1980 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager	Eddie LeBaron
Head coach	Leeman Bennett
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Cowboys) 27–30
Pro Bowlers	RB William Andrews QB Steve Bartkowski WR Alfred Jenkins C Jeff van Note T Mike Kenn TE Junior Miller
← 1979 Falcons seasons 1981 →

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.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1980 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1980 Atlanta Falcons draft
1	7	Junior Miller *	Tight end	Nebraska
2	36	Buddy Curry	Linebacker	North Carolina
3	63	Earl Jones	Defensive back	Norfolk State
4	91	Jim Laughlin	Linebacker	Ohio State
4	104	I. M. Hipp	Running back	Nebraska
5	117	Brad Vassar	Linebacker	Pacific
5	137	Kenny Johnson	Defensive back	Mississippi State
6	146	Mike Davis	Defensive back	Colorado
7	172	Mike Smith	Wide receiver	Grambling State
8	201	Al Richardson	Linebacker	Georgia Tech
9	228	Glen Keller	Center	West Texas State
10	257	Walt Bellamy	Defensive back	VMI
11	284	Mike Babb	Defensive back	Oklahoma
12	313	Quinn Jones	Running back	Tulsa
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

Roster

**1980 Atlanta Falcons final roster**

	Quarterbacks 10 Steve Bartkowski 9 Larry Fortner 15 Mike Moroski Running backs 33 Anthony Anderson 31 William Andrews FB 21 Lynn Cain 39 James Mayberry 25 Ray Strong Wide receivers 89 Wallace Francis 85 Alfred Jackson 84 Alfred Jenkins 86 Mike Smith Tight ends 80 Junior Miller 87 Russ Mikeska		Offensive linemen 66 Warren Bryant T 53 Chuck Correal C 64 Pat Howell G 78 Mike Kenn T 73 Phil McKinnely T 70 Dave Scott G 68 R.C. Thielemann G 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen 74 Wilson Faumuina DT 77 Edgar Fields DT 75 Jeff Merrow DE 67 Calvin Miller DE 65 Don Smith DE 79 Jeff Yeates DE 63 Mike Zele DT		Linebackers 50 Buddy Curry 55 Tony Daykin 54 Fulton Kuykendall 51 Jim Laughlin 52 Dewey McClain 56 Al Richardson 61 Stan Sytsma 58 Joel Williams Defensive backs 38 Rick Byas CB 36 Bob Glazebrook 37 Kenny Johnson CB 20 Earl Jones CB 22 Rolland Lawrence CB 27 Tom Pridemore FS 28 Frank Reed SS Special teams 6 John James P 4 Tim Mazzetti K		Reserve lists 44 Bubba Bean RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 61 Chuck Herman G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Michael Higgins RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 14 June Jones QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 26 James McDougald RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 81 Dennis Pearson WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 82 Billy Ryckman WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 16 Reggie Smith WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 72 Matthew Teague LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- Brad Vassar LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 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.

Game summaries

Week 1

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	6	0	7	10	23
• Vikings	7	7	7	3	24

Date: September 7
Location: Metropolitan Stadium

Week 2

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Falcons	14	14	3	6	37
Patriots	7	14	0	0	21

Date: September 14
Location: Sullivan Stadium
Referee: Fred Wyant
TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 3

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Dolphins	3	0	0	17	20
Falcons	0	7	7	3	17

Date: September 21
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Referee: Bob McElwee
TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Dave Rowe

Week 4

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Falcons	3	0	3	14	20
49ers	0	3	0	14	17

Date: September 28
Location: Candlestick Park
Referee: Bob Frederic
TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen

Week 5

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	3	0	22	28
• Falcons	17	17	2	7	43

Date: October 5
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Referee: Dick Jorgensen
Television network: CBS

Week 6

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Jets	7	0	0	7	14
Falcons	0	0	0	7	7

Date: October 12
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Referee: Gordon McCarter
Television network: NBC

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
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: Indoors (dome)
Referee: Jerry Seeman
TV announcers (CBS): Jim Kelly and Sonny Jurgenson

Scoring summary

Q1	NO	Chandler 18 yard pass from Manning (Ricardo kick)	NO 7–0

Q1	ATL	Miller 11 yard pass from Bartkowski (Mazzetti kick)	Tie 7–7

Q2	NO	Galbreath 15 yard pass from Manning (Ricardo kick)	NO 14–7

Q2	ATL	Francis 24 yard pass from Bartkowski (kick failed)	NO 14–13

Q3	ATL	Jenkins 49 yard pass from Bartkowski (Mazzetti kick)	ATL 20–14

Q3	ATL	Cain 1 yard run (Mazzetti kick)	ATL 27–14

Q3	ATL	Miller 4 yard pass from Bartkowski (Mazzetti kick)	ATL 34–14

Q4	ATL	Andrews 13 yard run (Mazzetti kick)	ATL 41–14

^[2]

Week 8

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	3	7	0	10
• Falcons	6	0	0	7	13

Date: October 26
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Referee: Jerry Markbreit
Television network: CBS

Week 9

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Falcons	0	10	10	10	30
Bills	7	7	0	0	14

Date: November 2
Location: Rich Stadium
Referee: Chuck Heberling
Television network: CBS

Week 10

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
• Falcons	3	3	14	7	6	33
Cardinals	17	7	3	0	0	27

Date: November 9
Location: Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium
Referee: Fred Silva
TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier

Week 11

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	7	0	0	6	13
• Falcons	3	7	7	14	31

Date: November 16
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 12

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	3	7	0	17
• Falcons	0	14	0	14	28

Date: November 23
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Referee: Fred Wyant
Television network: CBS

Week 13

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	3	0	3	6
• Falcons	0	0	7	3	10

Date: November 30
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Falcons	3	7	7	3	20
Eagles	0	14	0	3	17

Date: December 7
Location: Veterans Stadium
Referee: Pat Haggerty
TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 15

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	0	3	0	7	10
• Falcons	7	0	14	14	35

Date: December 14
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 16

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Falcons	7	7	0	3	0	17
• Rams	3	0	14	0	3	20

Date: December 21
Location: Anaheim Stadium

Playoffs

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

Divisional

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cowboys	3	7	0	20	30
Falcons	10	7	7	3	27

Date: January 4
Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	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

External links

Atlanta Falcons

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
Culture	Rankin M. Smith Sr. Arthur Blank Freddie Falcon The "Dirty Bird" (dance) "2 Legit 2 Quit" Brian Banks Quarterback
Lore	Grits Blitz Gary Anderson's missed field goal Michael Vick dog fighting investigation Timeline 28–3
Rivalries	Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints Philadelphia Eagles
Wild card / First round berths (8)	1978 1982 1991 1995 2002 2008 2011 2017
Division championships (6)	1980 1998 2004 2010 2012 2016
Conference championships (2)	1998 2016
Ring of Honor	10 21 28 31 42 57 58 60 78 84 87
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division
Category

Atlanta Falcons seasons

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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
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