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1980 Dallas Cowboys season
Head Coach Tom Landry
Home Field
Results
Record 12–4
Place 2nd NFC East
Playoff Finish Lost Conference Championship
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1979 1981

The 1980 Dallas Cowboys season was their 21st in the league. The team improved their previous output of 11–5, winning twelve games.[1] They qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the Conference Championship.

The season featured a very unusual end to the regular season. Going into the final week of the season, Dallas (at 11–4) played Philadelphia (12–3) at Texas Stadium. Under the NFL's tiebreaking rules, if Dallas could beat the Eagles by 25 points, they would earn the NFC's number one seed and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. However, if they lost (or won by less than 25) then Philadelphia would get the number one seed and (since they played in the same division) Dallas would be a wildcard team. Dallas led 35–10 in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles rallied to lose only 35–27. This forced Dallas to play an extra week in the playoffs and a road game in Atlanta in the divisional round. Dallas ultimately lost at Philadelphia in the NFC Championship game.

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 8, 1980 at Washington Redskins W 17–3
55,045
2 September 14, 1980 at Denver Broncos L 41–20
74,919
3 September 21, 1980 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 28–17
62,750
4 September 28, 1980 at Green Bay Packers W 28–7
54,776
5 October 5, 1980 New York Giants W 24–3
59,126
6 October 12, 1980 San Francisco 49ers W 59–14
63,399
7 October 19, 1980 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–10
70,696
8 October 26, 1980 San Diego Chargers W 42–31
60,639
9 November 2, 1980 at St. Louis Cardinals W 27–24
50,701
10 November 9, 1980 at New York Giants L 38–35
68,343
11 November 16, 1980 St. Louis Cardinals W 31–21
52,567
12 November 23, 1980 Washington Redskins W 14–10
58,809
13 November 27, 1980 Seattle Seahawks W 51–7
57,540
14 December 7, 1980 at Oakland Raiders W 19–13
53,194
15 December 15, 1980 at Los Angeles Rams L 38–14
65,154
16 December 21, 1980 Philadelphia Eagles W 35–27
62,548

Playoffs[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Wild Card December 28, 1980 Los Angeles Rams W 34–13
64,533
Division January 4, 1981 at Atlanta Falcons W 30–27
60,022
Conference January 11, 1981 at Philadelphia Eagles L 20–7
70,696

Standings[]

NFC East
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Philadelphia Eagles 12 4 0 .750 384 222 L-1
Dallas Cowboys 12 4 0 .750 454 311 W-1
Washington Redskins 6 10 0 .375 261 293 W-3
St. Louis Cardinals 5 11 0 .313 299 350 L-2
New York Giants 4 12 0 .250 249 425 L-2

Roster[]

Dallas Cowboys 1980 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Reserve Lists

Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
45 Active, 0 Inactive

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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