1980 Week 15: San Francisco 49ers at Atlanta Falcons at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Kickoff time: 1:00pm.
1980 Week 15: San Francisco 49ers at Atlanta Falcons at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. This is a regular-season game that earned its place on a curated list, which means the matchup itself carried some weight beyond a generic Sunday. Some regular-season games stick in the memory more than the playoff games of the same era. The names attached to San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons in 1980, the implications for division standing, or just the moment one play crystallized the season, made this one of those. Watch the early possessions for the read. Coaches treat curated-list games as their best stretches of preparation; the answers come quickly when the stakes are tangible.
1980 Week 15: San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons meet at a midpoint in the season, with the rest of the 1980 field watching to see how the result reshapes the conference standings. Around the league, the scouting departments take careful notes on regular-season games featuring contenders. The film here will be reviewed long after the final whistle by staffs who plan to face one or both of these teams later in the year.
1980 Week 15: San Francisco 49ers versus Atlanta Falcons. Midseason analytics shift around what matters most on any given Sunday: takeaway differential and red-zone conversion lead the indicator list for both contenders and the teams hunting them. The on-screen scoreboard tells one story; the underlying drive efficiency tells the more durable one. Both staffs know which numbers travel through December and which evaporate after a hot start.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 11-5 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers | 11-5 | W3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 9-7 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 6-10 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 11-5 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 10-6 | W2 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8-8 | L1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 7-9 | L3 |
| New York Jets | 4-12 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | 11-5 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 11-5 | W2 |
| Denver Broncos | 8-8 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 8-8 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-12 | L9 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 12-4 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 11-5 | W2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 6-10 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1-15 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | 9-7 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9-7 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 7-9 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 5-10-1 | L4 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-10-1 | L3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 12-4 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 12-4 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6-10 | W3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5-11 | L2 |
| New York Giants | 4-12 | L2 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0331010 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 77213535 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Falcons | Steve Bartkowski 1 yard rush ( Tim Mazzetti kick) | 0-7 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 49ers | Ray Wersching 41 yard field goal | 3-7 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Falcons | Junior Miller 11 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski ( Tim Mazzetti kick) | 3-14 |
| Falcons | Wallace Francis 81 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski ( Tim Mazzetti kick) | 3-21 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Falcons | Wallace Francis 12 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski ( Tim Mazzetti kick) | 3-28 |
| Falcons | Al Richardson defensive fumble recovery in end zone ( Tim Mazzetti kick) | 3-35 |
| 49ers | Dwight Clark 13 yard pass from Joe Montana ( Ray Wersching kick) | 10-35 |
| 49ers | Falcons | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 15 | 26 |
| Total Yards | 310 | 463 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 1 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 25/42 | 24/34 |
| Pass yards | 222 | 300 |
| Pass TD | 1 | 3 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 1 |
| Sacks taken | 3 | 1 |
| Sack yards lost | 18 | 8 |
| Net pass yards | 204 | 292 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 21 | 43 |
| Rush yards | 106 | 171 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 1 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 1 | 1 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 0 |
| Penalties | 3 | 3 |
| Penalty yards | 15 | 33 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | |||||
| Joe Montana #16 | 25/41 | 222 | 1 | 2 | |
| Freddie Solomon #88 | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| ATL | |||||
| Steve Bartkowski | 22/31 | 276 | 3 | 1 | |
| Mike Moroski | 2/3 | 24 | 0 | 0 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Earl Cooper #49 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 24 |
| Don Woods | 4 | 34 | 0 | 23 |
| Joe Montana #16 | 6 | 32 | 0 | 9 |
| Lenvil Elliott #35 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 5 |
| Freddie Solomon #88 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Jim Miller | 1 | -12 | 0 | -12 |
| ATL | ||||
| William Andrews | 18 | 105 | 0 | 22 |
| Lynn Cain | 19 | 66 | 0 | 15 |
| James Mayberry | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Steve Bartkowski | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Anthony Anderson | 1 | -4 | 0 | -4 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO | ||||
| Dwight Clark #87 | 9 | 90 | 1 | 19 |
| Freddie Solomon #88 | 3 | 67 | 0 | 31 |
| Lenvil Elliott #35 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 17 |
| Don Woods | 2 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Charle Young | 2 | 9 | 0 | 7 |
| Eason Ramson | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Earl Cooper #49 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| James Owens | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| ATL | ||||
| Wallace Francis | 4 | 148 | 2 | 81 |
| William Andrews | 7 | 62 | 0 | 15 |
| Junior Miller | 6 | 55 | 1 | 11 |
| Alfred Jenkins | 2 | 21 | 0 | 16 |
| Alfred Jackson | 1 | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| James Mayberry | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Lynn Cain | 1 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
Atlanta Falcons defeated San Francisco 49ers 35-10 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Week 15. The final scoring play was 49ers: Dwight Clark 13 yard pass from Joe Montana ( Ray Wersching kick). The 25-point margin made it a one-sided afternoon. Top line of the day: Steve Bartkowski: 276 pass yards on 22-of-31, 3 TD, 1 INT.
Atlanta Falcons walked out of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with a 35-10 Week 15 result San Francisco 49ers will replay all the way to the offseason. This was a 25-point margin, which is unusual for this round of the postseason and tells a story about which staff out-prepared the other from the opening series. The final scoring play came from 49ers: Dwight Clark 13 yard pass from Joe Montana ( Ray Wersching kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier.
Atlanta Falcons 35, San Francisco 49ers 10.
Game: 1980 Week 15. Q1: 1 scoring play. Q2: 1 scoring play. Q3: 2 scoring plays. Q4: 3 scoring plays.
Top performers: - Steve Bartkowski: 276 pass yards on 22-of-31, 3 TD, 1 INT - William Andrews: 105 rush yards on 18 carries - Wallace Francis: 4 catches for 148 yards
Week 15, played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Final: San Francisco 49ers 10, Atlanta Falcons 35, with Atlanta Falcons taking the result by 25.
**First quarter**
- Falcons: Steve Bartkowski 1 yard rush ( Tim Mazzetti kick)
**Second quarter**
- 49ers: Ray Wersching 41 yard field goal
**Third quarter**
- Falcons: Junior Miller 11 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski ( Tim Mazzetti kick) - Falcons: Wallace Francis 81 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski ( Tim Mazzetti kick)
**Fourth quarter**
- Falcons: Wallace Francis 12 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski ( Tim Mazzetti kick) - Falcons: Al Richardson defensive fumble recovery in end zone ( Tim Mazzetti kick) - 49ers: Dwight Clark 13 yard pass from Joe Montana ( Ray Wersching kick)
**Top performers**
- Steve Bartkowski: 276 pass yards on 22-of-31, 3 TD, 1 INT - William Andrews: 105 rush yards on 18 carries - Wallace Francis: 4 catches for 148 yards
The 25-point margin says most of what needs saying about how the day went; the box score is the rest.