1980 Kansas City Chiefs season

The 1980 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 11th season in the National Football League and 21st overall. They improved from 1979 from a 7–9 to an 8–8 record, the most wins for the franchise since an 8–6 season in 1972, but with missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.

1980 Kansas City Chiefs season
OwnerLamar Hunt
Head coachMarv Levy
General managerJim Schaaf
Home fieldArrowhead Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place4th AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR J. T. Smith
DE Art Still
S Gary Barbaro

The Chiefs selected guard Brad Budde, the son of Chiefs Hall of Fame guard Ed Budde, as the team's first-round draft choice, making the Buddes the first father-son combination to become first-round draftees of the same team in NFL history.[1] In a then-controversial move on August 26, the Chiefs released placekicker Jan Stenerud, who at the time was club's all-time leading scorer. He was replaced by journeyman Nick Lowery, who had been cut 11 times by eight different teams himself.[1]

After suffering an 0–4 start, the team rebounded to post a four-game winning streak.[1] After Steve Fuller was sidelined with a knee injury late in the season, former Miami 12th-round draft choice Bill Kenney became the team's starting quarterback. He was so anonymous that when he appeared in that contest, the name on the back of his jersey was inadvertently misspelled "Kenny."[1] Kenney went on to lead the club to a 31–14 victory against Denver on December 7 in his initial NFL start. The defense continued to evolve as defensive end Art Still and safety Gary Barbaro became the first Chiefs defensive players to be elected to the Pro Bowl in five seasons.[1]

NFL Draft
Main article: 1980 NFL Draft
Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team

Personnel

Staff
1980 Kansas City Chiefs staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Rod Rust
  • Defensive Line – Walt Corey
  • Defensive Backs – Dick Roach

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Rick Abernethy

Roster
1980 Kansas City Chiefs roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 7, 1980 Oakland Raiders L 27–14
54,269
2 September 14, 1980 Seattle Seahawks L 17–16
42,403
3 September 21, 1980 at Cleveland Browns L 20–13
63,614
4 September 28, 1980 San Diego Chargers L 24–7
45,161
5 October 5, 1980 at Oakland Raiders W 31–17
40,153
6 October 12, 1980 Houston Oilers W 21–20
75,048
7 October 19, 1980 at Denver Broncos W 23–17
74,459
8 October 26, 1980 Detroit Lions W 20–17
59,391
9 November 2, 1980 Baltimore Colts L 31–24
52,383
10 November 9, 1980 at Seattle Seahawks W 31–30
58,976
11 November 16, 1980 at San Diego Chargers L 20–7
50,248
12 November 23, 1980 at St. Louis Cardinals W 21–13
42,871
13 November 30, 1980 Cincinnati Bengals L 20–6
41,594
14 December 7, 1980 Denver Broncos W 31–14
40,237
15 December 14, 1980 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 21–16
50,013
16 December 21, 1980 at Baltimore Colts W 38–28
16,941

Standings
AFC West
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

Game summaries

Week 1: Oakland Raiders
See also: 1980 Oakland Raiders season
1 2 34Total
Raiders 7 0 14627
Chiefs 7 0 0714

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

  • Date: September 7
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 82°F, wind 10 mph
  • Box Score

References
  1. "Kansas City Chiefs History 1980s". Archived from the original on August 6, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
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