1980 New England Patriots season

Last updated

1980 New England Patriots season
Owner Billy Sullivan
General manager Bucko Kilroy
Head coach Ron Erhardt
Home stadium Schaefer Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place2nd AFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers DE Julius Adams
FS Tim Fox
G John Hannah
CB Mike Haynes
WR Stanley Morgan
LB Steve Nelson
K John Smith
All-Pros G John Hannah (1st team)
CB Mike Haynes (2nd team)
WR Stanley Morgan (2nd team)
Uniform
AFC-1979-1980-Uniform-NE.PNG

The 1980 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 11th season in the National Football League and 21st overall. They completed the season with a record of ten wins and six losses and finished second in the AFC East Division. Running back Sam Cunningham held out all season, so the Patriots turned to rookie Vagas Ferguson to carry the bulk of the rushing game. Ferguson responded by breaking the team's rookie rushing record. The Patriots would sit at 6–1 near the midway point and were about to make the playoffs. However, the Pats collapsed and won just two of their next seven and finished with a 10–6 record that saw them fall just short of a wild-card berth.

Contents

Bill Parcells, then the linebackers coach with the team, has stated that the players on this Patriots team gave him his famous "Tuna" nickname when he asked, "What do you think I am, Charlie the Tuna?"

Offseason

NFL Draft

1980 New England Patriots draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
114 Roland James   Cornerback Tennessee
125 Vagas Ferguson   Running back Notre Dame
245 Larry McGrew   Linebacker USC
373 Steve McMichael  *  Defensive tackle Texas
5124 Doug McDougald   Defensive end Virginia Tech
6160 Preston Brown   Wide receiver Vanderbilt
7180Tom Kearns  Guard Kentucky
8208Mike House  Tight end Pacific
9235Barry Burget Linebacker Oklahoma
10266Tom Daniel  Center Georgia Tech
11293 Mike Hubach   Punter Kansas
12320 Jimmy Jordan   Quarterback Florida State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Undrafted free agents

1980 Undrafted Free Agents of note
PlayerPositionCollege
Mike CusumanoWide receiver Cincinnati
Tim TumpaneLinebacker Yale
Karl UlrichQuarterback Brockport State

Staff

1980 New England Patriots staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches


Roster

1980 New England Patriots 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 (ST)

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Season summary

The Patriots scored 441 points in 1980, a team record that stood until the 2007 team surpassed it. For the second straight season, they missed the playoffs by one game.

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 7 Cleveland Browns W 34–171–0 Schaefer Stadium 49,222
2September 14 Atlanta Falcons L 21–371–1Schaefer Stadium48,321
3September 21at Seattle Seahawks W 37–312–1 Kingdome 61,035
4September 29 Denver Broncos W 23–143–1Schaefer Stadium59,602
5October 5at New York Jets W 21–114–1 Shea Stadium 53,603
6October 12 Miami Dolphins W 34–05–1Schaefer Stadium60,377
7October 19at Baltimore Colts W 37–216–1 Memorial Stadium 53,924
8October 26at Buffalo Bills L 13–316–2 Rich Stadium 75,092
9November 2 New York Jets W 34–217–2Schaefer Stadium60,834
10November 10at Houston Oilers L 34–387–3 Astrodome 51,524
11November 16 Los Angeles Rams L 14–177–4Schaefer Stadium60,609
12November 23 Baltimore Colts W 47–218–4Schaefer Stadium60,994
13November 30at San Francisco 49ers L 17–218–5 Candlestick Park 45,254
14December 8at Miami Dolphins L 13–16 (OT)8–6 Miami Orange Bowl 63,292
15December 14 Buffalo Bills W 24–29–6Schaefer Stadium58,324
16December 21at New Orleans Saints W 38–2710–6 Louisiana Superdome 38,277
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Buffalo Bills (3)1150.6884–48–4320260W1
New England Patriots 1060.6256–29–3441325W2
Miami Dolphins 880.5003–54–8266305L1
Baltimore Colts 790.4385–36–8355387L3
New York Jets 4120.2502–63–9302395W1

Notable games

Steve Grogan fired for three touchdown passes (including a 10-yard pass to Harold Jackson who caught his 500th career reception) and John Smith kicked three field goals as the New England Patriots shut down the Cleveland Browns offense until late in the game and rolled to a 34-17 victory over the Browns. For the day Grogan completed 17 of 26 passes for 277 yards. It was the Patriots first home opening day win since 1977.

The game lead tied or changed eight times as Jim Zorn and Steve Grogan combined for 583 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and two picks. Trailing 27–14 after three quarters the Seahawks behind Zorn touchdowns to Steve Largent and Sam McCullum took a 31–30 lead before Grogan found tight end Don Hasselbeck (whose son Matt would quarterback the Seahawks over two decades later) for the game-winning touchdown of a 37–31 final.

The Patriots opened the first of three Monday Night Football appearances on their schedule hosting the Broncos for the fourth time since the AFL-NFL merger. A Matt Robinson touchdown in the first quarter put the Broncos up 7–0, then the game lead changed three times in the next two quarters behind Patriot scores by Vagas Ferguson, Stanley Morgan, and kicker John Smith and an Otis Armstrong touchdown for the Broncos, before the Patriots inched away in the fourth to a 23–14 win. It was the fourth straight win for the home team in the rivalry and would be the Patriots' last win over the Broncos until 1999.

The Patriots edged the Jets 21–11, sacking Richard Todd five times. It had been a rough week leading up to the game for Todd, as he broke the little toe on his left foot after accidentally kicking a table at home, then broke the right little toe after his foot was stepped on by Stan Waldemore on a play-action drill during practice – Waldemore was subbing for Randy Rasmussen after Rasmussen was injured earlier in practice.

The Patriots and Dolphins had split their season series the previous four seasons, and 1980 proved no different. The Patriots hammered the Dolphins at Schaefer Stadium 34–0 as Don Calhoun and Allan Clark had rushing touchdowns, Steve Grogan and Matt Cavanaugh each had a touchdown throw, and kicker John Smith kicked two field goals. The Dolphins had four fumbles and recovered all four, but also threw four picks.

Week Eight: New England Patriots (6–1) at Buffalo Bills (5–2)
Quarter1234Total
Patriots 3010013
Bills 01401731

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

In their second Monday Night Football game the Patriots fell behind 24–6 at halftime as they faced an Oilers squad that included two players who'd haunted the Pats during their Oakland Raiders days – Ken Stabler and Dave Casper. The Patriots managed four touchdowns in the second half and recovered an onside kick late in the fourth quarter, but Grogan was intercepted in the endzone and thus the Oilers had the game 38–34.

Steve Grogan started despite injuries to both knees because backup Matt Cavanaugh (a future Niners backup for Joe Montana) was coming off knee surgery. Grogan was picked off six times in a 21–17 loss and "I got crucified in the newspapers, but no one knew I was playing on two bad knees." [2]

The Dolphins got revenge in a 16–13 overtime win at the Miami Orange Bowl. The Patriots clawed to a 13–6 lead in the fourth quarter, then the Dolphins forced overtime with a David Woodley throw to Nat Moore in the fourth. John Smith attempted to kick the game-winning field goal, but had the kick blocked, then Uwe von Schamann of the Dolphins won it with a 23-yard field goal in the extra quarter. The game, though, wound up taking a back seat to the announcement by Howard Cosell that John Lennon had been shot and killed. [3]

Needing a win and outside help for a playoff berth, the Patriots outdueled the Saints 38–27 behind three Matt Cavanaugh touchdown throws and rushing scores by Don Calhoun and Mosi Tatupu. Running back Jack Holmes threw a touchdown to fellow RB Jimmy Rogers as the Saints clawed to a 10–0 first quarter lead, but the lead was gone before halftime. Archie Manning threw for 301 yards and a score to Wes Chandler against a Patriots organization his sons Peyton and Eli would battle in another time. A Pittsburgh win in the ensuing Monday Night game versus San Diego would have earned the Patriots a wild card, but the Chargers led it wire to wire to clinch the #1 seed in the AFC.

References

  1. "1947 Detroit Lions Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  2. Felger, Michael (2004) TALES FROM THE PATRIOTS SIDELINES (IL: Sports Publishing LLC), from Forward ISBN   1-59670-154-4
  3. Ausiello, Jeff (December 5, 2010). "Ex-Pats kicker forever linked to Lennon". ESPN.com . Retrieved December 6, 2010.

See also