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The Philadelphia Eagles made their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XV going up against the Oakland Raiders, who had won it all in Super Bowl XI. The Eagles were a 3-point favorite in Super Bowl XV, which was played in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
Quarterback Jim Plunkett of the Oakland Raiders enjoyed a career revival with the Raiders during the 1980 season. After coming into the league with a ton of hype after winning the Heisman Trophy and then the NFL Rookie of the Year award, Plunkett struggled through most of his career with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers before eventually landing with the Raiders as a backup in 1978. Plunkett was thrust into the starting role in 1980 and led the Raiders to a 9-2 SU record over their last 11 games of the regular season to earn an AFC Wild Card spot.
The Philadelphia Eagles were strong on both sides of the ball in 1980. Ron Jaworski passed for 3,529 yards and 27 touchdowns while running back Wilbert Montgomery played through injury to rush for 778 yards and catch for 407. The Eagles defense allowed the fewest points in the NFL that season and was particularly on point when Philadelphia beat Oakland 10-7 when the two teams met during the regular season. Philadelphia sacked Jim Plunkett eight times in that game.
Behind two Jim Plunkett touchdown passes, the Oakland Raiders jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Oakland went on to win the game 27-10 as a 3-point underdog. Plunkett's career resurgence in the 1980 season ended with a Super Bowl MVP award. The award could have also gone to Oakland linebacker Rod Martin, who intercepted three passes in the team's Super Bowl win.
With the win, Oakland became the first Wild Card team to ever win the Super Bowl and the first betting underdog to score an outright upset win since the Miami Dolphins did so as a 1.5-point underdog back in Super Bowl VII. The total narrowly stayed UNDER the posted total of 37.5 points.
