# 1980 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1980 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League, and the 13th overall. The Bengals went 6–10 and managed only 244 points, lowest in the AFC. They did upset defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh twice. First-round draft choice Anthony Muñoz began his Hall of Fame career. This was the final season the Bengals wore the Cleveland Browns style uniforms.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1980 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 3 | Anthony Muñoz * $^†$ | Offensive tackle | USC |
| 2 | 31 | Kirby Criswell | Linebacker | Kansas |
| 3 | 59 | Rod Horn | Defensive tackle | Nebraska |
| 4 | 86 | William Glass | Guard | Baylor |
| 5 | 113 | Bryan Hicks | Defensive back | McNeese State |
| 6 | 141 | Jo Jo Heath | Defensive back | Pittsburgh |
| 6 | 159 | Andrew Melontree | Linebacker | Baylor |
| 7 | 167 | Ron Simpkins | Linebacker | Michigan |
| 7 | 168 | Gary Don Johnson | Defensive tackle | Baylor |
| 8 | 196 | Mark Lyles | Running back | Florida State |
| 9 | 224 | Greg Bright | Defensive back | Morehead State |
| 10 | 252 | Sandro Vitiello | Placekicker | Massachusetts |
| 11 | 281 | Alton Alexis | Wide receiver | Tulane |
| 12 | 308 | Mike Wright | Quarterback | Vanderbilt |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 12–17 | 0–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 43,211 |
| 2 | September 14 | at Miami Dolphins | L 16–17 | 0–2 | Miami Orange Bowl | 38,322 |
| 3 | September 21 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 30–28 | 1–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,490 |
| 4 | September 28 | Houston Oilers | L 10–13 | 1–3 | Riverfront Stadium | 50,413 |
| 5 | October 5 | at Green Bay Packers | L 9–14 | 1–4 | Lambeau Field | 55,006 |
| 6 | October 12 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 17–16 | 2–4 | Three Rivers Stadium | 53,668 |
| 7 | October 19 | Minnesota Vikings | W 14–0 | 3–4 | Riverfront Stadium | 44,487 |
| 8 | October 26 | at Houston Oilers | L 3–23 | 3–5 | Astrodome | 49,189 |
| 9 | November 2 | San Diego Chargers | L 14–31 | 3–6 | Riverfront Stadium | 46,406 |
| 10 | November 9 | at Oakland Raiders | L 17–28 | 3–7 | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 44,132 |
| 11 | November 16 | Buffalo Bills | L 0–14 | 3–8 | Riverfront Stadium | 40,836 |
| 12 | November 23 | at Cleveland Browns | L 7–31 | 3–9 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 79,253 |
| 13 | November 30 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 20–6 | 4–9 | Arrowhead Stadium | 41,594 |
| 14 | December 7 | Baltimore Colts | W 34–33 | 5–9 | Riverfront Stadium | 35,651 |
| 15 | December 14 | at Chicago Bears | W 17–14 | 6–9 | Soldier Field | 48,808 |
| 16 | December 21 | Cleveland Browns | L 24–27 | 6–10 | Riverfront Stadium | 50,058 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Buccaneers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Bengals | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 12 |

### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 16 |
| • Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 |

### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| • Bengals | 10 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 30 |

### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Browns | 0 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 27 |
| Bengals | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 24 |

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns$^{(2)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 357 | 310 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers$^{(5)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 295 | 251 | W3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 352 | 313 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–4 | 4–8 | 244 | 312 | L1 |