1980 Dallas Cowboys season

1980 Dallas Cowboys season
Head coach Tom Landry
General manager Tex Schramm
Owner Clint Murchison, Jr.
Home field Texas Stadium
Results
Record 12–4
Division place 2nd NFC East
Playoff finish Lost NFC Championship (Eagles)

The 1980 Dallas Cowboys season was their 21st in the league. The team improved their previous output of 11–5, winning twelve games.[1] They qualified for the playoffs as an NFC Wild Card, but lost in the Conference Championship.

The season featured a very unusual end to the regular season. Going into the final week of the season, Dallas (at 11–4) played Philadelphia (12–3) at Texas Stadium. Under the NFL's tiebreaking rules, if Dallas could beat the Eagles by 25 points, they would earn the NFC's number one seed and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. However, if they lost (or won by less than 25) then Philadelphia would get the number one seed and (since they played in the same division) Dallas would be a wildcard team. Dallas led 35–10 in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles rallied to lose only 35–27. This forced Dallas to play an extra week in the playoffs and a road game in Atlanta in the divisional round. Dallas ultimately lost at Philadelphia in the NFC Championship game.

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 8, 1980 at Washington Redskins W 17–3
55,045
2 September 14, 1980 at Denver Broncos L 41–20
74,919
3 September 21, 1980 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 28–17
62,750
4 September 28, 1980 at Green Bay Packers W 28–7
54,776
5 October 5, 1980 New York Giants W 24–3
59,126
6 October 12, 1980 San Francisco 49ers W 59–14
63,399
7 October 19, 1980 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–10
70,696
8 October 26, 1980 San Diego Chargers W 42–31
60,639
9 November 2, 1980 at St. Louis Cardinals W 27–24
50,701
10 November 9, 1980 at New York Giants L 38–35
68,343
11 November 16, 1980 St. Louis Cardinals W 31–21
52,567
12 November 23, 1980 Washington Redskins W 14–10
58,809
13 November 27, 1980 Seattle Seahawks W 51–7
57,540
14 December 7, 1980 at Oakland Raiders W 19–13
53,194
15 December 15, 1980 at Los Angeles Rams L 38–14
65,154
16 December 21, 1980 Philadelphia Eagles W 35–27
62,548

Week 7

1 234Total
Cowboys 7 300 10
Eagles 0 1007 17

Week 14

1 234Total
Cowboys 7 930 19
Raiders 7 330 13


Week 16

1 234Total
Eagles 0 01017 27
Cowboys 7 1477 35

[2]

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Wild Card December 28, 1980 Los Angeles Rams W 34–13
64,533
Division January 4, 1981 at Atlanta Falcons W 30–27
60,022
Conference January 11, 1981 at Philadelphia Eagles L 20–7
70,696

Conference Championship

1 234Total
Cowboys 0 700 7
Eagles 7 0103 20


Veterans Stadium during the 1980 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys, January 11, 1981.

Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Philadelphia Eagles(2) 12 4 0 .750 6–2 9–3 384 222 L1
Dallas Cowboys(4) 12 4 0 .750 6–2 9–3 454 311 W1
Washington Redskins 6 10 0 .375 4–4 5–7 261 293 W3
St. Louis Cardinals 5 11 0 .313 2–6 4–10 299 350 L2
New York Giants 4 12 0 .250 2–6 3–9 249 425 L2

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1980 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Reserve Lists

Rookies in italics
45 Active, 0 Inactive

References

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