1979 New Orleans Saints season

The 1979 New Orleans Saints season was the team's thirteenth season in the National Football League. The Saints finished the season at 8–8, the franchise's first non-losing season. After starting 0–3, New Orleans won seven of its next 10 and was tied for first place with the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West with three weeks to play, but the season unraveled in a Monday Night Football contest at home vs. the Oakland Raiders, when the Saints squandered a 35–14 lead and lost, 42–35. The Raiders returned to the Superdome a little over a year later and won Super Bowl XV.

1979 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Dick Nolan
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	5 TE Henry Childs QB Archie Manning RB Chuck Muncie WR Wes Chandler FS Tom Myers

The Saints were eliminated from playoff contention in Week 15 when they were blown out 35–0 at home by the San Diego Chargers. Not counting the 1976 expansion Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans was one of three franchises which failed to make the playoffs in the 1970s, joined by the Giants and the Jets (the other 1976 expansion team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, won the NFC Central Division in 1979).

Following the season, running back Chuck Muncie was named Most Valuable Player of the ensuing Pro Bowl.

Offseason

NFL draft

1979 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	11	Russell Erxleben	Punter	Texas
2	38	Reggie Mathis	Linebacker	Oklahoma
4	93	Jim Kovach	Linebacker	Kentucky
5	120	Harlan Huckleby	Linebacker	Michigan
6	146	Ricky Ray	Defensive back	Norfolk State
7	176	Stan Sytsma	Linebacker	Minnesota
8	202	Doug Panfil	Guard	Tulsa
11	285	David Hall	Wide receiver	Missouri-Rolla
12	311	Kelsey Finch	Running back	Tennessee
Made roster

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1979 New Orleans Saints staff

	Front office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. Executive Vice President – Eddie Jones Vice President of Player Personnel – Harry Hulmes Head coaches Head Coach – Dick Nolan Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Ed Hughes Quarterbacks/Receivers – Lamar McHan Offensive Line – Dick Stanfel			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Paul Wiggin Defensive Line – Tom Pratt Linebackers – Ed Beard Defensive Backs – Chet Franklin Special teams coaches Special Teams – Whitey Campbell Strength and conditioning Conditioning – Bob Hill

[2]

Roster

1979 New Orleans Saints roster

	Quarterbacks 11 Ed Burns 8 Archie Manning 12 Bobby Scott Running backs 34 Tony Galbreath FB 45 Jack Holmes 42 Chuck Muncie 33 Mike Strachan Wide receivers 89 Wes Chandler 82 Ike Harris 84 Rich Mauti 83 Tinker Owens Tight ends 85 Henry Childs 87 Larry Hardy 88 Brooks Williams		Offensive linemen 66 Conrad Dobler G 61 Roger Finnie T 62 John Hill C 64 Dave Lafary G 68 Fred Sturt G 71 J. T. Taylor T 65 Robert Woods T 79 Emanuel Zanders G Defensive linemen 63 Barry Bennett DE 73 Joe Campbell DE 72 Mike Fultz DT 78 Elois Grooms DE 74 Derland Moore DT 75 Elex Price DT 60 Don Reese DE		Linebackers 50 Ken Bordelon 58 Joe Federspiel 54 Pat Hughes 52 Jim Kovach 56 Reggie Mathis 57 Jim Merlo Defensive backs 27 Ray Brown S 26 Clarence Chapman CB 20 Eric Felton CB 21 David Gray 49 Ralph McGill CB 37 Tom Myers FS 22 Ricky Ray 48 Don Schwartz Special teams 17 Rick Partridge P 1 Garo Yepremian K		Reserve lists 14 Russell Erxleben P (IR) 77 Doug Panfl G (IR) 53 Stan Sytsma LB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2, 1979	Atlanta Falcons	L 40–34	70,940
2	September 9, 1979	at Green Bay Packers	L 28–19	53,184
3	September 16, 1979	Philadelphia Eagles	L 26–14	54,212
4	September 23, 1979	at San Francisco 49ers	W 30–21	39,727
5	September 30, 1979	New York Giants	W 24–14	51,543
6	October 7, 1979	Los Angeles Rams	L 35–17	68,986
7	October 14, 1979	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 42–14	67,640
8	October 21, 1979	Detroit Lions	W 17–7	57,428
9	October 28, 1979	at Washington Redskins	W 14–10	52,133
10	November 4, 1979	at Denver Broncos	L 10–3	74,482
11	November 11, 1979	San Francisco 49ers	W 31–20	65,551
12	November 18, 1979	at Seattle Seahawks	L 38–24	60,055
13	November 25, 1979	at Atlanta Falcons	W 37–6	42,815
14	December 3, 1979	Oakland Raiders	L 42–35	65,541
15	December 9, 1979	San Diego Chargers	L 35–0	61,059
16	December 16, 1979	at Los Angeles Rams	W 29–14	53,879

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams^(3)	9	7	0	.563	5–1	7–5	323	309	L1
New Orleans Saints	8	8	0	.500	4–2	8–4	370	360	W1
Atlanta Falcons	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	300	388	W1
San Francisco 49ers	2	14	0	.125	1–5	2–10	308	416	L1

Week 14

Week Fourteen: Oakland Raiders (7–6) at New Orleans Saints (7–6)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	7	7	7	21	42
Saints	0	28	7	0	35

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

• Date: December 3, 1979
• Game time: 8:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 71,323
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information

First quarter OAK – Raymond Chester 3-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Jim Breech kick). – Raiders 7–0. Drive: 15 plays, 78 yards. Second quarter NO – Tony Galbreath 2-yard run (Garo Yepremian kick). – Tie 7–7. Drive: 13 plays, 89 yards. NO – Tony Galbreath 17-yard pass from Archie Manning (Garo Yepremian kick). – Saints 14–7. Drive: 3 plays, 19 yards. NO – Chuck Muncie 1-yard run (Garo Yepremian kick). – Saints 21–7. Drive: 8 plays, 68 yards. NO – Henry Childs 28-yard pass from Archie Manning (Garo Yepremian kick). – Saints 28–7. Drive: 1 play, 28 yards. OAK – Arthur Whittington 1-yard run (Jim Breech kick). – Saints 28–14. Drive: Third quarter NO – Ken Bordelon 19-yard interception return (Garo Yepremian kick), 6:24. – Saints 35–14. OAK – Mark van Eeghen 1-yard run (Jim Breech kick). – Saints 35–21. Drive: Fourth quarter OAK – Derrick Ramsey 17-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Jim Breech kick). – Saints 35–28. Drive: OAK – Cliff Branch 66-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Jim Breech kick). – Tie 35–35. Drive: OAK – Cliff Branch 8-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Jim Breech kick), 1:54. – Raiders 42–35. Drive: 3 plays, 13 yards. Top passers OAK – Ken Stabler – 26/44, 295 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT NO – Archie Manning – 12/23, 154 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers OAK – Arthur Whittington – 14 rushes, 67 yards, TD NO – Chuck Muncie – 21 rushes, 128 yards, TD Top receivers OAK – Cliff Branch – 7 receptions, 126 yards, 2 TD NO – Tony Galbreath – 7 receptions, 106 yards, TD

Awards and records

• Chuck Muncie, Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player [3]

References

1. "1979 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
2. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
3. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 368

• Saints on Pro Football Reference
• Saints on jt-sw.com