1980 Miami Dolphins season

1980 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach	Don Shula
Home field	Orange Bowl
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1980 Miami Dolphins season was the 15th year of existence for the Miami Dolphins franchise. Quarterback Bob Griese retired after the season, following a 14-year career with the Dolphins. However, in Griese's final season the Dolphins would only play mediocre football finishing in third place with an 8-8 record.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1980 NFL draft

1980 Miami Dolphins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	21	Don McNeal	Cornerback	Alabama
2	48	Dwight Stephenson * †	Center	Alabama
3	75	Bill Barnett	Defensive end	Nebraska
4	100	Elmer Bailey	Wide receiver	Minnesota
6	158	Eugene Byrd	Wide receiver	Michigan State
7	185	Joe Rose	Tight end	California
8	212	Jeff Allen	Defensive back	UC Davis
8	214	David Woodley	Quarterback	LSU
9	239	Mark Goodspeed	Offensive tackle	Nebraska
10	271	Doug Lantz	Center	Miami (OH)
10	272	Ben Long	Linebacker	South Dakota
11	279	Phil Driscoll	Defensive end	Minnesota State–Mankato
12	325	Chuck Stone	Guard	North Carolina State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1980 Miami Dolphins staff
	Front office President – Joe Robbie Executive Vice President/General Manager – Mike Robbie Vice President – Don Shula Director of Player Personnel – Chuck Connor Head coaches Head Coach – Don Shula Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Dan Henning Offensive Backs – Carl Taseff Offensive Line/Running Game – John Sandusky			Defensive coaches Assistant Head Coach/Defense – Bill Arnsparger Defensive Line/Run Defense – Mike Scarry Defensive Backs – Tom Keane Special teams coaches Special Teams – Steve Crosby, Carl Taseff Punting – Tom Keane

Regular season

The 1980 NFL season would see the Dolphins drop to an 8–8 record, from their AFC East division winning 10–6 showing the previous year.

Quarterback Bob Griese, who struggled with leg problems during 1979, lost the starting job to longtime backup Don Strock, but he did poorly in two games, leading the Dolphins to return to Griese for Week 3. In Week 5, however, Griese suffered a career-ending shoulder injury against the Baltimore Colts and was succeeded by David Woodley, a rookie fresh from LSU.

The final game of the season was played against the New York Jets on December 20. NBC tried a novel experiment by broadcasting the game with no commentators, and with none of the players or staff wearing microphones. The effect was to give television viewers the feel of actually being in the stadium. To date, this was the only NFL game ever aired on TV without commentaries. The Jets won by a score of 24–17, though both teams had already been eliminated from playoff contention.

It was during the ABC broadcast of the Monday Night Football game on December 8, 1980 against the Patriots that Howard Cosell announced that John Lennon had been shot and killed.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1980	at Buffalo Bills	L 17–7	79,598
2	September 14, 1980	Cincinnati Bengals	W 17–16	38,322
3	September 21, 1980	at Atlanta Falcons	W 20–17	55,470
4	September 28, 1980	New Orleans Saints	W 21–16	40,946
5	October 5, 1980	Baltimore Colts	L 30–17	50,631
6	October 12, 1980	at New England Patriots	L 34–0	60,377
7	October 19, 1980	Buffalo Bills	W 17–14	41,636
8	October 27, 1980	at New York Jets	L 17–14	53,046
9	November 2, 1980	at Oakland Raiders	L 16–10	46,378
10	November 9, 1980	at Los Angeles Rams	W 35–14	62,198
11	November 16, 1980	San Francisco 49ers	W 17–13	45,135
12	November 20, 1980	San Diego Chargers	L 27–24	63,013
13	November 30, 1980	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 23–10	51,384
14	December 8, 1980	New England Patriots	W 16–13	63,292
15	December 14, 1980	at Baltimore Colts	W 24–14	30,564
16	December 20, 1980	New York Jets	L 24–17	41,854

Game summaries

Week 14: vs. New England Patriots

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins

1 2 3 4 OT Total Patriots 0 6 0 7 0 13 • Dolphins 0 0 6 7 3 16 Date: December 8 Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Television network: ABC Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Scoring summary 2 Patriots John Smith 23-yard field goal Patriots 3–0 2 Patriots John Smith 33-yard field goal Patriots 6–0 3 Dolphins Uwe von Schamann 27-yard field goal Patriots 6–3 3 Dolphins Uwe von Schamann 24-yard field goal Tie 6–6 4 Patriots Russ Francis 38-yard pass from Matt Cavanaugh (John Smith kick) Patriots 13–6 4 Dolphins Nat Moore 8-yard pass from David Woodley (Uwe von Schamann kick) Tie 13–13 OT Dolphins Uwe von Schamann 23-yard field goal Dolphins 16–13

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills(3)	11	5	0	.688	4–4	8–4	320	260	W1
New England Patriots	10	6	0	.625	6–2	9–3	441	325	W2
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	3–5	4–8	266	305	L1
Baltimore Colts	7	9	0	.438	5–3	6–8	355	387	L3
New York Jets	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–9	302	395	W1

External links

• 1980 Miami Dolphins at Pro-Football-Reference.com