# 1980 Dallas Cowboys season

The 1980 Dallas Cowboys season was their 21st in the league. The team improved to 12-4 following Roger Staubach's retirement after the 1979 season. They qualified for the 1980 NFL postseason as an NFC Wild Card, yet ultimately lost in the Conference Championship game.
Going into the final week of the season, Dallas (11–4) played Philadelphia (12–3) at Texas Stadium. Under that season's NFL tiebreakers, Dallas had to beat the Eagles by 25 points or greater to win the NFC East, entering the NFC postseason as the number two seed while Philadelphia would be a wildcard team. The Eagles win NFC East should the Cowboys lose, tie or win by 24 points or fewer.
Dallas was leading the final regular season game 35–10 in the fourth quarter; however, the Eagles scored 17 unanswered points to pull within 35–27. Dallas had to play an extra week in the Wild Card round and as visitors in the following week road game in Atlanta in the Divisional Round. Dallas lost at Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Games

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1980 Dallas Cowboys draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1980 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Mike Brock | Offensive Line | Alabama |
| Dextor Clinkscale | Safety | South Carolina State |
| Roy Dean | Wide receiver | Alabama |
| Anthony Dickerson | Linebacker | SMU |
| Mike Glenn | Offensive Line | Utah State |
| Richard Grimmett | Offensive tackle | Illinois |
| Jim Himic | Offensive Line | West Virginia |
| Jay Howlett | Defensive Line | Holy Cross |
| Kevin Kelly | Offensive Line | Duke |
| Bill Leer | Offensive Line | Colorado State |
| Mike Mancuso | Quarterback | Nebraska–Omaha |
| Don Smerek | Defensive end | Nevada |
| Roosevelt Smith | Running back | Michigan |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Site | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 8 | at Washington Redskins | W 17–3 | 1–0 | RFK Stadium | 55,045 | Recap |
| 2 | September 14 | at Denver Broncos | L 20–41 | 1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 74,919 | Recap |
| 3 | September 21 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 28–17 | 2–1 | Texas Stadium | 62,750 | Recap |
| 4 | September 28 | at Green Bay Packers | W 28–7 | 3–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,776 | Recap |
| 5 | October 5 | New York Giants | W 24–3 | 4–1 | Texas Stadium | 59,126 | Recap |
| 6 | October 12 | San Francisco 49ers | W 59–14 | 5–1 | Texas Stadium | 63,399 | Recap |
| 7 | October 19 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 10–17 | 5–2 | Veterans Stadium | 70,696 | Recap |
| 8 | October 26 | San Diego Chargers | W 42–31 | 6–2 | Texas Stadium | 60,639 | Recap |
| 9 | November 2 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 27–24 | 7–2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 50,701 | Recap |
| 10 | November 9 | at New York Giants | L 35–38 | 7–3 | Giants Stadium | 68,343 | Recap |
| 11 | November 16 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 31–21 | 8–3 | Texas Stadium | 52,567 | Recap |
| 12 | November 23 | Washington Redskins | W 14–10 | 9–3 | Texas Stadium | 58,809 | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | Seattle Seahawks | W 51–7 | 10–3 | Texas Stadium | 57,540 | Recap |
| 14 | December 7 | at Oakland Raiders | W 19–13 | 11–3 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,194 | Recap |
| 15 | December 15 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 14–38 | 11–4 | Anaheim Stadium | 65,154 | Recap |
| 16 | December 21 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 35–27 | 12–4 | Texas Stadium | 62,548 | Recap |
Division opponents are in bold text

### Game summaries
#### Week 1 at Redskins

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Redskins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
at RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
* Date: September 8
* Game time: 9:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C)
* Game attendance: 55,045
* Referee: Gene Barth
* TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
DAL – Tony Dorsett 6-yard run (Rafael Septién kick). Cowboys 7–0. Drive:
Second quarter
DAL – Rafael Septién 19-yard field goal. Cowboys 10–0. Drive:
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
WSH – Mark Moseley 45-yard field goal. Cowboys 10–3. Drive:
DAL – Ron Springs 4-yard run (Rafael Septién kick). Cowboys 17–3. Drive:
Top passers
DAL – Danny White – 10/18, 107 yards, 2 INT
WSH – Joe Theismann – 19/34, 190 yards, INT
Top rushers
DAL – Tony Dorsett – 17 rushes, 66 yards, TD
WSH – Clarence Harmon – 7 rushes, 39 yards
Top receivers
DAL – Tony Hill – 3 receptions, 69 yards
WSH – Clarence Harmon – 7 receptions, 67 yards :

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| • Broncos | 7 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 41 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bucs | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Packers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| • Cowboys | 3 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Cowboys | 14 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 59 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Eagles | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chargers | 3 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 42 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Cowboys | 0 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 27 |
| Cardinals | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 7 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
| • Giants | 7 | 21 | 0 | 10 | 38 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redskins | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seahawks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • Cowboys | 9 | 21 | 0 | 21 | 51 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Raiders | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| • Rams | 7 | 21 | 10 | 0 | 38 |

#### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 27 |
| • Cowboys | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Game Site | Attendance | Recap |
| Wild Card | December 28, 1980 | Los Angeles Rams (5) | W 34–13 | Texas Stadium | 64,533 | Recap |
| Divisional | January 4, 1981 | at Atlanta Falcons (1) | W 30–27 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 60,022 | Recap |
| NFC Championship | January 11, 1981 | at Philadelphia Eagles (2) | L 7–20 | Veterans Stadium | 70,696 | Recap |

### Wildcard Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| • Cowboys | 3 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 34 |

### Divisional Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Cowboys | 3 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 30 |
| Falcons | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 27 |

### Conference Championship

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Eagles | 7 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 20 |

## Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Philadelphia Eagles$^{(2)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 384 | 222 | L1 |
| Dallas Cowboys$^{(4)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 454 | 311 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 261 | 293 | W3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–6 | 4–10 | 299 | 350 | L2 |
| New York Giants | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–6 | 3–9 | 249 | 425 | L2 |