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1980 Dallas Cowboys

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1980 Dallas Cowboys season
Head Coach Tom Landry
Home Field Texas Stadium
Results
Record 12–4
Place 2nd NFC East
Playoff Finish Lost Conference Championship
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1979 1981

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, 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.

Off season[]

NFL Draft[]

1980 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
3 78 Bill Roe LB Colorado
3 80 James Jones RB Mississippi State
4 105 Kurt Petersen OG Missouri
5 133 Gary Hogeboom QB Central Michigan
6 162 Timmy Newsome FB Winston-Salem State
7 189 Lester Brown RB Clemson
8 216 Larry Savage LB Michigan State
9 246 Jackie Flowers WR Florida State
10 273 Matthew Teague LB Prairie View A&M
11 300 Gary Padjen LB Arizona State
12 330 Norm Wells DE Northwestern
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Regular Season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 8 at Washington W 17–3 1-0
55,045
2 September 14 at Denver L 41–20 1-1
74,919
3 September 21 Tampa Bay W 28–17 2-1
62,750
4 September 28 at Green Bay W 28–7 3-1
54,776
5 October 5 NY Giants W 24–3 4-1
59,126
6 October 12 San Francisco W 59–14 5-1
63,399
7 October 19 at Philadelphia L 17–10 5-2
70,696
8 October 26 San Diego W 42–31 6-2
60,639
9 November 2 at St. Louis W 27–24 7-2
50,701
10 November 9 at NY Giants L 38–35 7-3
68,343
11 November 16 St. Louis W 31–21 8-3
52,567
12 November 23 Washington W 14–10 9-3
58,809
13 November 27 Seattle W 51–7 10-3
57,540
14 December 7 at Oakland W 19–13 11-3
53,194
15 December 15 at Los Angeles L 38–14 11-4
65,154
16 December 21 Philadelphia W 35–27 12-4
62,548

Game Summaries[]

Week 6: vs. San Francisco 49ers[]

Week 6: San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys;– Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
49ers 0 7 0 7 14
Cowboys 14 24 14 7 59

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

Game information
First quarter

Second quarter

  • DAL – Rafael Septien 26 yard field goal, Cowboys 17-0.
  • DAL – Drew Pearson 16 yard pass from Danny White, (Rafael Septien kick), Cowboys 24-0.
  • SF – Dwight Clark 52 yard pass from Steve DeBerg, (Ray Wersching kick), Cowboys 24-7.
  • DAL – Tony Dorsett 2 yard rush, (Rafael Septien kick), Cowboys 31-7.
  • DAL – Drew Pearson 17 yard pass from Danny White, (Rafael Septien kick), Cowboys 38-7.

Third quarter

  • DAL – Billy Joe DuPree 9 yard pass from Danny White, (Rafael Septien kick), Cowboys 45-7.
  • DAL – Ron Springs 20 yard rush, (Rafael Septien kick), Cowboys 52-7.

Fourth quarter

  • DAL – Robert Newhouse 3 yard rush, (Rafael Septien kick), Cowboys 59-7.
  • SF – Dwight Clark 19 yard pass from Steve DeBerg, (Ray Wersching kick), Cowboys 59-14.

Top passers

Top rushers

Top receivers

  • SF – Dwight Clark - 8 receptions, 148 yards, 2 TDs
  • DAL – Jay Saldi - 3 receptions, 77 yards

Standings[]

NFC East
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Philadelphia Eagles 12 4 0 .750 384 222 L-1
Dallas Cowboys 12 4 0 .750 454 311 W-1
Washington Redskins 6 10 0 .375 261 293 W-3
St. Louis Cardinals 5 11 0 .313 299 350 L-2
New York Giants 4 12 0 .250 249 425 L-2

Roster[]

Dallas Cowboys 1980 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  • 33 Tony Dorsett
  • 23 James Jones RS
  • 44 Robert Newhouse FB
  • 30 Timmy Newsome RB/FB
  • 26 Preston Pearson
  • 20 Ron Springs FB

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

  • 84 Doug Cosbie
  • 89 Billy Joe DuPree
  • 87 Jay Saldi WR
 Offensive Linemen
  • 61 Jim Cooper T/C
  • 67 Pat Donovan T
  • 62 John Fitzgerald C
  • 71 Andy Frederick T
  • 65 Kurt Petersen G
  • 64 Tom Rafferty G
  • 68 Herbert Scott G
  • 52 Robert Shaw C

Defensive Linemen

  • 76 Larry Bethea DT
  • 63 Larry Cole DT/DE
  • 78 John Dutton DE/DT
  • 72 Ed Jones DE
  • 79 Harvey Martin DE
  • 77 Bruce Thornton DE
  • 66 Norm Wells DT
  • 54 Randy White DT
 Linebackers
  • 53 Bob Breunig MLB
  • 59 Guy Brown OLB
  • 51 Anthony Dickerson OLB
  • 58 Mike Hegman OLB
  • 57 Bruce Huther MLB
  • 50 D. D. Lewis OLB
  • 56 Bill Roe MLB

Defensive Backs

  • 31 Benny Barnes CB
  • 47 Dextor Clinkscale SS
  • 34 Aaron Mitchell CB
  • 32 Dennis Thurman FS/CB
  • 41 Charlie Waters SS
  • 45 Steve Wilson CB/WR

Special Teams

  •  1 Rafael Septien K
 Reserve Lists

Vacant

Rookies in italics
45 Active, 0 Inactive

Playoffs[]

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

References[]

  1. ↑ 1980 Dallas Cowboys

External links[]

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