1980 New England Patriots season The New England Patriots finished the National Football League ' s 1980 season with a record of ten wins and six losses , and finished second in the AFC East division . Bill Parcells , then the linebackers coach with the team , has stated that the players on this Patriots team gave him his famous " Tuna " nickname when he asked , " What do you think I am , Charlie the Tuna ? " Regular season . Season summary . The Patriots scored 441 points in 1980 , a club record that stood until the 2007 squad shattered it . For the second straight season they missed the playoffs by one game . The game lead tied or changed eight times as Jim Zorn and Steve Grogan combined for 583 passing yards , seven touchdowns , and two picks . Trailing 27 – 14 after three quarters the Seahawks behind Zorn touchdowns to Steve Largent and Sam McCullum took a 31 – 30 lead before Grogan found tight end Don Hasselbeck ( whose son Matt would quarterback the Seahawks over two decades later ) for the game - wining touchdown of a 37 – 31 final . The Patriots opened the first of three Monday Night Football appearances on their schedule hosting the Broncos for the fourth time since the AFL - NFL merger . A Matt Robinson touchdown in the first quarter put the Broncos up 7 – 0 , then the game lead changed three times in the next two quarters behind Patriot scores by Vagas Ferguson , Stanley Morgan , and kicker John Smith and an Otis Armstrong touchdown for the Broncos , before the Patriots inched away in the fourth to a 23 – 14 win . It was the fourth straight win for the home team in the rivalry and would be the Patriots ' last win over the Broncos until 1999 . The Patriots edged the Jets 21 – 11 , sacking Richard Todd five times . It had been a rough week leading up to the game for Todd , as he broke the little toe on his left foot after accidentally kicking a table at home , then broke the right little toe after his foot was stepped on by Stan Waldemore on a play - action drill during practice – Waldemore was subbing for Randy Rasmussen after Rasmussen was injured earlier in practice . The Patriots and Dolphins had split their season series the previous four seasons , and 1980 proved no different . The Patriots hammered the Dolphins at Schaefer Stadium 34 – 0 as Don Calhoun and Allan Clark had rushing touchdowns , Steve Grogan and Matt Cavanaugh each had a touchdown throw , and kicker John Smith kicked two field goals . The Dolphins had four fumbles and recovered all four , but also threw four picks . In their second Monday Night Football game the Patriots fell behind 24 – 6 at halftime as they faced an Oilers squad that included two players who ' d haunted the Pats during their Oakland Raiders days – Ken Stabler and Dave Casper . The Patriots managed four touchdowns in the second half but could not overtake the Oilers in a 38 – 34 loss . Steve Grogan started despite injuries to both knees because backup Matt Cavanaugh ( a future Niners backup for Joe Montana ) was coming off knee surgery . Grogan was picked off five times in a 21 – 17 loss and " I got crucified in the newspapers , but no one knew I was playing on two bad knees . " The Dolphins got revenge in a 16 – 13 overtime win at the Miami Orange Bowl . The Patriots clawed to a 13 – 6 lead in the fourth quarter , then the Dolphins forced overtime with a David Woodley throw to Nat Moore in the fourth , then Uwe von Schamann won it with a 23 - yard field goal in the extra quarter . The game , though , wound up taking a back seat to the announcement by Howard Cosell that John Lennon had been shot and killed . With a playoff berth out of reach the Patriots outdueled the Saints 38 – 27 behind three Matt Cavanaugh touchdown throws and rushing scores by Don Calhoun and Mosi Tatupu . Running back Jack Holmes threw a touchdown to fellow RB Jimmy Rogers as the Saints clawed to a 10 – 0 first quarter lead , but the lead was gone before halftime . Archie Manning threw for 301 yards and a score to Wes Chandler against a Patriots organization his sons Peyton and Eli would battle in another time . Roster . All of the following players appeared in at least one game for the 1980 New England Patriots .