1980 Detroit Lions season

The 1980 Detroit Lions season was the 51st season in franchise history. As the result of their 2–14 1979 season, the Lions were able to select Heisman Trophy-winning Oklahoma Sooner halfback Billy Sims with the first pick in the NFL draft. In his rookie season, Sims rushed his way to the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award while carrying the Lions back to respectability.

1980 Detroit Lions season
Head coach	Monte Clark
Home field	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	3 RB Billy Sims DE Al Baker K Eddie Murray
AP All-Pros	2 K Eddie Murray (1st team) RB Billy Sims (2nd team)

After winning their first four games, the Lions stumbled down the stretch including costly 1-point losses to the Colts and lowly Cardinals, where Cardinals running back Nathan Micknick out ran the Lions newly signed, struggling linebacker Aidan Smith to put the Cardinals up by 1 in the closing minutes. While they vastly improved overall, finishing 9–7, the Lions narrowly lost the NFC Central Division title to the Minnesota Vikings by virtue of a conference record tiebreaker. The Lions won nine NFC games to the Vikings’ eight, but Minnesota had a better winning percentage in the conference. The Lions’ 1979 fifth-place finish meant they played two extra NFC games, resulting in five conference losses to the Vikings' four losses. The Lions managed to compile their first winning season since 1972. And first since moving to the Pontiac Silver dome.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1980 NFL Draft

1980 Detroit Lions draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Billy Sims *	Running back	Oklahoma
3	57	Tom Turnure	Center	Washington
3	62	Mike Friede	Wide receiver	Indiana
4	85	Eric Hipple	Quarterback	Utah State
5	111	Mark Streeter	Defensive back	Arizona
5	120	Tommie Ginn	Center	Arkansas
6	140	Chris Dieterich	Tackle	North Carolina State
7	166	Eddie Murray *	Kicker	Tulane
9	222	DeWayne Jett	Wide receiver	Hawaii
9	223	Tom Tuinei	Defensive tackle	Hawaii
10	251	Donnie Henderson	Defensive back	Utah State
11	278	Wayne Smith	Defensive back	Purdue
12	307	Ray Williams	Running back	Washington State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

1980 Detroit Lions roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Gary Danielson 17 Eric Hipple 19 Jeff Komlo Running backs (RB) 24 Dexter Bussey FB 32 Rick Kane 25 Horace King FB 36 Bo Robinson 20 Billy Sims 45 Ken Talton 30 Ray Williams Wide receivers (WR) 87 Freddie Scott 39 Leonard Thompson 84 Jesse Thompson Tight ends (TE) 81 David Hill 80 Ulysses Norris

Offensive linemen (OL) 76 Karl Baldischwiler T 73 Russ Bolinger G 72 Chris Dieterich T/G 70 Keith Dorney T 61 Homer Elias G 65 Amos Fowler C 68 Tommie Ginn C 66 Burton Lawless G 67 Rod Walters G 74 Mike Whited T Defensive linemen (DL) 60 Al Baker DE 77 Curley Culp DT 79 William Gay DT 90 Leon Hayes DE 74 Mike McCoy DT 64 John Mendenhall DT 75 Dave Pureifory DE 78 Tom Tuinei DE

Linebackers (LB) 53 Garry Cobb 50 Eddie Cole OLB 57 Ken Fantetti MLB 58 Derrel Luce MLB 63 Dave Simmons OLB 59 Charlie Weaver OLB 52 Stan White OLB Defensive backs (DB) 35 Jimmy Allen SS 29 Luther Bradley CB 28 James Hunter CB 22 Eddie Lewis FS 23 Ray Oldham FS 44 Wayne Smith CB 21 Walt Williams CB Special teams 3 Eddie Murray K 15 Tom Skladany P

Reserve 47 John Arnold WR (IR) 31 Ken Callicutt RB (IR) 78 Doug English DT (IR) 51 James Harrell OLB (IR) -- DeWayne Jett WR (IR) 62 Willie Parker C (IR) 55 Tom Turnure C (IR) 77 John Woodcock DE (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

In his NFL debut, Billy Sims had three touchdowns.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7	at Los Angeles Rams	W 41–20	1–0	Anaheim Stadium	64,892
2	September 14	at Green Bay Packers	W 29–7	2–0	Milwaukee County Stadium	53,099
3	September 21	St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–7	3–0	Pontiac Silverdome	80,027
4	September 28	Minnesota Vikings	W 27–7	4–0	Pontiac Silverdome	80,291
5	October 5	at Atlanta Falcons	L 28–43	4–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	57,652
6	October 12	New Orleans Saints	W 24–13	5–1	Pontiac Silverdome	78,147
7	October 19	at Chicago Bears	L 7–24	5–2	Soldier Field	58,508
8	October 26	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–20	5–3	Arrowhead Stadium	59,391
9	November 2	San Francisco 49ers	W 17–13	6–3	Pontiac Silverdome	78,845
10	November 9	at Minnesota Vikings	L 0–34	6–4	Metropolitan Stadium	46,264
11	November 16	Baltimore Colts	L 9–10	6–5	Pontiac Silverdome	77,677
12	November 23	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 24–10	7–5	Tampa Stadium	64,976
13	November 27	Chicago Bears	L 17–23 OT	7–6	Pontiac Silverdome	75,397
14	December 7	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 23–24	7–7	Busch Memorial Stadium	46,966
15	December 14	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 27–14	8–7	Pontiac Silverdome	77,098
16	December 21	Green Bay Packers	W 24–3	9–7	Pontiac Silverdome	75,111
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings(3)	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–4	317	308	L1
Detroit Lions	9	7	0	.563	5–3	9–5	334	272	W2
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	5–3	7–5	304	264	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	10	1	.344	1–6–1	4–7–1	271	341	L3
Green Bay Packers	5	10	1	.344	3–4–1	4–7–1	231	371	L4

Game summaries

Week 1 at Rams

See also: 1980 Los Angeles Rams season

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

Quarter	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 or 18.9 °C
• Game attendance: 64,892
• Referee: Cal Lepore
• TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen
• 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

Week 2: at Green Bay Packers

Week 2: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	13	6	7	29
Packers	0	7	0	0	7

at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Date: September 14, 1980
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Overcast, 64 °F or 17.8 °C
• Referee: Bob Frederic
• TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Roger Staubach
• [1]

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Top passers DET – Gary Danielson – 11/17, 246 yards, 1 TD GB – Lynn Dickey – 16/30, 174 yards, 1 INT Top rushers DET – Billy Sims – 20 rushes, 134 yards, 1 TD GB – Eddie Lee Ivery – 10 rushes, 31 yards, 1 TD Top receivers DET – Dexter Bussey – 5 receptions, 74 yards GB – James Lofton – 4 receptions, 73 yards

Week 5: at Atlanta Falcons

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	3	0	22	28
Falcons	17	17	2	7	43

at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

• Date: October 5
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 61 °F (16.1 °C), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
• Referee: Dick Jorgensen
• TV: CBS
• Box Score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Lions Falcons 1 Lions 43-yard field goal by Eddie Murray 3 0 1 Falcons Blocked punt returned 16 yards for touchdown by Frank Reed 3 7 1 Falcons Fumble recovery returned 30 yards for touchdown by Buddy Curry, Tim Mazzetti kick good 3 14 1 Falcons 26-yard field goal by Tim Mazzetti 3 17 2 Falcons Alfred Jenkins 43-yard touchdown reception from Steve Bartkowski, Tim Mazzetti kick good 3 24 2 Falcons Fumble recovery returned 42 yards for touchdown by Joel Williams, Tim Mazzetti kick good 3 31 2 Falcons 33-yard field goal by Tim Mazzetti 3 34 2 Lions 32-yard field goal by Eddie Murray 6 34 3 Falcons Gary Danielson tackled in end zone for a safety by Joel Williams 6 36 4 Lions Freddie Scott 43-yard touchdown reception from Gary Danielson, Eddie Murray kick good 13 36 4 Falcons William Andrews 11-yard touchdown run, Tim Mazzetti kick good 13 43 4 Lions Leonard Thompson 79-yard touchdown reception from Gary Danielson, Eddie Murray kick good 20 43 4 Lions Freddie Scott 6-yard touchdown reception from Gary Danielson, Eddie Murray kick no good 26 43 4 Lions Reggie Smith tackled in end zone for a safety by Eddie Cole 28 43 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 28 43

Week 13

Week Thirteen: Chicago Bears (4–8) at Detroit Lions (7–5)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bears	0	3	0	14	6	23
Lions	3	7	7	0	0	17

at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan

• Date: November 27, 1980
• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 75,397
• Referee: Fred Silva
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall, Tom Brookshier, and Irv Cross
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter DET – Eddie Murray 34-yard field goal. Lions 3–0. Drive: Second quarter DET – Billy Sims 47-yard pass from Gary Danielson (Eddie Murray kick). Lions 10–0. Drive: CHI – Bob Thomas 24-yard field goal. Lions 10–3. Drive: Third quarter DET – Gary Danielson 1-yard run (Eddie Murray kick). Lions 17–3. Drive: Fourth quarter CHI – Bob Fisher 20-yard pass from Vince Evans (Bob Thomas kick). Lions 17–10. Drive: CHI – Vince Evans 4-yard run (Bob Thomas kick), 0:00. Tie 17–17. Drive: 14 plays, 94 yards. Overtime CHI – Dave Williams 94-yard kickoff return. Bears 23–17. Top passers CHI – Vince Evans – 11/22, 167 yards, TD DET – Gary Danielson – 9/21, 156 yards, TD Top rushers CHI – Walter Payton – 18 rushes, 123 yards DET – Billy Sims – 19 rushes, 72 yards Top receivers CHI – James Scott – 6 receptions, 106 yards DET – Ray Williams – 3 receptions, 50 yards

Awards and records

• Billy Sims, 1980 Offensive Rookie of the Year
• Billy Sims, 1980 UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year
• Billy Sims, Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year

See also

• 1980 in Michigan

External links

• Detroit Lions on Pro Football Reference
• Detroit Lions on jt-sw.com
• Detroit Lions on The Football Database