The 1979 Green Bay Packers season was their 61st season overall and their 59th in the
National Football League. The team posted a 5–11 record under coach
Bart Starr, earning them a fourth-place finish in the
NFC Central division. The offense was still one of the worst in the NFL and the defense could not pick up the slack finishing dead last against the run.
The only notable win the Packers had was a 27–14 victory on a Monday night against the
New England Patriots, the first night game at
Lambeau Field (previous night games had to be played at
Milwaukee County Stadium, since Lambeau Field's original light standards were insufficient for night broadcasts). The Packers also defeated the archrival
Minnesota Vikings at home for the first time since
1970.
The Packers versus Bears game of week 15 was used in an episode of
That '70s Show ("Street Fighting Man") and was part of the seventh season.
Eric invites his father,
Red, to the game at
Lambeau Field. Oddly, the Packers win in this episode, as opposed to real life, where they lost.[1] Eric refers to the Bears as the "underdogs", when the Packers would have likely been the underdogs in the game, since the Packers were 4–10 heading into the game and the Bears were 9–5 heading to the game.