1980 Atlanta Falcons season

1980 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coach	Leeman Bennett
General manager	Eddie LeBaron
Owner	Rankin M. Smith, Sr.
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoff finish	Lost NFC Divisional Playoff

The 1980 Atlanta Falcons season was the Falcons 15th season. It was the first season division title in franchise history. After a 3-3 start the Falcons went on a nine-game winning streak as Quarterback Steve Bartkowski has a career season passing for 3,544 yards while connecting on 31 Touchdown passes, as the Falcons won their first ever division Championship. The Falcons, would earn home field throughout the playoffs. Playing before 60,022 fans at Fulton County Stadium the Falcons lead the Dallas Cowboys 24-10 in the 4th Quarter. However, the Cowboys would score 20 points to stun the Falcons 30-27.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1980 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1980 Atlanta Falcons draft
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

Chairman of the Board – Rankin M. Smith, Sr.
President – Rankin M. Smith, Jr.
General Manager – Eddie LeBaron
Director of Player Personnel – Tom Braatz

Head coaches

Head Coach – Leeman Bennett

Offensive coaches

Quarterbacks – Dick Wood
Offensive Backs – John North
Receivers – Jimmy Raye
Offensive Line – Bill Walsh

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Jerry Glanville
Defensive Line – Jim Stanley
Linebackers – Doug Shively

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1980	at Minnesota Vikings	L 24–23	44,773
2	September 14, 1980	at New England Patriots	W 37–21	48,321
3	September 21, 1980	Miami Dolphins	L 20–17	55,470
4	September 28, 1980	at San Francisco 49ers	W 20–17	56,518
5	October 5, 1980	Detroit Lions	W 43–28	57,652
6	October 12, 1980	New York Jets	L 14–7	57,458
7	October 19, 1980	at New Orleans Saints	W 41–14	62,651
8	October 26, 1980	Los Angeles Rams	W 13–10	57,401
9	November 2, 1980	at Buffalo Bills	W 30–14	57,959
10	November 9, 1980	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 33–27	48,662
11	November 16, 1980	New Orleans Saints	W 31–13	53,871
12	November 23, 1980	Chicago Bears	W 28–17	49,156
13	November 30, 1980	Washington Redskins	W 10–6	55,665
14	December 7, 1980	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 20–17	70,205
15	December 14, 1980	San Francisco 49ers	W 35–10	55,767
16	December 21, 1980	at Los Angeles Rams	L 20–17	62,469

Game summaries

Week 7

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Falcons	7	6	21	7	41
Saints	7	7	0	0	14

Date: October 19
Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: indoors (dome)

Scoring summary

1	NO	Wes Chandler 18 yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick)	Saints 7–0

1	ATL	Junior Miller 11 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Tim Mazzetti kick)	Tie 7–7

2	NO	Tony Galbreath 15 yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick)	Saints 14–7

2	ATL	Wallace Francis 24 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Tim Mazzetti kick)	Saints 14–13

3	ATL	Alfred Jenkins 49 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Tim Mazzetti kick)	Falcons 20–14

3	ATL	Lynn Cain 1 yard run (Tim Mazzetti kick)	Falcons 27–14

3	ATL	Junior Miller 4 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Tim Mazzetti kick)	Falcons 34–14

4	ATL	William Andrews 13 yard run (Tim Mazzetti kick)	Falcons 41–14

^[2]

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	January 4, 1981	Dallas Cowboys	L 30–27	60,022

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

↑ "1980 Atlanta Falcons draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

1980 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Atlanta Falcons

Founded in 1966 Based in Atlanta, Georgia Headquartered in Flowery Branch, Georgia

Franchise	Franchise Team history Seasons Players Quarterbacks Head coaches Expansion draft Draft history First-round draft picks

Stadiums	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Georgia Dome Mercedes-Benz Stadium (under construction)

Culture	Rankin M. Smith, Sr. Arthur Blank The Dirty Bird Dance Freddie Falcon Michael Vick dog fighting investigation Cheerleaders

Lore	Gary Anderson's missed field goal

Rivalries	Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints

Division championships (5)	1980 1998 2004 2010 2012

Conference championships (1)	1998

Ring of Honor	10 21 31 42 57 58 60 78 87

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division

Seasons (50)	1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Atlanta Falcons seasons

1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1980 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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