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1980 Philadelphia Eagles season

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1980 Philadelphia Eagles season
OwnerLeonard Tose
General managerJim Murray
Head coachDick Vermeil
Home fieldVeterans Stadium
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st NFC East
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Vikings) 31–16
Won NFC Championship
(vs. Cowboys) 20–7
Lost Super Bowl XV
(vs. Raiders) 10–27
The Eagles defeated the Cowboys in the 1980 NFC Championship Game and earned their first Super Bowl appearance.

The 1980 Philadelphia Eagles season was the team's 48th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Eagles won twelve of their sixteen games, winning their division for the first time in twenty years. The Eagles started the season winning eleven of their first twelve games, only to finish the season losing three of their final four. Still, the 12–4 record (the best finish in the Vermeil era) was good enough to win the NFC East division title for the first time in franchise history since the NFC East had been formed.

The 1980 season marked the Eagles' third consecutive playoff appearance under coach Dick Vermeil, and culminated in the team's first Super Bowl appearance, where they were defeated by the Oakland Raiders 27–10. The 1980 NFC Championship long stood as the proudest moment of the Super Bowl era in Eagles history until they won Super Bowl LII 37 years later.

Offseason

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NFL draft

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After going 11–5 in the 1979 season and making the playoffs as a wildcard team, the Eagles found themselves looking to improve in 1980 through the NFL Draft.

The 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1979. As was started with the 1977 NFL Draft, this consisted of 12 rounds over two days. ESPN covered all 12 rounds live for the first time.

The Philadelphia Eagles had the 23rd to 25th pick in each of the 12 rounds. The Eagles drafted 10 players.

1980 Philadelphia Eagles Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 23 Roynell Young DB Alcorn State University
2 53 Perry Harrington RB Jackson State University
5 135 Nate Rivers WR South Carolina State
6 161 Greg Murtha T University of Minnesota
7 188 Terrell Ward DB San Diego State
8 218 Mike Curcio LB Temple University
9 245 Bob Harris T Bowling Green
11 298 Lee Jukes WR North Carolina State
302 Thomas Brown DE Baylor University
12 329 Howard Fields DB Baylor

Personnel

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Staff

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1980 Philadelphia Eagles staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Lynn Stiles



Roster

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1980 Philadelphia Eagles roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

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Regular season

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The 1980 season schedule was set based on how the Eagles finished the previous season: 2nd in NFC East. The way the schedule was laid out, 4 of the 5 teams in the same division could end up having 10 to 14 common opponents during the 1980 season. Also, when the last regular-season game was over, each team knew who its opponents would be the next year.

  • A home and away series vs the teams in its own division: Cowboys, Giants, Cardinals and Redskins = 8 games
  • Each of the top 4 teams in the NFC East from the previous season played the top 4 teams in the AFC West from the previous season: Chargers, Broncos, Seahawks and Raiders = 4 games
  • Each of the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the NFC East from the previous season (Eagles and Redskins) played the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the NFC Central and NFC West from the previous season: Bears, Vikings, Saints and Falcons = 4 games

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Location Attendance
1 September 7, 1980 Denver Broncos W 27–6 1–0 Veterans Stadium 70,307
2 September 14, 1980 at Minnesota Vikings W 42–7 2–0 Metropolitan Stadium 46,460
3 September 22, 1980 New York Giants W 35–3 3–0 Veterans Stadium 70,767
4 September 28, 1980 at St. Louis Cardinals L 24–14 3–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 49,079
5 October 5, 1980 Washington Redskins W 24–14 4–1 Veterans Stadium 69,044
6 October 12, 1980 at New York Giants W 31–16 5–1 Giants Stadium 71,051
7 October 19, 1980 Dallas Cowboys W 17–10 6–1 Veterans Stadium 70,696
8 October 26, 1980 Chicago Bears W 17–14 7–1 Veterans Stadium 68,752
9 November 2, 1980 at Seattle Seahawks W 27–20 8–1 Kingdome 61,047
10 November 9, 1980 at New Orleans Saints W 34–21 9–1 Louisiana Superdome 44,340
11 November 16, 1980 at Washington Redskins W 24–0 10–1 RFK Stadium 51,897
12 November 23, 1980 Oakland Raiders W 10–7 11–1 Veterans Stadium 68,535
13 November 30, 1980 at San Diego Chargers L 22–21 11–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 51,567
14 December 7, 1980 Atlanta Falcons L 20–17 11–3 Veterans Stadium 70,205
15 December 14, 1980 St. Louis Cardinals W 17–3 12–3 Veterans Stadium 68,969
16 December 21, 1980 at Dallas Cowboys L 35–27 12–4 Texas Stadium 62,548

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 1

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1 234Total
Broncos 0 060 6
• Eagles 7 1307 27

Week 2

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1 234Total
• Eagles 14 01414 42
Vikings 0 700 7

Week 3

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1 234Total
Giants 3 000 3
• Eagles 7 1477 35

Week 4

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1 234Total
Eagles 0 707 14
• Cardinals 7 377 24

Week 5

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1 234Total
Redskins 7 007 14
• Eagles 7 1430 24
  • Date: October 5
  • Location: Veterans Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 69,044
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 61 °F (16 °C)
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty
  • TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 6

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1 234Total
• Eagles 0 31414 31
Giants 7 900 16
  • Date: October 12
  • Location: Giants Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 71,051
  • Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C); wind 16 mph (26 km/h)
  • Referee: Gene Barth
  • TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen

Week 7

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1 234Total
Cowboys 7 300 10
• Eagles 0 1007 17

Week 8

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1 234Total
Bears 0 0140 14
• Eagles 7 073 17
  • Date: October 26
  • Location: Veterans Stadium
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 68,752
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 46 °F (8 °C)
  • Referee: Red Cashion
  • TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier

Week 9

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1 234Total
• Eagles 0 71010 27
Seahawks 6 077 20
  • Date: November 2
  • Location: Kingdome
  • Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 61,047
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 10

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1 234Total
• Eagles 0 17710 34
Saints 7 770 21

Week 11

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1 234Total
• Eagles 14 370 24
Redskins 0 000 0
  • Date: November 16
  • Location: RFK Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 51,897
  • Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C); wind 16 mph (26 km/h)
  • Referee: Jerry Seeman
  • TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 12

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1 234Total
Raiders 0 007 7
• Eagles 0 037 10

Week 13

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1 234Total
Eagles 0 0714 21
• Chargers 9 1003 22

Week 14

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1 234Total
• Falcons 3 773 20
Eagles 0 1403 17
  • Date: December 7
  • Location: Veterans Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 70,205
  • Game weather: Light rain; 55 °F (13 °C)
  • Referee: Pat Haggerty

Week 15

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1 234Total
Cardinals 0 003 3
• Eagles 0 0710 17
  • Date: December 14
  • Location: Veterans Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 68,969
  • Game weather: Sunny; 44 °F (7 °C)
  • Referee: Bob Frederic
  • TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen

Week 16

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1 234Total
Eagles 0 01017 27
• Cowboys 7 1477 35
  • Harold Carmichael's streak of games with a pass caught is stopped. Despite losing this game, the Eagles clinched the NFC East Division on a quirky tie-breaker scenario because they lost by less than 25 points. The only caveat to losing by less than 25 points compared to winning this game outright was that the Eagles conceded the number one seed in the NFC to the Atlanta Falcons (who had also lost during this same week). The close defeat however proved to be less significant compared to winning this game outright as their eventual run to the Super Bowl would not have changed due to restrictions regarding teams from the same division meeting in the Divisional Round, and Dallas defeating both the Rams in the Wild Card Round (Dallas could only face Atlanta regardless of seeding), and the Falcons in the Divisional Round (the NFC Championship Game would have still been held in Philadelphia).

Standings

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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

Playoffs

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Round Date Opponent Result Record Location Attendance
Divisional January 3, 1981 Minnesota Vikings W 31–16 1–0 Veterans Stadium 68,434
Conference Championship January 11, 1981 Dallas Cowboys W 20–7 2–0 Veterans Stadium 70,696
Super Bowl January 25, 1981 Oakland Raiders L 27–10 2–1 Louisiana Superdome 75,500

Divisional

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1 234Total
Vikings 7 720 16
Eagles 0 71410 31
  • Date: January 3
  • Location: Veterans Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 68,434
  • Game weather: Cloudy; 26 °F (−3 °C)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney

Conference Championship

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NFC Championship: Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cowboys 0 7 007
Eagles 7 0 10320

at Veterans StadiumPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

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

Super Bowl

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1 234Total
• Raiders 14 0103 27
Eagles 0 307 10

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ "1980 Philadelphia Eagles starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  2. ^ "1980 Philadelphia Eagles Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "Bert Bell Award – Professional Player of the Year: Past Recipients". Maxwell Football Club. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
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