Super Bowl XV — 1980 Season
January 25, 1981 · New Orleans, LA (Louisiana Superdome)
Super Bowl XV result: OROakland Raiders def. PEPhiladelphia Eagles, 27-10, January 25, 1981, at New Orleans, LA (Louisiana Superdome).
Result
| Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | OROakland Raiders | 27-10 |
| Runner-up | PEPhiladelphia Eagles |
Super Bowl MVP
Jim Plunkett, QB, Oakland Raiders
Starting lineups
Starting offense
| Oakland Raiders | Philadelphia Eagles |
|---|---|
| Jim Plunkett (QB) | Ron Jaworski (QB) |
| Kenny King (RB) | Wilbert Montgomery (RB) |
| Mark van Eeghen (FB) | Leroy Harris (FB) |
| Cliff Branch (WR) | Harold Carmichael (WR) |
| Bob Chandler (WR) | Keith Krepfle (TE) |
| Raymond Chester (TE) | John Spagnola (TE) |
| Art Shell (LT) | Stan Walters (LT) |
| Gene Upshaw (LG) | Petey Perot (LG) |
| Dave Dalby (C) | Guy Morriss (C) |
| Mickey Marvin (RG) | Woody Peoples (RG) |
| Henry Lawrence (RT) | Jerry Sisemore (RT) |
Starting defense
| Oakland Raiders | Philadelphia Eagles |
|---|---|
| John Matuszak (DE) | Dennis Harrison (DE) |
| Reggie Kinlaw (NT) | Charlie Johnson (NT) |
| Dave Browning (DE) | Carl Hairston (DE) |
| Ted Hendricks (LB) | John Bunting (LB) |
| Matt Millen (LB) | Bill Bergey (LB) |
| Bob Nelson (LB) | Frank LeMaster (LB) |
| Rod Martin (LB) | Jerry Robinson (LB) |
| Lester Hayes (CB) | Roynell Young (CB) |
| Dwayne O'Steen (CB) | Herman Edwards (CB) |
| Mike Davis (S) | Randy Logan (S) |
| Burgess Owens (S) | Brenard Wilson (S) |
Note: Philadelphia started only 1 wide receiver (Harold Carmichael) alongside 2 tight ends (Krepfle, Spagnola) - a genuine one-WR/two-TE personnel grouping actually used that game, not an omission.
Box score
Passing
| Team | Player | Comp/Att | Yds | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | Jim Plunkett | 13/21 | 261 | 3 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Ron Jaworski | 18/38 | 291 | 1 | 3 |
Rushing
| Team | Player | Car | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | Mark van Eeghen | 18 | 75 | 0 |
| Oakland Raiders | Kenny King | 6 | 18 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Wilbert Montgomery | 16 | 44 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Leroy Harris | 7 | 14 | 0 |
Receiving
| Team | Player | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | Cliff Branch | 5 | 67 | 2 |
| Oakland Raiders | Kenny King | 2 | 93 | 1 |
| Oakland Raiders | Bob Chandler | 4 | 77 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Wilbert Montgomery | 6 | 91 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Harold Carmichael | 5 | 83 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Keith Krepfle | 2 | 16 | 1 |
Game context
Super Bowl XV made the Oakland Raiders the first wild-card team ever to win a Super Bowl, as Oakland defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 at the Louisiana Superdome behind a redemption story built around quarterback Jim Plunkett, whose career had appeared all but finished only a couple of seasons earlier. Oakland had missed out on the AFC West title on a tiebreaker with San Diego, then won three straight road playoff games -- against Houston, Cleveland, and San Diego -- to reach the Super Bowl as a wild card, a first in the game's history. Oakland seized control immediately: linebacker Rod Martin intercepted a Ron Jaworski pass on Philadelphia's first series, setting up a short Plunkett touchdown pass to Cliff Branch, and minutes later Kenny King turned a deflected Plunkett pass into an 80-yard touchdown, giving the Raiders a 14-0 lead that tied the largest first-quarter lead in Super Bowl history at the time. Philadelphia managed only a field goal before halftime, and after Ted Hendricks blocked another Eagles field-goal attempt, Oakland pulled away in the third quarter with a second Plunkett-to-Branch touchdown, this one covering 29 yards, before adding two more field goals to push the margin to 27-10. Philadelphia's only touchdown came in garbage time in the fourth quarter. Plunkett, who completed 13 of 21 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns, was named Super Bowl MVP in one of the most improbable comeback stories the award has ever recognized: the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner had been benched, released by two franchises, and had thrown no passes at all during the 1978 season and just 15 in 1979 before an injury to Oakland starter Dan Pastorini thrust him back into the lineup partway through the 1980 season. Plunkett became only the second Heisman winner, after Roger Staubach, to also win Super Bowl MVP. Linebacker Rod Martin intercepted three passes, still a Super Bowl record, while Cliff Branch's two touchdown receptions tied the Super Bowl mark, and Kenny King's 93 receiving yards on just two catches underscored how explosively Oakland's offense struck. Philadelphia's Ron Jaworski threw for 291 yards but was intercepted three times, undermining an Eagles offense that had relied all season on Wilbert Montgomery, held to a modest 44 rushing yards in the loss. Beyond Plunkett's personal redemption, the win carried structural significance: Oakland became the first team to reach a Super Bowl across three different decades (the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s), and head coach Tom Flores became the first person in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as both a player (with Kansas City in Super Bowl IV) and a head coach, a distinction that would later be matched by only a small handful of NFL figures. The victory reinforced Oakland's status, alongside Pittsburgh, as one of the two dominant AFC franchises of the 1970s and early 1980s, even as the franchise's eventual relocation to Los Angeles loomed just two years away.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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