1980 Denver Broncos season

The 1980 Denver Broncos season was the team's 21st year in professional football and its 11th with the National Football League (NFL). Led by fourth-year head coach Red Miller the Broncos were 8–8, tied for third in the AFC West (fourth via tiebreaker), and missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.^[1]

1980 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Gerald Phipps
General manager	Fred Gehrke
Head coach	Red Miller
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	4th AFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1979 Broncos seasons 1981 →

It was Miller's final season; ownership changed in February 1981 and front office changes were made in March.^[2][3][4]

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1980 NFL Draft

1980 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	42	Rulon Jones *	Defensive end	Utah State
3	74	Larry Carter	Defensive back	Kentucky
4	107	Rick Parros	Running back	Utah State
5	131	Mike Harden	Defensive back	Michigan
5	136	Laval Short	Defensive tackle	Colorado
6	157	Keith Bishop *	Guard	Baylor
7	184	John Havekost	Guard	Nebraska
8	197	Don Coleman	Wide receiver	Oregon
9	243	Greg Bracelin	Linebacker	California
10	270	Virgil Seay	Wide receiver	Troy State
11	297	Phil Farris	Wide receiver	North Carolina
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[5]

Personnel

Staff

1980 Denver Broncos staff

Front office Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps President – Allan Phipps Vice President/General Manager – Fred Gehrke Director of player personnel – Carroll Hardy Director of Pro Personnel – John Beake Head coaches Head coach – Red Miller Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Rod Dowhower Offensive Backfield – Paul Roach Wide Receivers – Fran Polsfoot Offensive Line – Whitey Dovell

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Joe Collier Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Bob Zeman Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe Special teams coaches Special Teams – Marv Braden

Roster

1980 Denver Broncos roster

	Quarterbacks 16 Jeff Knapple 7 Craig Morton 17 Matt Robinson Running backs 24 Otis Armstrong 30 Jim Jensen 32 Jon Keyworth FB 41 Rob Lytle 34 Ben Norman 46 Dave Preston Wide receivers 82 Larry Brunson 25 Haven Moses 80 Rick Upchurch 81 Steve Watson Tight ends 85 Ron Egloff 86 Emery Moorehead 88 Riley Odoms		Offensive linemen 54 Keith Bishop G 64 Billy Bryan C 73 Kelvin Clark T 62 Tom Glassic G 65 Glenn Hyde G 60 Paul Howard G 71 Claudie Minor T 70 Dave Studdard T Defensive linemen 77 Greg Boyd DE 79 Barney Chavous DE 68 Rubin Carter DT 75 Rulon Jones DE 72 Don Latimer DT 66 Brison Manor DE		Linebackers 52 Greg Bracelin 56 Larry Evans 53 Randy Gradishar 57 Tom Jackson 58 Rob Nairne 59 Joe Rizzo 50 Jim Ryan Defensive backs 29 Bernard Jackson FS 43 Steve Foley CB 31 Mike Harden FS 22 Aaron Kyle CB 36 Bill Thompson S 20 Louis Wright CB Special teams 11 Luke Prestridge P 19 Fred Steinfort K		Reserve lists 35 Larry Canada RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   24 Rick Parros RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   -- Golden Richards WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   51 Bob Swenson LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)   Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Main article: 1980 NFL season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 6–27	0–1	Veterans Stadium	70,307
2	September 14	Dallas Cowboys	W 41–20	1–1	Mile High Stadium	74,919
3	September 21	San Diego Chargers	L 13–30	1–2	Mile High Stadium	74,970
4	September 29	at New England Patriots	L 14–23	1–3	Schaefer Stadium	60,153
5	October 5	at Cleveland Browns	W 19–16	2–3	Municipal Stadium	81,065
6	October 13	Washington Redskins	W 20–17	3–3	Mile High Stadium	74,657
7	October 19	Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–23	3–4	Mile High Stadium	74,459
8	October 26	at New York Giants	W 14–9	4–4	Giants Stadium	67,598
9	November 2	Houston Oilers	L 16–20	4–5	Mile High Stadium	74,717
10	November 9	at San Diego Chargers	W 20–13	5–5	San Diego Stadium	51,435
11	November 16	New York Jets	W 31–24	6–5	Mile High Stadium	72,114
12	November 23	Seattle Seahawks	W 36–20	7–5	Mile High Stadium	73,274
13	December 1	at Oakland Raiders	L 3–9	7–6	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	51,593
14	December 7	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 14–31	7–7	Arrowhead Stadium	40,237
15	December 14	Oakland Raiders	L 21–24	7–8	Mile High Stadium	73,974
16	December 21	at Seattle Seahawks	W 25–17	8–8	Kingdome	51,853
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 0 7 6 7 20 Chargers 0 6 0 7 13 Date: November 9 Location: Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California Game start: 1:00 p.m. PST Game attendance: 51,435 Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), wind 6 mph (10 km/h)

Scoring summary 2 SD Rolf Benirschke 30 yard field goal Chargers 3–0 2 SD Rolf Benirschke 34 yard field goal Chargers 6–0 2 DEN Rob Lytle 3 yard run (Fred Steinfort kick) Broncos 7–6 3 DEN Fred Steinfort 28 yard field goal Broncos 10–6 3 DEN Fred Steinfort 42 yard field goal Broncos 13–6 4 DEN Dave Preston 4 yard run (Fred Steinfort kick) Broncos 20–6 4 SD John Jefferson 3 yard pass from Dan Fouts (Rolf Benirschke kick) Broncos 20–13

Source:^[6]

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Diego Chargers^(1)	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	418	327	W2
Oakland Raiders^(4)	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	364	306	W2
Kansas City Chiefs	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–8	319	336	W1
Denver Broncos	8	8	0	.500	3–5	5–7	310	323	W1
Seattle Seahawks	4	12	0	.250	1–7	3–9	291	408	L9

References

1. "Broncos sink Hawks as quick as you can say Matt Robinson". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 22, 1980. p. B1.
2. "Red is out, Reeves in at Denver". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 10, 1981. p. 19.
3. Reid, Ron (March 10, 1981). "Miller out, Reeves in as Broncos coach". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 13.
4. "Reeves hired as new Bronco coach". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. March 11, 1981. p. G2.
5. "1980 Denver Broncos Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

• Denver Broncos – 1980 media guide
• 1980 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com