1980 Philadelphia Eagles season

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.

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 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

NFL draft

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
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollege
123Roynell YoungDBAlcorn State University
253Perry HarringtonRBJackson State University
5135Nate RiversWRSouth Carolina State
6161Greg MurthaTUniversity of Minnesota
7188Terrell WardDBSan Diego State
8218Mike CurcioLBTemple University
9245Bob HarrisTBowling Green
11298Lee JukesWRNorth Carolina State
302Thomas BrownDEBaylor University
12329Howard FieldsDBBaylor

Personnel

Staff

1980 Philadelphia Eagles staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Lynn Stiles


Roster

1980 Philadelphia Eagles roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 30 Mike Hogan RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • -- Ray Sydnor TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[1]

Regular season

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

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordLocationAttendance
1September 7, 1980Denver BroncosW 27–61–0Veterans Stadium70,307
2September 14, 1980at Minnesota VikingsW 42–72–0Metropolitan Stadium46,460
3September 22, 1980New York GiantsW 35–33–0Veterans Stadium70,767
4September 28, 1980at St. Louis CardinalsL 24–143–1Busch Memorial Stadium49,079
5October 5, 1980Washington RedskinsW 24–144–1Veterans Stadium69,044
6October 12, 1980at New York GiantsW 31–165–1Giants Stadium71,051
7October 19, 1980Dallas CowboysW 17–106–1Veterans Stadium70,696
8October 26, 1980Chicago BearsW 17–147–1Veterans Stadium68,752
9November 2, 1980at Seattle SeahawksW 27–208–1Kingdome61,047
10November 9, 1980at New Orleans SaintsW 34–219–1Louisiana Superdome44,340
11November 16, 1980at Washington RedskinsW 24–010–1RFK Stadium51,897
12November 23, 1980Oakland RaidersW 10–711–1Veterans Stadium68,535
13November 30, 1980at San Diego ChargersL 22–2111–2Jack Murphy Stadium51,567
14December 7, 1980Atlanta FalconsL 20–1711–3Veterans Stadium70,205
15December 14, 1980St. Louis CardinalsW 17–312–3Veterans Stadium68,969
16December 21, 1980at Dallas CowboysL 35–2712–4Texas Stadium62,548

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

[2]

Week 1

1234Total
Broncos00606
• Eagles7130727

Week 2

1234Total
• Eagles140141442
Vikings07007

Week 3

1234Total
Giants30003
• Eagles7147735

Week 4

1234Total
Eagles070714
• Cardinals737724

Week 5

1234Total
Redskins700714
• Eagles7143024
  • 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

1234Total
• Eagles03141431
Giants790016
  • 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

1234Total
Cowboys730010
• Eagles0100717

Week 8

1234Total
Bears0014014
• Eagles707317
  • 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

1234Total
• Eagles07101027
Seahawks607720
  • 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

1234Total
• Eagles01771034
Saints777021

Week 11

1234Total
• Eagles1437024
Redskins00000
  • 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

1234Total
Raiders00077
• Eagles003710

Week 13

1234Total
Eagles0071421
• Chargers9100322

Week 14

1234Total
• Falcons377320
Eagles0140317

Week 15

1234Total
Cardinals00033
• Eagles0071017
  • 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

1234Total
Eagles00101727
• Cowboys7147735
  • 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

NFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Philadelphia Eagles(2)1240.7506–29–3384222L1
Dallas Cowboys(4)1240.7506–29–3454311W1
Washington Redskins6100.3754–45–7261293W3
St. Louis Cardinals5110.3132–64–10299350L2
New York Giants4120.2502–63–9249425L2

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponentResultRecordLocationAttendance
DivisionalJanuary 3, 1981Minnesota VikingsW 31–161–0Veterans Stadium68,434
Conference ChampionshipJanuary 11, 1981Dallas CowboysW 20–72–0Veterans Stadium70,696
Super BowlJanuary 25, 1981Oakland RaidersL 27–102–1Louisiana Superdome75,500

Divisional

1234Total
Vikings772016
Eagles07141031
  • 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

NFC Championship: Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Period1234Total
Cowboys07007
Eagles7010320

at Veterans StadiumPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

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

Super Bowl

1234Total
• Raiders14010327
Eagles030710

Awards and honors

References

External links