1980 Season

With the Cold War still being waged and the nation ready to usher in the Reagan administration, the Atlanta sports landscape was about to be forever changed.

Beginning in September of 1980, the stars aligned and the word "championship" first crossed the lips of many a Falcons fan. A division title was delivered to North Georgia in convincing fashion, and names like Pridemore, Jenkins, Bartkowski, Andrews, Francis, Kuykendall and Cain became part of our indelible lexicon.

On this twenty-third anniversary of the storybook 1980 season, Atlantafalcons.com is looking back game by game and reliving the moments of the season that yielded twelve regular season wins, six Pro Bowl players and the first NFC West Championship in Falcons history.

• The regular starting lineups for the 1980 team
• Recaps: games 1-3
• Recaps: games 4-6
• Recaps: games 7-9
• Recaps: games 10-11
• Recaps: games 12-14
• Recaps: games 15-16

Dallas 30, Atlanta 27

(Atlanta Fulton County Stadium - 60,022)

Alfred Jenkins' 155 yards receiving wasn't enough to vault the Falcons past the Cowboys

The end came suddenly as Dallas scored 20 points in the final quarter to end any Falcons Super Bowl hopes. The Falcons had built a 27-17 lead midway in the fourth quarter on the strength of Steve Bartkowski's passing to wide receiver Alfred Jenkins, who had four catches for 155 yards. Bartkowski finished the day with 18 completions in 33 attempts for 320 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, the Falcons contained the Cowboys throughout the first half, but suffered a blow in the third quarter when defensive end Jeff Merrow had to leave the game with an injury. As during the regular season, the Falcons did an adequate job of stopping the run, limiting Dallas to 112 yards, but gave up 322 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

SCORING:

• ATL - FG Mazzetti 38
• ATL - Jenkins 60-yard pass from Bartkowski (Mazzetti kick)
• DAL - FG Septien 38
• DAL - DuPree 5-yard pass from White (Septien kick)
• ATL - Cain 1-yard run (Mazzetti kick)
• ATL - Andrews 5-yard pass from Bartkowski (Mazzetti kick)
• DAL - Newhouse 1-yard run (Septien kick)
• ATL - FG Mazzetti 34
• DAL - Pearson 14-yard pass from White (Septien kick)
• DAL - Pearson 23-yard pass from White (kick failed)

BOXSCORE:

Rushing

• Falcons - Cain 13 for 43, Andrews 14 for 43
• Cowboys - Dorsett 10 for 51, Newhouse 6 for 31, P. Pearson 1 for 11, D. Pearson 1 for 9, DuPree 1 for 5, Newsome 1 for 4, White 4 for 1

Passing

• Falcons - Bartkowski 18 of 33 for 320 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
• Cowboys - White 25 of 39 for 322 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT; Springs 0 of 1 for 0 yards

Receiving

• Falcons - Francis 6 for 66, Jenkins 4 for 155, Miller 3 for 48, Cain 2 for 20, Andrews 2 for 19, Jackson 1 for 12
• Cowboys - D. Pearson 5 for 90, Dorsett 5 for 40, Hill 4 for 53, P. Pearson 4 for 51, Springs 3 for 39, DuPree 3 for 29, Johnson 1 for 20