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. After the season, Luther Blue retired.
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 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 RB 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 Staff
Roster
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 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
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
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
Postseason
Schedule Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap Wild CardFirst-round bye Divisional Minnesota Vikings (3) W 31–16 1–0 Veterans Stadium Recap NFC Championship January 11, 1981 Dallas Cowboys (4) W 20–7 2–0 Veterans Stadium Recap Super Bowl XV January 25, 1981 vs. Oakland Raiders (A4) L 10–27 2–1 Louisiana Superdome Recap
Game summaries NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (3) Minnesota Vikings
NFC Championship: vs. (4) Dallas Cowboys
Super Bowl XV: vs. (A4) Oakland Raiders
Awards and honors Ron Jaworski, Bert Bell Award
References
External links 1980 Philadelphia Eagles at Pro-Football-Reference.com