# 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.

## Offseason
### Draft

1980 Atlanta Falcons draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 7 | Junior Miller * | Tight end | Nebraska |
| 2 | 36 | Buddy Curry | Linebacker | North Carolina |
| 3 | 63 | Earl Jones | Defensive back | Norfolk State |
| 4 | 91 | Jim Laughlin | Linebacker | Ohio State |
| 4 | 104 | I. M. Hipp | Running back | Nebraska |
| 5 | 117 | Brad Vassar | Linebacker | Pacific |
| 5 | 137 | Kenny Johnson | Defensive back | Mississippi State |
| 6 | 146 | Mike Davis | Defensive back | Colorado |
| 7 | 172 | Mike Smith | Wide receiver | Grambling State |
| 8 | 201 | Al Richardson | Linebacker | Georgia Tech |
| 9 | 228 | Glen Keller | Center | West Texas State |
| 10 | 257 | Walt Bellamy | Defensive back | VMI |
| 11 | 284 | Mike Babb | Defensive back | Oklahoma |
| 12 | 313 | Quinn Jones | Running back | Tulsa |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 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 |

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Falcons | 14 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 37 |
| Patriots | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Dolphins | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 20 |
| Falcons | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Falcons | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 20 |
| 49ers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 17 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 3 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 28 |
| • Falcons | 17 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 43 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Jets | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Falcons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Falcons | 7 | 6 | 21 | 7 | 41 |
| Saints | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| • Falcons | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Falcons | 0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
| Bills | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Falcons | 3 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 33 |
| Cardinals | 17 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Saints | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| • Falcons | 3 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 31 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| • Falcons | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redskins | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| • Falcons | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Falcons | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Eagles | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 17 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Falcons | 7 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 35 |

#### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Falcons | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| • Rams | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 20 |

### Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 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 |

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Atlanta Falcons$^{(1)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–1 | 10–2 | 405 | 272 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(5)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 424 | 289 | W2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–4 | 4–8 | 320 | 415 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | 0–6 | 0–12 | 291 | 487 | L1 |