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1980 San Francisco 49ers season
1980 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.
General manager	Bill Walsh
Head coach	Bill Walsh
Defensive coordinator	Chuck Studley
Home field	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	none
	← 1979; 49ers seasons; 1981 →;

The 1980 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League and their 35th overall. This was the second year with the team for both head coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana, who became the starter in week seven,^[1] replacing Steve DeBerg.^[2]

The 49ers looked to improve on their previous output of 2–14 (both of the two previous seasons); despite succeeding in improving their record, having posted a 6-10 record, they failed to make the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season.^[3]

On December 7, 1980, the 49ers rallied from down 35–7, scoring 31 unanswered points to defeat the winless New Orleans Saints in overtime.^[4]^[5]^[6] This was the last full season until 1999 that the 49ers finished with fewer than ten wins.

Offseason

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1980 San Francisco 49ers draft
1	13	Earl Cooper	Fullback	Rice	from N. Y. Jets
1	20	Jim Stuckey	Defensive tackle	Clemson	from Denver
2	39	Keena Turner *	Linebacker	Purdue	from Minnesota
3	65	Jim Miller	Punter	Ole Miss	from Minnesota
3	77	Craig Puki	Linebacker	Tennessee
4	84	Ricky Churchman	Safety	Texas
4	98	David Hodge	Linebacker	Houston
5	112	Kenneth Times	Defensive Tackle	Southern
6	139	Herb Williams	Safety	Southern
8	210	Bobby Leopold	Linebacker	Notre Dame
9	237	Dan Hartwig	Quarterback	Cal Lutheran
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

**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 19 Gary Huff 16 Joe Montana Running backs (RB) 49 Earl Cooper FB 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 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) 33 Ricky Churchman SS 28 Charles Cornelius CB 22 Dwight Hicks FS 44 Charles Johnson CB 46 Melvin Morgan CB 32 Scott Perry FS 26 Ray Rhodes CB 29 Gerald Williams CB Special teams 3 Jim Miller P 14 Ray Wersching K		Reserve 48 Phil Francis FB (IR) 23 Herb Williams S (IR) Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 9	Oakland Raiders	W 33–14	1–0	Candlestick Park	55,585
2	August 16	at San Diego Chargers	W 17–14	2–0	San Diego Stadium	48,836
3	August 23	Seattle Seahawks	L 7–10	2–1	Candlestick Park	41,841
4	August 30	vs. Kansas City Chiefs	W 31–21	3–1	Arizona Stadium	27,000

^[7]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7	at New Orleans Saints	W 26–23	1–0	Louisiana Superdome	58,621
2	September 14	St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–21	2–0	Candlestick Park	49,999
3	September 21	at New York Jets	W 37–27	3–0	Shea Stadium	50,608
4	September 28	Atlanta Falcons	L 17–20	3–1	Candlestick Park	56,518
5	October 5	at Los Angeles Rams	L 26–48	3–2	Anaheim Stadium	62,188
6	October 12	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14–59	3–3	Texas Stadium	63,399
7	October 19	Los Angeles Rams	L 17–31	3–4	Candlestick Park	55,360
8	October 26	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 23–24	3–5	Candlestick Park	51,925
9	November 2	at Detroit Lions	L 13–17	3–6	Pontiac Silverdome	78,845
10	November 9	at Green Bay Packers	L 16–23	3–7	Milwaukee County Stadium	54,475
11	November 16	at Miami Dolphins	L 13–17	3–8	Miami Orange Bowl	45,135
12	November 23	New York Giants	W 12–0	4–8	Candlestick Park	38,574
13	November 30	New England Patriots	W 21–17	5–8	Candlestick Park	45,254
14	December 7	New Orleans Saints	W 38–35	6–8	Candlestick Park	37,949
15	December 14	at Atlanta Falcons	L 10–35	6–9	Atlanta Fulton County Stadium	55,767
16	December 21	Buffalo Bills	L 13–18	6–10	Candlestick Park	37,476
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 14: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 14: New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary

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 or 8.9 °C, wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
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 back from 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.^[8]

Week 16: vs. Buffalo Bills

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bills	6	7	5	0	18
49ers	6	0	7	0	13

Date: December 21
Location: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California
Game start: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 53 °F or 11.7 °C, wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn) RAIN
Referee: Ben Dreith
TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Mike Haffner

^[9]

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	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

References

^ "Rams, 31-17". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. October 20, 1980. p. 4B.
^ "Cowboys, 59-14". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. October 13, 1980. p. 4B.
^ 1980 San Francisco 49ers
^ "49ers come from 28 behind to win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 8, 1980. p. 3B.
^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 260
^ New Orleans Saints 35 at San Francisco 49ers 38
^ "1980 San Francisco 49ers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
^ "Top 10 greatest comebacks in NFL history". National Football League. January 7, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
^ Pro-Football-Reference.com