1980 Los Angeles Rams season

1980 Los Angeles Rams season
1980 Los Angeles Rams season
Owner	Georgia Frontiere
Head coach	Ray Malavasi
General manager	Don Klosterman
Home field	Anaheim Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Cowboys) 13–34
	← 1979; Rams seasons; 1981 →;

The Rams playing against the New Orleans Saints at Anaheim Stadium in 1980.

The 1980 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 43rd year with the National Football League (NFL), the 35th season in Los Angeles, and the first season at Anaheim Stadium. The Rams improved from their 9-7 Super Bowl season from the previous year with an 11-5 record. They made the playoffs for the 8th straight season. Coming off a Super Bowl appearance the previous season, the Rams had high hopes of winning the championship for the first time. After a slow start to the season, the Rams caught fire and won five games in a row to sit at 5-2. In week 15, the Rams hosted the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. In a highly anticipated matchup, the Rams wound up crushing the Cowboys 38-14. This win clinched a playoff berth for the Rams for the 8th straight season, still a team record. However, their playoff trip ended rather quickly, as they lost to the Cowboys in a rematch 34-13 at Texas Stadium.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1980 Los Angeles Rams draft
1	17	Johnnie Johnson	Safety	Texas
2	50	Irv Pankey	Offensive Tackle	Penn St
3	58	Jewerl Thomas	Running Back	San Jose St
3	70	LeRoy Irvin	Cornerback	Kansas
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

Personnel[]

Staff[]

**1980 Los Angeles Rams staff**

	Front office Owner/President – Georgia Frontiere Executive Vice President/General Manager – Don Klosterman Vice President of Special Projects - Assistant General Manager – Jack Faulkner Director of Player Personnel – John Math Head coaches Head Coach – Ray Malavasi Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Lionel Taylor Quarterbacks – Paul Lanham Running Backs – Hewritt Dixon Offensive Line – Dan Radakovich			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Bud Carson Defensive Line – LaVern Torgeson Linebackers – Frank Lauterbur Special teams coaches Special Teams – Herb Paterra Strength and conditioning Conditioning – Clyde Evans

Roster[]

**1980 Los Angeles Rams roster**

	Quarterbacks 15 Vince Ferragamo 11 Pat Haden Running backs 32 Cullen Bryant 44 Mike Guman 33 Jewerl Thomas 26 Wendell Tyler Wide receivers 88 Preston Dennard 85 Drew Hill 82 Willie Miller 86 Jeff Moore 80 Billy Waddy Tight ends 84 Walt Arnold 81 Victor Hicks 83 Terry Nelson		Offensive linemen 62 Bill Bain G/T 60 Dennis Harrah G 72 Kent Hill G 54 Ed McGlasson C 75 Irv Pankey T 61 Rich Saul C 78 Jackie Slater T Defensive linemen 90 Larry Brooks DT 71 Reggie Doss DE 89 Fred Dryer DE 79 Mike Fanning DT 76 Cody Jones DT 95 Phil Murphy DT 85 Jack Youngblood DE		Linebackers 52 George Andrews 59 Bob Brudzinski OLB 55 Carl Ekern 51 Joe Harris MLB 64 Jack Reynolds MLB 53 Jim Youngblood Defensive backs 21 Nolan Cromwell FS 41 Jeff Delaney 47 LeRoy Irvin CB 20 Johnnie Johnson 49 Rod Perry CB 23 Lucious Smith CB 37 Ivory Sully CB 27 Pat Thomas CB Special teams 3 Frank Corral K/P		Reserve lists 42 Kirk Collins DB (IR) —- Bob Gruber DT (IR) -- Tom Pettigrew OT (IR) 56 Doug Smith C (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7	Detroit Lions	L 20–41	0–1	Anaheim Stadium	64,892
2	September 11	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 9–10	0–2	Tampa Stadium	66,576
3	September 21	Green Bay Packers	W 51–21	1–2	Anaheim Stadium	63,850
4	September 28	at New York Giants	W 28–7	2–2	Giants Stadium	73,414
5	October 5	San Francisco 49ers	W 48–26	3–2	Anaheim Stadium	62,188
6	October 12	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 21–13	4–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	50,230
7	October 19	at San Francisco 49ers	W 31–17	5–2	Candlestick Park	55,360
8	October 26	at Atlanta Falcons	L 10–13	5–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,401
9	November 2	New Orleans Saints	W 45–31	6–3	Anaheim Stadium	59,909
10	November 9	Miami Dolphins	L 14–35	6–4	Anaheim Stadium	62,198
11	November 16	at New England Patriots	W 17–14	7–4	Schaefer Stadium	60,609
12	November 24	at New Orleans Saints	W 27–7	8–4	Louisiana Superdome	53,448
13	November 30	New York Jets	W 38–13	9–4	Anaheim Stadium	59,743
14	December 7	at Buffalo Bills	L 7–10 (OT)	9–5	Rich Stadium	77,133
15	December 15	Dallas Cowboys	W 38–14	10–5	Anaheim Stadium	65,154
16	December 21	Atlanta Falcons	W 20–17 (OT)	11–5	Anaheim Stadium	62,469

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary[]

Week 1 vs Lions[]

Week One: Detroit Lions (0–0) at Los Angeles Rams (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	10	7	10	14	41
Rams	6	14	0	0	20

at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

Date: September 7
Game time: 4:00 p.m.
Game weather: Clear; 66 °F (19 °C)
Game attendance: 64,892
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

LA – Drew Hill 98-yard kickoff return (kick failed). Rams 6–0.
DET – Eddie Murray 52-yard field goal. Rams 6–3. Drive:
DET – Billy Sims 10-yard run (Eddie Murray kick). Lions 10–6. Drive:

Second quarter

LA – Cullen Bryant 1-yard run (Frank Corral kick). Rams 13–10. Drive:
LA – Elvis Peacock 1-yard run (Frank Corral kick). Rams 20–10. Drive:
DET – Billy Sims 1-yard run (Eddie Murray kick). Rams 20–17. Drive:

Third quarter

DET – Eddie Murray 38-yard field goal. Tie 20–20. Drive:
DET – Dexter Bussey 15-yard run (Eddie Murray kick). Lions 27–20. Drive:

Fourth quarter

DET – Billy Sims 41-yard run (Eddie Murray kick). Lions 34–20. Drive:
DET – Horace King 4-yard run (Eddie Murray kick). Lions 41–20. Drive:

Top passers

DET – Gary Danielson – 10/19, 179 yards
LA – Pat Haden – 13/24, 133 yards, 3 INT

Top rushers

DET – Billy Sims – 22 rushes, 153 yards, 3 TD
LA – Elvis Peacock – 15 rushes, 67 yards, TD

Top receivers

DET – Billy Sims – 2 receptions, 64 yards
LA – Preston Dennard – 4 receptions, 63 yards

Playoffs[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Wildcard	December 28, 1980	at Dallas Cowboys	L 34–13	64,533

Standings[]

NFC West
view talk	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

References[]

^ "1980 Los Angeles Rams draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2014.

/*https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66363663/*/

External links[]

1980 Los Angeles Rams at Pro-Football-Reference.com

[1]

[1] "1980 Los Angeles Rams draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 4, 2014.

[1]

v t Los Angeles Rams
Founded in 1936 Played in Cleveland, Ohio (1936–1945) and St. Louis, Missouri (1995–2015) Based in Inglewood, California Headquartered in Agoura Hills, California
Franchise	Franchise History in Cleveland in St. Louis Seasons Players Coaches First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Statistics Broadcasters Awards
Stadiums	Cleveland Stadium League Park Shaw Stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Angel Stadium Busch Memorial Stadium The Dome at America's Center SoFi Stadium
Culture	Dan Reeves Carroll Rosenbloom Stan Kroenke Rampage Cheerleaders Triple Threat Crazylegs Heaven Can Wait Melonheads John Ramsey "Win" Big A Sign American Underdog
Lore	Bull Elephant backfield Fearsome Foursome Jerome Bettis trade The Greatest Show on Turf The Tackle Mob Squad 2018 game vs. Kansas City Chiefs NOLA No-Call
Rivalries	Dallas Cowboys Kansas City Chiefs San Francisco 49ers
Retired numbers	7 28 29 74 75 78 80 85
Media	Broadcasters KCBS-FM Radio network J.B. Long D'Marco Farr Dick Enberg
Wild card berths (9)	1980 1983 1984 1986 1988 1989 2000 2004 2020
Division championships (17)	1945 1949 1967 1969 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1985 1999 2001 2003 2017 2018
Conference championships (7)	1950 1951 1955 1979 1999 2001 2018
League championships (3)	1945 1951 1999 (XXXIV)
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1937–present) Conference: National Football Conference Division: West Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1936)

v t Los Angeles Rams seasons
Played in Cleveland (1936–1945) and St. Louis (1995–2015)
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Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–1969) or Super Bowl (1966–) victory Italics indicates NFL Championship (1920–1969) or Super Bowl (1966–) appearance