1980 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1980 Atlanta Falcons season was the Falcons 15th season and culminated in their first division title in franchise history. After a 3-3 start, the Falcons went on a nine-game winning streak as Quarterback Steve Bartkowski passed for a career-best 3,544 yards while connecting on 31 Touchdown passes. As the NFC's top seed, the Falcons gained home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Falcons season ended with a 30-27 divisional playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys before 60,022 fans at Fulton County Stadium. Atlanta had leads of both 24-10 and 27-17 before falling to Danny White's TD pass to Drew Pearson in the final minute.

1980 Atlanta Falcons season
OwnerRankin M. Smith Sr.
Head coachLeeman Bennett
General managerEddie LeBaron
Home fieldFulton County Stadium
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st NFC West
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs (Cowboys) 27–30

Offseason

NFL Draft

1980 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 7 Junior Miller *  Tight end Nebraska
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1980 Atlanta Falcons staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Roster

1980 Atlanta Falcons final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 7 at Minnesota Vikings L 23–24 0–1 Metropolitan Stadium 44,773 Recap
2 September 14 at New England Patriots W 37–21 1–1 Schaefer Stadium 48,321 Recap
3 September 21 Miami Dolphins L 17–20 1–2 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 55,470 Recap
4 September 28 at San Francisco 49ers W 20–17 2–2 Candlestick Park 56,518 Recap
5 October 5 Detroit Lions W 43–28 3–2 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,652 Recap
6 October 12 New York Jets L 7–14 3–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,458 Recap
7 October 19 at New Orleans Saints W 41–14 4–3 Louisiana Superdome 62,651 Recap
8 October 26 Los Angeles Rams W 13–10 5–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,401 Recap
9 November 2 at Buffalo Bills W 30–14 6–3 Rich Stadium 57,959 Recap
10 November 9 at St. Louis Cardinals W 33–27 7–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 48,662 Recap
11 November 16 New Orleans Saints W 31–13 8–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 53,871 Recap
12 November 23 Chicago Bears W 28–17 9–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 49,156 Recap
13 November 30 Washington Redskins W 10–6 10–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 55,665 Recap
14 December 7 at Philadelphia Eagles W 20–17 11–3 Veterans Stadium 70,205 Recap
15 December 14 San Francisco 49ers W 35–10 12–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 55,767 Recap
16 December 21 at Los Angeles Rams L 17–20 12–4 Anaheim Stadium 62,469 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1

1 234Total
Falcons 6 0710 23
Vikings 7 773 24

Week 2

1 234Total
Falcons 14 1436 37
Patriots 7 1400 21
  • Date: September 14
  • Location: Sullivan Stadium
  • Referee: Fred Wyant
  • TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 3

1 234Total
Dolphins 3 0017 20
Falcons 0 773 17

Week 4

1 234Total
Falcons 3 0314 20
49ers 0 3014 17
  • Date: September 28
  • Location: Candlestick Park
  • Referee: Bob Fredric
  • TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen

Week 5

1 234Total
Lions 3 3022 28
Falcons 17 1727 43
  • Date: October 5
  • Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
  • Referee: Dick Jorgensen
  • Television network: CBS

Week 6

1 234Total
Jets 7 007 14
Falcons 0 007 7
  • Date: October 12
  • Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
  • Referee: Gordon McCarter
  • Television network: NBC

Week 7

1 234Total
Falcons 7 6217 41
Saints 7 700 14
  • Date: October 19
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Jerry Seeman
  • TV announcers (CBS): Jim Kelly and Sonny Jurgenson

[2]

Week 8

1 234Total
Rams 0 370 10
Falcons 6 007 13
  • Date: October 26
  • Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • Television network: CBS

Week 9

1 234Total
Falcons 0 101010 30
Bills 7 700 14
  • Date: November 2
  • Location: Rich Stadium
  • Referee: Chuck Heberling
  • Television network: CBS

Week 10

1 234OTTotal
Falcons 3 31476 33
Cardinals 17 7300 27

Week 11

1 234Total
Saints 7 006 13
Falcons 3 7714 31
  • Date: November 16
  • Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 12

1 234Total
Bears 7 370 17
Falcons 0 14014 28
  • Date: November 23
  • Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
  • Referee: Fred Wyant
  • Television network: CBS

Week 13

1 234Total
Redskins 0 303 6
Falcons 0 073 10
  • Date: November 30
  • Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 14

1 234Total
Falcons 3 773 20
Eagles 0 1403 17
  • Date: December 7
  • Location: Veterans Stadium
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 15

1 234Total
49ers 0 307 10
Falcons 7 01414 35
  • Date: December 14
  • Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 16

1 234OTTotal
Falcons 7 7030 17
Rams 3 01403 20

Playoffs

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Venue Attendance Recap
Divisional January 4, 1981 Dallas Cowboys (4) L 27–30 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 60,022 Recap

Divisional

1 234Total
Cowboys 3 7020 30
Falcons 10 773 27

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Atlanta Falcons(1) 12 4 0 .750 5–1 10–2 405 272 L1
Los Angeles Rams(5) 11 5 0 .688 5–1 9–3 424 289 W2
San Francisco 49ers 6 10 0 .375 2–4 4–8 320 415 L2
New Orleans Saints 1 15 0 .063 0–6 0–12 291 487 L1

References

  1. "1980 Atlanta Falcons draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  2. Pro-Football-Reference.com
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.