| Team: | New England Patriots |
| Year: | 1979 |
| Record: | 9–7 |
| Division Place: | 2nd AFC East |
| Coach: | Ron Erhardt |
| General Manager: | Bucko Kilroy |
| Owner: | Billy Sullivan |
| Stadium: | Schaefer Stadium |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers: | G John Hannah CB Mike Haynes WR Stanley Morgan |
| Ap All-Pros: | G John Hannah (1st team) CB Mike Haynes (2nd team) |
| Uniform: | Image:AFC-1979-1980-Uniform-NE.PNG |
| Shortnavlink: | Patriots seasons |
The 1979 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League and 20th overall. The Patriots ended the season with a record of nine wins and seven losses and finished second in the AFC East Division. Ron Erhardt was named the new coach. In their season opener, the Patriots faced the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night as Darryl Stingley returned to Schaffer Stadium. Patriots fans gave the paralyzed star a long sustained standing ovation. However, the emotion did not carry over as the Pats lost 16-13 in overtime. The Pats would find themselves at 8-4, as the team featured a more wide-open offense under quarterback Steve Grogan. However, a three-game losing streak ended their playoff chances, as the team settled for a disappointing 9–7 season.
See also: 1979 NFL draft.
| Ron Brown | Defensive back | Brown | |
| Mark Buben | Defensive tackle | Tufts | |
| Kevin Cunningham | Center | Iowa State | |
| Dennis Dent | Wide receiver | UMass | |
| Rob Forbes | Running back | Drake | |
| Bob Hurley | Guard | Holy Cross | |
| Mike McLaughlin | Center | UMass | |
| Tom McLaughlin | Punter | Iowa |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 13–16 | 0–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,978 | |||
| 2 | September 9 | New York Jets | W 56–3 | 1–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 53,113 | ||
| 3 | September 16 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 20–14 | 2–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 41,805 | ||
| 4 | September 23 | San Diego Chargers | W 27–21 | 3–1 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,916 | ||
| 5 | at Green Bay Packers | L 14–27 | 3–2 | Lambeau Field | 52,842 | |||
| 6 | October 7 | Detroit Lions | W 24–17 | 4–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,629 | ||
| 7 | October 14 | at Chicago Bears | W 27–7 | 5–2 | Soldier Field | 54,128 | ||
| 8 | October 21 | Miami Dolphins | W 28–13 | 6–2 | Schaefer Stadium | 61,096 | ||
| 9 | October 28 | at Baltimore Colts | L 26–31 | 6–3 | Memorial Stadium | 41,029 | ||
| 10 | November 4 | at Buffalo Bills | W 26–6 | 7–3 | Rich Stadium | 67,935 | ||
| 11 | November 11 | at Denver Broncos | L 10–45 | 7–4 | Mile High Stadium | 74,379 | ||
| 12 | November 18 | Baltimore Colts | W 50–21 | 8–4 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,879 | ||
| 13 | November 25 | Buffalo Bills | L 13–16 | 8–5 | Schaefer Stadium | 60,991 | ||
| 14 | at Miami Dolphins | L 24–39 | 8–6 | Miami Orange Bowl | 69,174 | |||
| 15 | December 9 | at New York Jets | L 26–27 | 8–7 | Shea Stadium | 45,131 | ||
| 16 | December 16 | Minnesota Vikings | W 27–23 | 9–7 | Schaefer Stadium | 54,719 | ||
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | ||||||||