Today’s NFL fans have grown accustomed to the New York Giants as a perennial contender, with their four Super Bowl titles, five NFC crowns and numerous playoff appearances over the last three decades. But the early part of the Super Bowl era didn’t go quite as well. The 1981 New York Giants were the team that ended a long run of franchise ineptitude and made it into the playoffs.
The 1981 Philadelphia Eagles go down as one of the big disappointments in a franchise history that has inflicted a lot upon its great fan base. The Eagles came into 1981 fresh off three straight playoff appearances and had reached the Super Bowl in 1980. After a blazing start in 1981, they looked ready to finish the job. But the subsequent collapse saw them first give up the NFC East and then make an early playoff exit.
Tampa Bay’s second division title in three years still established that they were a legitimate player in the NFC Central. They made the playoffs again in 1982. And while a long period of losing was ahead for this franchise, it wouldn’t be under the watch of John McKay or Doug Williams.
The Vikings still won division titles in 1978 and 1980, but they were now anywhere from 9-7 to 7-9. The 1981 Minnesota Vikings continued that pattern, with a disappointing late season fade that cost them a division crown.
…while they were a far cry from a dynasty, they had played consistently well enough to merit excitement at the start of each season. That’s what makes the complete collapse of the 1981 New England Patriots even more disheartening.
The Oakland Raiders were a regular part of the NFL elite, winning the Super Bowl in 1976 with John Madden at coach and Ken Stabler at quarterback. But they missed the playoffs in 1978, Madden’s final year, and again in 1979 under new coach Tom Flores. The 1980 Oakland Raiders made a major change, trading away Stabler, and they made an improbable run all the way back to the top of the NFL.
The 1980 San Diego Chargers may have been the best time in the franchise’s “Air Coryell” era, where head coach Don Coryell, with a big assist from offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs, produced an explosive offense on the cutting edge of the NFL’s relatively new pass-friendly rules. They went all-in to win the Super Bowl, but defensive problems cut the dream short.
The 1980 Dallas Cowboys represented a new era in franchise history. Legendary quarterback Roger Staubach retired after the 1979 season and Danny White took over. The long-time understudy proved he was more than capable of being the leading man, and even though White didn’t get the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl, they remained in the NFL elite.
The football-crazed city of Cleveland was hungry in 1980—maybe not starving, as is the case today—but the Browns were on a bit of a dry spell. After making the playoffs in 1971-72, Cleveland had been out of the money, while the rival Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowls in that same timeframe. The 1980 Cleveland Browns returned to the playoffs and in memorable fashion, with a series of exciting wins that gave them the nickname “The Kardiac Kids”
Chuck Knox became head coach of the Buffalo Bills when they were coming off a 3-11 season in 1977. This was a franchise that had some good moments—three straight winning seasons, including one playoff trip, from 1973-75, with O.J. Simpson. They came within one game of reaching the first Super Bowl in 1966. The 1980 Buffalo Bills, Knox’s third team brought the postseason back to Buffalo, even if they couldn’t bring the Super Bowl.
The Atlanta Falcons have never won a Super Bowl and have only made it there once. That means there’s some heartbreak littered in the history of the franchise, and a prime example was the 1980 Atlanta Falcons. They earned the #1 seed and looked on their way to a playoff win before the rug was cut out from under them.
The Minnesota Vikings were in their second year of the post-Fran Tarkenton era in 1980. After making regular playoff appearances and four Super Bowl trips from 1969-78, the franchise slipped out of the postseason in the first year without the Hall of Famer. The 1980 Minnesota Vikings didn’t arrest the long-term decline of the team, but they did squeak back to the top of a weak NFC Central division.