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
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1979 Dolphins seasons 1981 →

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. This was also the first season since 1969 that the Dolphins lost to the Buffalo Bills.

Offseason[]

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
12	325	Chuck Stone	Guard	North Carolina State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[1]

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

Roster[]

1980 Miami Dolphins final roster

	Quarterbacks 10 Don Strock 16 David Woodley 17 Running backs 34 Woody Bennett 35 Nick Giaquinto 38 Steve Howell FB 31 Rick Moser 22 Tony Nathan 24 Delvin Williams Wide receivers 88 Elmer Bailey 81 Jimmy Cefalo 82 Duriel Harris 89 Nat Moore Tight ends 84 Bruce Hardy 86 Ronnie Lee 80 Joe Rose		Offensive linemen 63 Mark Dennard C 61 Thom Dornbrook 79 Jon Giesler T 74 Cleveland Green T 67 Bob Kuechenberg G 68 Eric Laakso T 64 Ed Newman G 57 Dwight Stephenson C Defensive linemen 78 Carl Barisich DT 70 Bill Barnett 73 Bob Baumhower DT 75 Doug Betters DE 83 Vern Den Herder DE		Linebackers 58 Kim Bokamper 51 Rusty Chambers 77 A. J. Duhe 50 Larry Gordon 54 Ralph Ortega 55 Earnest Rhone 59 Steve Shull Defensive backs 43 Jeff Allen 46 Don Bessillieu 47 Glenn Blackwood 33 25 Tim Foley S 48 Gerald Small CB 45 Ed Taylor CB Special teams 4 George Roberts P 5 Uwe von Schamann K		Reserve lists 12 Bob Griese QB (IR) 38 Terry Robiskie FB (IR) 60 Jeff Toews G (IR) 66 Larry Little G (IR) 56 Steve Towle LB (IR) 44 Doug Beaudoin DB (IR) 28 Don McNeal CB (IR) 37 Mike Kozlowski DB (IR) -- G (IR) Practice squad Currently vacant Rookies in italics 45 active, 0 inactive, 0 practice squad

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.

Their week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills was the Dolphins' first loss to that team since 1969, snapping a 20 game winning streak for Miami in the Bills-Dolphins rivalry. After the win, Bills fans rushed the field and tore down the goalposts. This was also Don Shula's first loss to Buffalo in 21 career games against them.

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

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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

The Dolphins got revenge from their 34-0 shellacking in Foxborough back in October. 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. John Smith attempted to kick the game-winning field goal, but had the kick blocked, then Uwe von Schamann of the Dolphins won it with a 23-yard field goal in the extra quarter. The game, though, became overshadowed by Howard Cosell's announcement that John Lennon had been shot and killed.^[2]

Standings[]

AFC East
view talk	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

References[]

External links[]

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