The 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 48th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The Steelers struggled for the first time in many years. The aging defense was not as effective as it had been in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and ' 79 seasons, falling from 2nd to 15th in yards allowed. The Steelers also surrendered 313 points, ranked 15th in the league, compared to 262 points (5th in the league) the previous season. The Pittsburgh defense only garnered 18

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s. The offense was still plagued with 42 total turnovers, but ranking 6th in total offense, and scoring 352 points. Despite the team's troubles, the Steelers could have again obtained home-field advantage throughout the playoffs had they not lost several close games, including games against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in which they lost despite having large leads in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh remained in the playoff hunt until a 28–13 loss to Buffalo in week 12 and then a 6–0 loss to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

effectively eliminated Pittsburgh from the postseason. To many, these two losses marked the end of the Steeler Dynasty. Several key players retired after the 1980 season and the team was never the same again. The 1980 season was the first in which the Steelers did not qualify for the playoffs since

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Schedule

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Houston Oilers

Week 2: at Baltimore Colts

Week 3: at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 4: vs. Chicago Bears

Week 5: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 7 : vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 8: at Cleveland Browns

Week 9: vs. Green Bay Packers

Week 10: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 11: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 12: at Buffalo Bills

Week 13: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 14 : at Houston Oilers

Week 15: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 16: at San Diego Chargers

Standings

References

External links

1980 Pittsburgh Steelers season at ProFootballReference.com

1980 Pittsburgh Steelers at jt-sw.com
{{1980 NFL season by team Pittsburgh Steelers seasons

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Pitts