and once again they had to play Pittsburgh Steelers…..who a year earlier had eliminated them 34-5 in the previous AFC Championship game…..when the Oilers would lose the game by a score of 27 – 13. The game included a controversial moment in which wide receiver Mike Renfro had a touchdown called back after the referees of the game took a long time to decide the ruling on the field. The call went down as one of the most controversial calls in NFL history.
In this video seen herewith…..NFL Films narrator Burt Lancaster provides a wonderful expose’ regarding the Oilers playoff run ending in a heartbreaking loss to the Steelers…..but a jubilant return to 50,000 fans at the Houston airport to great their team and prove how much the Love Ya Blue.
