1980 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1980 Atlanta Falcons season was the Falcons' 15th season and culminated in their first division title in franchise history. After a 3–3 start, the Falcons went on a nine-game winning streak as quarterback Steve Bartkowski passed for a career-best 3,544 yards while connecting on 31 touchdown passes. As the NFC's top seed, the Falcons gained home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Falcons' season ended with a 30–27 divisional playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys before 60,022 fans at Fulton County Stadium.

This would be the last time the Falcons capture a winning record in a non strike season until 1991, as well as their last division title until 1998.

Regular season

Schedule

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1	September 7	at Minnesota Vikings	L 23–24	0–1	Metropolitan Stadium	44,773	Recap
2	September 14	at New England Patriots	W 37–21	1–1	Schaefer Stadium	48,321	Recap
3	September 21	Miami Dolphins	L 17–20	1–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	55,470	Recap
4	September 28	at San Francisco 49ers	W 20–17	2–2	Candlestick Park	56,518	Recap
5	October 5	Detroit Lions	W 43–28	3–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,652	Recap
6	October 12	New York Jets	L 7–14	3–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,458	Recap
7	October 19	at New Orleans Saints	W 41–14	4–3	Louisiana Superdome	62,651	Recap
8	October 26	Los Angeles Rams	W 13–10	5–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,401	Recap
9	November 2	at Buffalo Bills	W 30–14	6–3	Rich Stadium	57,959	Recap
10	November 9	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 33–27 (OT)	7–3	Busch Memorial Stadium	48,662	Recap
11	November 16	New Orleans Saints	W 31–13	8–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	53,871	Recap
12	November 23	Chicago Bears	W 28–17	9–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	49,156	Recap
13	November 30	Washington Redskins	W 10–6	10–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	55,665	Recap
14	December 7	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 20–17	11–3	Veterans Stadium	70,205	Recap
15	December 14	San Francisco 49ers	W 35–10	12–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	55,767	Recap
16	December 21	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17–20 (OT)	12–4	Anaheim Stadium	62,469	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 6 0 7 10 23 • Vikings 7 7 7 3 24 Date: September 7 Location: Metropolitan Stadium

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 14 14 3 6 37 Patriots 7 14 0 0 21 Date: September 14 Location: Sullivan Stadium Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Dolphins 3 0 0 17 20 Falcons 0 7 7 3 17 Date: September 21 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Dave Rowe

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 3 0 3 14 20 49ers 0 3 0 14 17 Date: September 28 Location: Candlestick Park Referee: Bob Frederic TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 3 3 0 22 28 • Falcons 17 17 2 7 43 Date: October 5 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Referee: Dick Jorgensen Television network: CBS

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 7 0 0 7 14 Falcons 0 0 0 7 7 Date: October 12 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Referee: Gordon McCarter Television network: NBC

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 7 6 21 7 41 Saints 7 7 0 0 14 Date: October 19 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jerry Seeman TV announcers (CBS): Jim Kelly and Sonny Jurgenson Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry Template:AFB Game Box Scoring Entry

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 3 7 0 10 • Falcons 6 0 0 7 13 Date: October 26 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Referee: Jerry Markbreit Television network: CBS

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 0 10 10 10 30 Bills 7 7 0 0 14 Date: November 2 Location: Rich Stadium Referee: Chuck Heberling Television network: CBS

Week 10

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Falcons 3 3 14 7 6 33 Cardinals 17 7 3 0 0 27 Date: November 9 Location: Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium Referee: Fred Silva TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Saints 7 0 0 6 13 • Falcons 3 7 7 14 31 Date: November 16 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 7 3 7 0 17 • Falcons 0 14 0 14 28 Date: November 23 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Referee: Fred Wyant Television network: CBS

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 3 0 3 6 • Falcons 0 0 7 3 10 Date: November 30 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 3 7 7 3 20 Eagles 0 14 0 3 17 Date: December 7 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and John Madden

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total 49ers 0 3 0 7 10 • Falcons 7 0 14 14 35 Date: December 14 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

Week 16

1 2 3 4 OT Total Falcons 7 7 0 3 0 17 • Rams 3 0 14 0 3 20 Date: December 21 Location: Anaheim Stadium

Playoffs

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Divisional	January 4	Dallas Cowboys (4)	L 27–30	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	60,022	Recap

Divisional

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 3 7 0 20 30 Falcons 10 7 7 3 27 Date: January 4 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

External links

• 1980 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com