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1980 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach Sam Rutigliano
Home Field Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record 11–5–0
Place 1st AFC Central
Playoff Finish Lost AFC Divisional Playoffs
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1979 1981

The 1980 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 31st season with the National Football League.

For more details on the season, see Kardiac Kids and Red Right 88.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

The following were selected in the 1980 NFL Draft.

Round Overall Player Position School/Club Team
1 27 Charles White Running Back USC
2 54 Cleveland Crosby Defensive End Wisconsin
3 72 Cliff Odom Linebacker University of Texas at Arlington
4 99 Ron Crews Nose Tackle UNLV
4 109 Paul McDonald Quarterback USC
5 116 Elvis Franks Defensive End Morgan State
8 209 Jeff Copeland Linebacker Texas Tech
9 236 Roy De Walt Running Back University of Texas at Arlington
10 263 Kevin Fidel Center San Diego State
11 294 Roland Sales Running Back Arkansas
12 321 Marcus Jackson Defensive End Purdue

[1]

Regular season[]

Memorable moments[]

Week 7 (Home) – Browns 26, Green Bay Packers 21

  • Facing a third and 20 from the Packers' 46 yard line with 16 seconds left, Brian Sipe completes a pass to Dave Logan for the winning touchdown.

Week 8 (Home) – Browns 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 26

  • Sipe and company fight back from deficits of 10–0, 20–7, and 26–14 to defeat the Steelers in Cleveland. Ozzie Newsome hauls in the winning catch with 5:35 to play.

Week 9 (Home) – Browns 27, Chicago Bears 21

  • Although Mike Pruitt's 56-yard touchdown run ultimately wins the game for Cleveland, Sipe throws for 298 yards and reaches a milestone in Browns history, becoming the Browns' all-time passing leader.

Week 11 (Away)- Browns 13, Pittsburgh Steelers 16

  • Seeking their first ever win at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium, the Browns are once again denied, this time on a Terry Bradshaw to Lynn Swann touchdown with eleven seconds left. It marks the Browns' 11th consecutive defeat at Pittsburgh.

Week 15 (Away) – Browns 23, Minnesota Vikings 28

  • The Browns relinquish a 23–9 lead with only 7:15 remaining. The game is probably most remembered for Browns Safety Thom Darden's deflection of Tommy Kramer's "Hail Mary pass", which is caught by Ahmad Rashad as time expires. Kramer's 456 passing yards were the most ever given up by the Browns.

Week 16 (Away) – Browns 27, Cincinnati Bengals 24

  • Needing a win to secure the Central Division title, the Browns hold off the Bengals 27–24. Don Cockroft's game winning field goal comes with 1:25 left to play.

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 7, 1980 at New England Patriots L 34–17
49,222
2 September 15, 1980 Houston Oilers L 16–7
80,243
3 September 21, 1980 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–13
63,614
4 September 28, 1980 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34–27
65,540
5 October 5, 1980 Denver Broncos L 19–16
81,065
6 October 12, 1980 at Seattle Seahawks W 27–3
61,366
7 October 19, 1980 Green Bay Packers W 26–21
75,548
8 October 26, 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers W 27–26
79,095
9 November 3, 1980 Chicago Bears W 27–21
84,225
10 November 9, 1980 at Baltimore Colts W 28–27
45,369
11 November 16, 1980 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 16–13
54,563
12 November 23, 1980 Cincinnati Bengals W 31–7
79,253
13 November 30, 1980 at Houston Oilers W 17–14
51,514
14 December 7, 1980 New York Jets W 17–14
78,454
15 December 14, 1980 at Minnesota Vikings L 28–23
42,202
16 December 21, 1980 at Cincinnati Bengals W 27–24
50,058

Standings[]

AFC Central
Team W L T PCT PF PA
Cleveland Browns 11 5 0 .688 357 310
Houston Oilers 11 5 0 .688 295 251
Pittsburgh Steelers 9 7 0 .563 352 313
Cincinnati Bengals 6 10 0 .375 244 312

Roster[]

1980 Cleveland Browns rosterview · talk · edit
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Reserve Lists

Rookies in italics


[2]

Postseason[]

AFC Divisional Playoff[]

  • Oakland Raiders 14, Cleveland Browns 12
1 2 3 4 OT
Raiders 0 7 0 7 14
Browns 0 6 6 0 12




at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

  • TV: NBC
  • Attendance: 77,655

In a play that has become known as Red Right 88, Raiders safety Mike Davis intercepted Browns quarterback Brian Sipe's pass in the end zone with 41 seconds left in the game to preserve Oakland's 14–12 victory. Instead of opting for a game-winning field goal, Cleveland decided to attempt a pass play because kicker Don Cockroft had previously missed two field goal attempts, had another aborted following a bad snap, and had one extra point blocked.

Awards and records[]

Milestones[]

References[]

AFC East Central West East Central West NFC
Baltimore Cincinnati Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta
Buffalo Cleveland Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Los Angeles
Miami Houston Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans
New England Pittsburgh San Diego St. Louis Minnesota San Francisco
NY Jets Seattle Washington Tampa Bay
1980 NFL DraftNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XV
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