NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1

Regular season

The 1980 NFL season would see the Dolphins drop to an 8–8 record, from their 10–6 showing the previous year.

Quarterback Bob Griese

Bob Griese

Robert Allen "Bob" Griese is a former American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins...

, who struggled with leg problems during 1979, lost the starting job to longtime backup Don Strock

Don Strock

Don Strock is a former professional football player who was the head coach of the Florida International University football team from 2002–2006.-College:Strock played college football at Virginia Tech, and graduated in 1973...

, but he did poorly in two games, leading the Dolphins to return to Griese for Week 3. In Week 5, however, Griese suffered a career-ending shoulder injury against the Baltimore Colts

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

 and was succeeded by David Woodley

David Woodley

David Eugene Woodley was an American football player and quarterback for Louisiana State University , the National Football League's Miami Dolphins , and the Pittsburgh Steelers...

, a rookie fresh from LSU.

The final game of the season was played against the New York Jets

New York Jets

The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 on December 20. NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 tried a novel experiment by broadcasting the game with no commentators, and with none of the players or staff wearing microphones. The effect was to give television viewers the feel of actually being in the stadium. To date, this was the only NFL game ever aired on TV without commentaries. The Jets won by a score of 24–17, costing the Dolphins a chance at a playoff berth.

It was during the Monday Night Football game on December 8, 1980 against the Patriots that Howard Cosell announced that John Lennon has been shot and killed.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1980	at Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 17–7	79,598
2	September 14, 1980	Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...	W 17–16	38,322
3	September 21, 1980	at Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 20–17	55,470
4	September 28, 1980	New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....	W 21–16	40,946
5	October 5, 1980	Baltimore Colts	L 30–17	50,631
6	October 12, 1980	at New England Patriots New England Patriots The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...	L 34–0	60,377
7	October 19, 1980	Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	W 17–14	41,636
8	October 27, 1980	at New York Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 17–14	53,046
9	November 2, 1980	at Oakland Raiders Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 16–10	46,378
10	November 9, 1980	at Los Angeles Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...	W 35–14	62,198
11	November 16, 1980	San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...	W 17–13	45,135
12	November 20, 1980	San Diego Chargers San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 27–24	63,013
13	November 30, 1980	at Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...	L 23–10	51,384
14	December 8, 1980	New England Patriots New England Patriots The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...	W 16–13	63,292
15	December 14, 1980	at Baltimore Colts	W 24–14	30,564
16	December 20, 1980	New York Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...	L 24–17	41,854

Standings

AFC East AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference. There are four members: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots , and New York Jets...
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Buffalo Bills 1980 Buffalo Bills season The 1980 Buffalo Bills season was the 21st season for the club in the National Football League.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:- Standings :-Starters:-AFC Playoff:...	11	5	0	.688	320	260
New England Patriots 1980 New England Patriots season The New England Patriots finished the National Football League's 1980 season with a record of ten wins and six losses, and finished second in the AFC East division....	10	6	0	.625	441	325
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	266	305
Baltimore Colts 1980 Baltimore Colts season The 1980 Baltimore Colts season was the 28th season for the team in the National Football League. The Baltimore Colts finished the National Football League's 1980 season with a record of 7 wins and 9 losses, and finished fourth in the AFC East division....	7	9	0	.438	355	387
New York Jets 1980 New York Jets season The 1980 New York Jets season was the 21st season for the team and the 11th in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 8–8 record from 1979 under head coach Walt Michaels...	4	12	0	.250	302	395