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1980–81 NFL playoffs
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1980–81 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1980 season began on December 28, 1980. The postseason tournament concluded with the Oakland Raiders defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, 27–10, on January 25, 1981, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Within each conference, the three division winners and the two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records qualified for the playoffs. The NFL did not use a fixed-bracket playoff system. The three division winners were seeded 1–3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and received a first-round bye while the wild card teams were seeded 4 and 5, and played in the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, with the 4 seed hosting. The second round, the divisional playoffs, had a restriction where two teams from the same division could not meet: the surviving wild card team visited the division champion outside its division that had the higher seed, and the remaining two teams from that conference played each other. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Finally the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, with the designated home team based on an annual rotation by conference.
In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl XV.
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
The Cowboys avenged both a 38–14 loss to the Rams two weeks earlier (in a game they trailed 38–0), and their upset defeat in the previous year's NFC Divisional playoff as Dallas running back Tony Dorsett rushed for 160 yards, caught three passes for 28 yards, and scored two touchdowns to lead his team to victory.
A 14-yard punt return by Dallas running back James Jones set up kicker Rafael Septién's 28-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 3-0 lead. The Rams responded by driving 73 yards to score on running back Jewerl Thomas' 1-yard run. However, the ensuing extra point was blocked and Septién later made a 29-yard field goal to tie the game at 6.
In the second quarter, Los Angeles drove 80 yards in six plays to score on Vince Ferragamo's 21-yard touchdown pass to receiver Preston Dennard, who finished the game with six receptions for 117 yards, but the Cowboys tied the game before halftime by moving the ball 71 yards on a drive that ended with Dorsett's 12-yard rushing touchdown.
After the game was tied at halftime, 13–13, Dallas coach Tom Landry went to a 5-man defensive front and they dropped various combinations into seven and eight man coverage to confuse the Rams potent passing game. The result was a combination of pressure on Ferragamo, who completed just five of 13 second half passes for 49 yards and was intercepted three times.
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1980–81 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1980 season began on December 28, 1980. The postseason tournament concluded with the Oakland Raiders defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, 27–10, on January 25, 1981, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Within each conference, the three division winners and the two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records qualified for the playoffs. The NFL did not use a fixed-bracket playoff system. The three division winners were seeded 1–3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and received a first-round bye while the wild card teams were seeded 4 and 5, and played in the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, with the 4 seed hosting. The second round, the divisional playoffs, had a restriction where two teams from the same division could not meet: the surviving wild card team visited the division champion outside its division that had the higher seed, and the remaining two teams from that conference played each other. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Finally the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, with the designated home team based on an annual rotation by conference.
In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl XV.
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
The Cowboys avenged both a 38–14 loss to the Rams two weeks earlier (in a game they trailed 38–0), and their upset defeat in the previous year's NFC Divisional playoff as Dallas running back Tony Dorsett rushed for 160 yards, caught three passes for 28 yards, and scored two touchdowns to lead his team to victory.
A 14-yard punt return by Dallas running back James Jones set up kicker Rafael Septién's 28-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 3-0 lead. The Rams responded by driving 73 yards to score on running back Jewerl Thomas' 1-yard run. However, the ensuing extra point was blocked and Septién later made a 29-yard field goal to tie the game at 6.
In the second quarter, Los Angeles drove 80 yards in six plays to score on Vince Ferragamo's 21-yard touchdown pass to receiver Preston Dennard, who finished the game with six receptions for 117 yards, but the Cowboys tied the game before halftime by moving the ball 71 yards on a drive that ended with Dorsett's 12-yard rushing touchdown.
After the game was tied at halftime, 13–13, Dallas coach Tom Landry went to a 5-man defensive front and they dropped various combinations into seven and eight man coverage to confuse the Rams potent passing game. The result was a combination of pressure on Ferragamo, who completed just five of 13 second half passes for 49 yards and was intercepted three times.
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