1980 San Francisco 49ers season

1980 San Francisco 49ers season
Head coach	Bill Walsh
Home field	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1980 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League and their 35th overall. This was both Bill Walsh's and Joe Montana's second season with the team. The 49ers looked to improve on their previous output of 2–14 (which they had earned in both of the two previous seasons). They failed to make the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season, but they did improve to 6–10.

On December 7, 1980, the 49ers staged the greatest come from behind victory in the history of the NFL's regular season. The 49ers rallied from 28 points down to defeat the New Orleans Saints by a score of 38–35 in Week Fourteen.

Personnel

Staff

1980 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office Owner and President – Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. General Manager – Bill Walsh Director of Football Operations – John McVay Head coaches Head Coach – Bill Walsh Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Sam Wyche Running Backs – Billie Matthews Receivers – Milt Jackson Tight Ends – Bruce Coslet Offensive Line – Bobb McKittrick

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Chuck Studley Defensive Line – Bill McPherson Linebackers – Norb Hecker Defensive Backs – George Seifert Special teams coaches Special Teams – Milt Jackson Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Al Vermeil

Roster

1980 San Francisco 49ers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 17 Steve DeBerg 16 Joe Montana Running backs (RB) 35 Lenvil Elliott 38 Bob Ferrell FB 36 Paul Hofer 42 Ricky Patton Wide receivers (WR) 20 Terry Anderson 87 Dwight Clark 89 James Owens 84 Mike Shumann 88 Freddie Solomon Tight ends (TE) 82 Bob Bruer 82 Lewis Gilbert 86 Charle Young

Offensive linemen (OL) 68 John Ayers G/T 77 Jean Barrett T 64 Ken Bungarda T 51 Randy Cross G 62 Walt Downing G 71 Keith Fahnhorst T 56 Fred Quillan C 67 Ron Singleton T Defensive linemen (DL) 76 Dwaine Board DE 65 Lawrence Pillers DE 78 Archie Reese DE 79 Jim Stuckey DE 74 Jimmy Webb DT 75 Ted Vincent DT 90 George Visger DT

Linebackers (LB) 57 Dan Bunz MLB 55 Scott Hilton OLB 59 Willie Harper OLB 52 Bobby Leopold OLB 54 Craig Puki ILB 53 Tom Seabron OLB 50 Terry Tautolo ILB 58 Keena Turner OLB Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}} Special teams  3 Jim Miller P 14 Ray Wersching K

Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1980	at New Orleans Saints	W 26–23	58,621
2	September 14, 1980	St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–21	49,999
3	September 21, 1980	at New York Jets	W 37–27	50,608
4	September 28, 1980	Atlanta Falcons	L 20–17	56,518
5	October 5, 1980	at Los Angeles Rams	L 48–26	62,188
6	October 12, 1980	at Dallas Cowboys	L 59–14	63,399
7	October 19, 1980	Los Angeles Rams	L 31–17	55,360
8	October 26, 1980	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 24–23	51,925
9	November 2, 1980	at Detroit Lions	L 17–13	78,845
10	November 9, 1980	at Green Bay Packers	L 23–16	54,475
11	November 16, 1980	at Miami Dolphins	L 17–13	45,135
12	November 23, 1980	New York Giants	W 12–0	38,574
13	November 30, 1980	New England Patriots	W 21–17	45,254
14	December 7, 1980	New Orleans Saints	W 38–35	37,949
15	December 14, 1980	at Atlanta Falcons	L 35–10	55,767
16	December 21, 1980	Buffalo Bills	L 18–13	37,476

Game summaries

Week 14: vs. New Orleans Saints

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Saints	14	21	0	0	0	35
49ers	0	7	14	14	3	38

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California

• Date: Sunday, December 7
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 48°F, wind 12 mph
• Referee: Dick Jorgensen
• TV announcers (CBS): Jim Kelly & Jim Hill
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter NO – Ike Harris 33-yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick) – Saints 7–0 NO – Henry Childs 21-yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick) – Saints 14–0 Second quarter NO – Jack Holmes 1-yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) – Saints 21–0 SF – Freddie Solomon 57-yard punt return (Ray Wersching kick) – Saints 21–7 NO – Jack Holmes 1-yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) – Saints 28–7 NO – Ike Harris 41-yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick) – Saints 35–7 Third quarter SF – Joe Montana 1-yard run (Ray Wersching kick) – Saints 35–14 SF – Dwight Clark 71-yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick) – Saints 35–21 Fourth quarter SF – Freddie Solomon 14-yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick) – Saints 35–28 SF – Lenvil Elliott 7-yard run (Ray Wersching kick) – Tie 35–35 Overtime SF – Ray Wersching 36-yard field goal – 49ers 38–35 Saints Archie Manning 24/38, 377 Yds, 3 TD, INT Tony Galbreath 16 Rush, 86 Yds Henry Childs 8 Rec, 144 Yds, TD 49ers Joe Montana 24/36, 285 Yds, 2 TD Lenvil Elliott 25 Rush, 125 Yds, TD Dwight Clark 6 Rec, 155 Yds, TD

The 49ers fought a 28-point deficit in the second half to win in overtime 38–35. The game was named as #8 on NFL Top 10 on Top Ten Comebacks.

Standings

NFC West
	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