1980 Chicago Bears season

1980 Chicago Bears season
Owner	George Halas
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Neill Armstrong
Home field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1980 season was the Chicago Bears' 61st in the National Football League, and their third under head coach Neill Armstrong. The team failed to improve from their 10–6 record from 1979 to finish at 7–9, and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1978.

One of the victories was on Thanksgiving at Detroit; Chicago entered the Thursday game at 4–8, last place in the NFC Central division, and were trailing 17–3 after three quarters. With no time left in regulation, Bears quarterback Vince Evans scored a game-tying touchdown that sent the game into overtime. Then, before a national television audience on CBS, Dave Williams returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown on the first play of overtime for a 23–17 victory over the stunned Lions.^[1][2]

Running back Walter Payton once again led the NFC in rushing for the fifth straight year with 1,460 yards; he also had the league's highest annual salary at $475,000.^[3]

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1980 NFL Draft

1980 Chicago Bears draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	19	Otis Wilson *	Linebacker	Louisville
2	46	Matt Suhey	Running back	Penn State
4	103	Arland Thompson	Guard	Baylor
5	130	Paul Tabor	Center	Oklahoma
6	156	Mike Guess	Defensive back	Ohio State
7	183	Emanuel Tolbert	Wide receiver	SMU
8	215	Randy Clark	Center	Northern Illinois
9	242	Turk Schonert	Quarterback	Stanford
10	269	Willie Stephens	Defensive back	Texas Tech
11	296	Chris Judge	Defensive back	TCU
12	323	Bob Fisher	Tight end	SMU
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Source:^[4]

Undrafted free agents

1980 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Vincent Allen	Running Back	Indiana State
Larry Jamieson	Linebacker	Jackson State
Chuck Mate	Kicker	Notre Dame
Rick Nash	Wide Receiver	Idaho State
Mike Wright	Quarterback	Bowling Green

Roster

1980 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Bob Avellini  8 Vince Evans 15 Mike Phipps Running backs (RB) 35 Roland Harper 37 Willie McClendon 34 Walter Payton 30 John Skibinski 26 Matt Suhey FB 22 Dave Williams FB Wide receivers (WR) 84 Brian Baschnagel 83 Kris Haines 89 James Scott 80 Rickey Watts Tight ends (TE) 81 Robin Earl 85 Bob Fisher

Offensive linemen (OL) 64 Ted Albrecht T 65 Noah Jackson G 62 Dan Jiggetts T 70 Dennis Lick T 71 Rocco Moore T 52 Dan Neal C 69 Revie Sorey G 53 Paul Tabor G Defensive linemen (DL) 99 Dan Hampton DE 90 Al Harris DE 73 Mike Hartenstine DE 68 Jim Osborne DT 82 Alan Page DT 76 Ron Rydalch DT 72 Brad Shearer DT

Linebackers (LB) 59 Gary Campbell 51 Bruce Herron 54 Tom Hicks 57 Lee Kunz 58 Jerry Muckensturm 55 Otis Wilson Defensive backs (DB) 49 Dave Becker S 48 Allan Ellis CB 45 Gary Fencik SS 36 Wentford Gaines CB 47 Jonathan Hoke CB 46 Doug Plank FS 44 Terry Schmidt CB 23 Len Walterscheid FS Special teams 86 Bob Parsons P 16 Robert R. Thomas K

Reserve 87 Mike Cobb TE (IR) 88 Greg Latta TE (IR) 24 Virgil Livers CB (IR) 29 Vaughn Lusby CB (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7	at Green Bay Packers	L 6–12 (OT)	0–1	Lambeau Field	54,381
2	September 14	New Orleans Saints	W 22–3	1–1	Soldier Field	62,523
3	September 21	Minnesota Vikings	L 14–34	1–2	Soldier Field	59,983
4	September 28	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–38	1–3	Three Rivers Stadium	53,987
5	October 6	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–0	2–3	Soldier Field	61,350
6	October 12	at Minnesota Vikings	L 7–13	2–4	Metropolitan Stadium	46,751
7	October 19	Detroit Lions	W 24–7	3–4	Soldier Field	58,508
8	October 26	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 14–17	3–5	Veterans Stadium	68,752
9	November 3	at Cleveland Browns	L 21–27	3–6	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	84,225
10	November 9	Washington Redskins	W 35–21	4–6	Soldier Field	57,159
11	November 16	Houston Oilers	L 6–10	4–7	Soldier Field	59,390
12	November 23	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–28	4–8	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	49,156
13	November 27	at Detroit Lions	W 23–17 (OT)	5–8	Pontiac Silverdome	75,397
14	December 7	Green Bay Packers	W 61–7	6–8	Soldier Field	57,176
15	December 14	Cincinnati Bengals	L 14–17 (OT)	6–9	Soldier Field	48,808
16	December 20	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 14–13	7–9	Tampa Stadium	55,298
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1: at Green Bay Packers

Week 1: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bears	3	0	3	0	0	6
Packers	0	6	0	0	6	12

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Date: September 7, 1980
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Overcast, 65 °F (18 °C)
• Referee: Jim Tunney
• TV announcers (CBS): Lindsey Nelson and Sonny Jurgensen
• [1]

Game information
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter Top passers CHI – Mike Phipps – 17/30, 174 yards, 3 INT GB – Lynn Dickey – 10/22, 138 yards, 1 INT Top rushers CHI – Walter Payton – 31 rushes, 65 yards GB – Eddie Lee Ivery – 15 rushes, 73 yards Top receivers CHI – James Scott – 5 receptions, 59 yards GB – James Lofton – 5 receptions, 77 yards

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Saints 3 0 0 0 3 • Bears 10 3 2 7 22 Date: September 14 Location: Soldier Field Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Vikings 14 7 7 6 34 Bears 0 0 0 14 14 Date: September 21 Location: Soldier Field TV announcers (CBS): Curt Gowdy and George Allen

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 3 0 0 0 3 • Steelers 7 17 7 7 38 Date: September 28 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Referee: Jerry Seeman TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Roger Staubach

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Buccaneers 0 0 0 0 0 • Bears 0 3 10 10 23 Date: October 6 Location: Soldier Field Referee: Ben Dreith Television network: ABC

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 0 0 7 0 7 • Vikings 3 0 3 7 13 Date: October 12 Location: Metropolitan Stadium Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 0 0 7 7 • Bears 7 3 7 7 24 Date: October 19 Location: Soldier Field Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 0 0 14 0 14 • Eagles 7 0 7 3 17 Date: October 26 Location: Veterans Stadium Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 0 0 7 14 21 • Browns 3 7 3 14 27 Date: November 3 Location: Cleveland Stadium Referee: Dick Jorgensen Television network: ABC

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 0 14 7 21 • Bears 21 14 0 0 35 Date: November 9 Location: Soldier Field TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and George Allen

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total • Oilers 0 7 3 0 10 Bears 0 6 0 0 6 Date: November 16 Location: Soldier Field Referee: Bob Frederic Television network: NBC

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 7 3 7 0 17 • Falcons 0 14 0 14 28 Date: November 23 Location: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

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

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Packers 0 7 0 0 7 • Bears 0 28 13 20 61 Date: December 7 Location: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C), wind 10 mph (16 km/h) Referee: Chuck Heberling TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris

Scoring summary 2 CHI Walter Payton 1 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 7–0 2 CHI Walter Payton 3 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 14–0 2 CHI Roland Harper 1 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 21–0 2 GB James Lofton 15 yard pass from Lynn Dickey (Jan Stenerud kick) Bears 21–7 2 CHI Brian Baschnagel 4 yard pass from Vince Evans (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 28–7 3 CHI Robin Earl 9 yard pass from Vince Evans (kick failed) Bears 34–7 3 CHI Rickey Watts 53 yard pass from Vince Evans (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 41–7 4 CHI Walter Payton 14 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 48–7 4 CHI Len Walterscheid 36 yard interception return (Bob Thomas kick) Bears 55–7 4 CHI Willie McClendon 1 yard run (kick failed) Bears 61–7

^[5]

Week 15

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Bengals 7 7 0 0 3 17 Bears 0 7 0 7 0 14 Date: December 14 Location: Soldier Field

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 0 7 7 0 14 Buccaneers 10 0 0 3 13 Date: December 21 Location: Tampa Stadium

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	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

References

1. "Bears make it a short overtime, 23-17". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. November 28, 1980. p. 5C.
2. Atkins, Harry (November 28, 1980). "Williams' return stuns Lions, 23-17". Schenectady Gazette. (New York). Associated Press. p. 34.
3. "Payton tops salary list of NFL players". Schenectady Gazette. (New York). Associated Press. February 13, 1981. p. 29.
4. "1980 Chicago Bears Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com