Jump to content

1980 New Orleans Saints season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1980 New Orleans Saints season
General managerSteve Rosenbloom
Head coachDick Nolan
Dick Stanfel
Home fieldLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record1–15
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone
Archie Manning attempting a pass for the Saints during a game against the Los Angeles Rams in 1980.

The 1980 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 14th as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The Saints failed to improve on the previous season's record of 8–8, instead winning only one game.[1] The team missed the playoffs for the fourteenth consecutive season and had the dubious distinction not only of winning only a single game, but winning it by a single point against the New York Jets, who like the Saints had widely been predicted before the season to advance to the playoffs, but struggled instead. The main culprit of the Saints' collapse was the defense, which ranked last in yards and points (487) allowed.[2]

The team's only bright spot was tenth-year quarterback Archie Manning, who proceeded to have the best year of his career, throwing for 3,716 yards, 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

Season summary

[edit]

Disgruntled fans called their team “the Aints”, going so far as to show up to games wearing brown paper bags over their heads after their team was 0–12[3] and playing the Los Angeles Rams, to whom they lost 27–7 on Monday Night Football. In embarrassment, they called themselves the Unknown Fan (a spinoff from The Unknown Comic) in a practice that would become the trademark of disgruntled fans across various sports in the United States. Coach Dick Nolan was fired after this game,[3] and replaced by Dick Stanfel. In Week 14, playing the San Francisco 49ers in Candlestick Park, the Saints charged out to a 35–7 lead at halftime, led by three touchdown passes from Archie Manning and a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from Jack Holmes. However, the 49ers rallied behind quarterback Joe Montana, who rushed for a touchdown and passed for two more. The 49ers tied the game 35–35 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Lenvil Elliott and went on to win in overtime, 38–35, on a Ray Wersching field goal. The 28-point comeback by the 49ers was, at the time, the largest comeback in NFL history, and was the largest comeback in regular season history until it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Minnesota Vikings, who rallied from a 33-0 halftime deficit vs. the Indianapolis Colts to win 39–36 in overtime.[4][better source needed]

After equaling the 1976 Buccaneers’ record single-season 14-game losing streak and looking likely to become the first team to finish 0–16 when down 7–13 after three quarters against the New York Jets on a day of 46 miles per hour (74 km/h) winds and a wind chill-adjusted temperature of 5 °F (−15 °C),[5] quarterback Archie Manning threw a touchdown pass into the gale to Tony Galbreath to go ahead 14–13 and then another to win 21–20.[6]

The 2013 Houston Texans matched the 14 game losing streak of both the 1980 Saints and the 1976 Buccaneers after starting 2–0.

The 1980 Saints were the first team to end the season at 1–15.[citation needed]

The 1989 Dallas Cowboys, 1990 New England Patriots, 1991 Indianapolis Colts, 1996 New York Jets, 2000 San Diego Chargers, 2001 Carolina Panthers, 2007 Miami Dolphins, 2009 St. Louis Rams, 2016 Cleveland Browns, and 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars later matched the 1980 Saints by finishing 1–15, but the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns both exceeded it by finishing with an 0–16 record. The 1991 Colts (vs. Jets) and 2000 Chargers (vs. Chiefs) also won their lone games by a single point.

Offseason

[edit]

NFL draft

[edit]
Main article: 1980 NFL draft
1980 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 12 Stan Brock  Offensive tackle Colorado
2 41 Dave Waymer *  Safety Notre Dame
4 96 Mike Jolly  Cornerback Michigan
6 150 Lester Boyd  Linebacker Kentucky
7 177 Mike Morucci  Running back Bloomsburg
8 206 Chuck Evans  Linebacker Stanford
9 233 Frank Mordica  Running back Vanderbilt
10 262 Tanya Webb  Defensive end Michigan State
11 289 George Woodard  Running back Texas A&M
12 318 Kiser Lewis  Linebacker Florida A&M
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[7]

Undrafted free agents

[edit]
1980 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Allen Anderson Defensive back Northern Illinois
Eric Anderson Quarterback California
John Arbeznik Guard Michigan
Mike Armand Cornerback New Mexico State
Mike Augustyniak Fullback Purdue
Gordon Banks Wide receiver Stanford
Ron Barnes Safety Houston
Steve Ensmimger Quarterback LSU

Personnel

[edit]

Staff

[edit]
1980 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office

  • President – John W. Mecom, Jr.

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength – Lou Riecke


[8]

Roster

[edit]
1980 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)
  • 59 Chuck Evans

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Schedule

[edit]
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 7 San Francisco 49ers L 23–26 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 58,621
2 September 14 at Chicago Bears L 3–22 0–2 Soldier Field 62,523
3 September 21 Buffalo Bills L 26–35 0–3 Louisiana Superdome 51,154
4 September 28 at Miami Dolphins L 16–21 0–4 Miami Orange Bowl 40,946
5 October 5 St. Louis Cardinals L 7–40 0–5 Louisiana Superdome 45,388
6 October 12 at Detroit Lions L 13–24 0–6 Pontiac Silverdome 78,147
7 October 19 Atlanta Falcons L 14–41 0–7 Louisiana Superdome 62,651
8 October 26 at Washington Redskins L 14–22 0–8 RFK Stadium 51,375
9 November 2 at Los Angeles Rams L 31–45 0–9 Anaheim Stadium 59,909
10 November 9 Philadelphia Eagles L 21–34 0–10 Louisiana Superdome 44,340
11 November 16 at Atlanta Falcons L 13–31 0–11 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 53,871
12 November 24 Los Angeles Rams L 7–27 0–12 Louisiana Superdome 53,448
13 November 30 Minnesota Vikings L 20–23 0–13 Louisiana Superdome 30,936
14 December 7 at San Francisco 49ers L 35–38 (OT) 0–14 Candlestick Park 37,949
15 December 14 at New York Jets W 21–20 1–14 Shea Stadium 38,077
16 December 21 New England Patriots L 27–38 1–15 Louisiana Superdome 38,277
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

[edit]

Week 3 vs Bills

[edit]
Week Three: Buffalo Bills (2–0) at New Orleans Saints (0–2)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bills 7 7 71435
Saints 0 19 0726

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Game information

Week 15

[edit]
1 234Total
• Saints 7 0014 21
Jets 0 1307 20
  • Date: December 14
  • Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 31 °F (−0.6 °C), wind 21 miles per hour (34 km/h; 18 kn)
Scoring summary
1NOJack Holmes 14 yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick)Saints 7–0
2NYJKevin Long 1 yard run (Pat Leahy kick)Tie 7–7
2NYJPat Leahy 27 yard field goalJets 10–7
2NYJPat Leahy 47 yard field goalJets 13–7
4NOTony Galbreath 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick)Saints 14–13
4NYJRichard Todd 31 yard run (Pat Leahy kick)Jets 20–14
4NOTony Galbreath 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick)Saints 21–20

[9]

Standings

[edit]
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Atlanta Falcons(1) 12 4 0 .750 5–1 10–2 405 272 L1
Los Angeles Rams(5) 11 5 0 .688 5–1 9–3 424 289 W2
San Francisco 49ers 6 10 0 .375 2–4 4–8 320 415 L2
New Orleans Saints 1 15 0 .063 0–6 0–12 291 487 L1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 1980 New Orleans Saints
  2. ^ Finney Jr., Peter; “Saints Near Record”; in The Bryan Times; December 12, 1980; p. 13
  3. ^ a b Litzky, Frank; “Dick Nolan, 75, N.F.L. Coach and Player, Is Dead”; The New York Times, November 24, 2007
  4. ^ "Top 10 greatest comebacks in NFL history". National Football League. January 7, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  5. ^ “Saints Finally Snare a Victory”; in St. Petersburg Times; December 15, 1980; p. 7C
  6. ^ “Finally: Saints Claim First Victory”; Palm Beach Post; December 15, 1980; p. 52
  7. ^ "1980 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  8. ^ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  9. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1980_New_Orleans_Saints_season&oldid=1252228656"