1980 New England Patriots season
| 1980 New England Patriots season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Ron Erhardt |
| General manager | Bucko Kilroy |
| Owner | Billy Sullivan |
| Home field | Schaefer Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 2nd AFC East |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | DE Julius Adams FS Tim Fox G John Hannah CB Mike Haynes WR Stanley Morgan LB Steve Nelson K John Smith |
| AP All-Pros | G John Hannah (1st team) CB Mike Haynes (2nd team) WR Stanley Morgan (2nd team) |
| Uniform | |
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The New England Patriots finished the National Football League's 1980 season with a record of ten wins and six losses, and finished second in the AFC East Division. Running Back Sam Cunningham held out all season, so the Patriots turned to rookie Vagas Ferguson to carry the bulk of the rushing game. Ferguson responded by breaking the team's rookie rushing record. The Patriots would sit at 6-1 near the midway point and seemed poised for the playoffs. However, the Pats would win just two of their next seven, and would finish with a 10-6 record that saw them fall just short of a Wild Card berth.
Bill Parcells, then the linebackers coach with the team, has stated that the players on this Patriots team gave him his famous "Tuna" nickname when he asked, "What do you think I am, Charlie the Tuna?"
The Patriots scored 441 points in 1980, a club record that stood until the 2007 squad shattered it. For the second straight season they missed the playoffs by one game.
The game lead tied or changed eight times as Jim Zorn and Steve Grogan combined for 583 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and two picks. Trailing 27–14 after three quarters the Seahawks behind Zorn touchdowns to Steve Largent and Sam McCullum took a 31–30 lead before Grogan found tight end Don Hasselbeck (whose son Matt would quarterback the Seahawks over two decades later) for the game-winning touchdown of a 37–31 final.
The Patriots opened the first of three Monday Night Football appearances on their schedule hosting the Broncos for the fourth time since the AFL-NFL merger. A Matt Robinson touchdown in the first quarter put the Broncos up 7–0, then the game lead changed three times in the next two quarters behind Patriot scores by Vagas Ferguson, Stanley Morgan, and kicker John Smith and an Otis Armstrong touchdown for the Broncos, before the Patriots inched away in the fourth to a 23–14 win. It was the fourth straight win for the home team in the rivalry and would be the Patriots' last win over the Broncos until 1999.
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