selected running back Billy Sims from the University of Oklahoma. New referee The league added a 15th officiating crew, promoting Bob McElwee to referee. The league previously had 15 crews in 1976 (when the league expanded to 28 teams) and 1977. After referee Bernie Ulman retired after the 1977 season, the league used only 14 crews for the 1978 and 1979 seasons, requiring all 14 of them to be on hand for the weekly workload of 14 games. Major rule changes A ten-second runoff will be implemented when a team commits the following actions to conserve time within the last minute of either half or overtime (with the half/game/regulation ending automatically if 10 or less seconds remain on the game clock; this was changed to after the two-minute warning in the 2017 NFL season): Fouls by either team that prevents the snap (e.g. false start, encroachment, etc.) Intentional grounding Illegal forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage Throwing a backward pass out of bounds Spiking or throwing the ball in the field of play after a down has ended, except after a touchdown Any other intentional foul that causes the clock to stop. Any excess time-out taken for injuries by either team. Teams can take a time-out (if available) to prevent the runoff. Players are prohibited from striking, swinging, or clubbing to the head, face, or neck. The personal foul could be called whether or not the initial contact was made below the neck. A "Guidelines for Captains" section was added to the rules. Records The New Orleans Saints lost their first 14 games to start the season that matched a record set by the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Division Races From 1978 to 1989, ten teams qualified for the playoffs: the winners of each of the divisions, and two wild-card teams in each conference. These are the leaders for each playoff slot, week by week. Teams listed in Week 16 indicate playoff participants. National Football Conference American Football Conference Regular season Scheduling formula Highlights of the 1980 season included: Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 27, featuring Chicago at Detroit and Seattle at Dallas. Chicago would prevail in overtime, while Dallas, emerged victorious in a 51–7 rout. Final standings Tiebreakers Cleveland finished ahead of Houston in the AFC Central based on better conference record (8–4 to Oilers’ 7–5). San Diego finished ahead of Oakland in