1979 New Orleans Saints (NFL) |
| 2nd place National Football Conference Western Division 8-8-0 .500 |
| Head Coach: Dick Nolan |
| Ed Beard | Linebackers |
| Whitey Campbell | Special Teams |
| Chet Franklin | Defensive Backs |
| Ed Hughes | Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Backfield |
| Lamar McHan | Quarterbacks/Receivers |
| Tom Pratt | Defensive Line |
| Dick Stanfel | Offensive Line |
| Paul Wiggin | Defensive Coordinator |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Fri | 8/3/1979 | A | Miami Dolphins | 7-14 | L | Miami, FL | Orange Bowl | 44704 | |
| Sat | 8/11/1979 | H | Chicago Bears | 6-13 | L | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 45085 | |
| Sat | 8/18/1979 | A | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7-14 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 49042 | |
| Fri | 8/24/1979 | H | Houston Oilers | 10-7 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 54469 | |
| Sun | 9/2/1979 | H | Atlanta Falcons | 34-40 | L | OT | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 70940 |
| Sun | 9/9/1979 | A | Green Bay Packers | 19-28 | L | Milwaukee, WI | County Stadium | 53184 | |
| Sun | 9/16/1979 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 14-26 | L | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 54212 | |
| Sun | 9/23/1979 | A | San Francisco 49ers | 30-21 | W | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 39727 | |
| Sun | 9/30/1979 | H | New York Giants | 24-14 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 51543 | |
| Sun | 10/7/1979 | H | Los Angeles Rams | 17-35 | L | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 68986 | |
| Sun | 10/14/1979 | A | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 42-14 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 67640 | |
| Sun | 10/21/1979 | H | Detroit Lions | 17-7 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 57428 | |
| Sun | 10/28/1979 | A | Washington Redskins | 14-10 | W | Washington, DC | RFK Stadium | 53133 | |
| Sun | 11/4/1979 | A | Denver Broncos | 3-10 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74482 | |
| Sun | 11/11/1979 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 31-20 | W | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 65551 | |
| Sun | 11/18/1979 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 24-38 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 60055 | |
| Sun | 11/25/1979 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 37-6 | W | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 42815 | |
| Mon | 12/3/1979 | H | Oakland Raiders | 35-42 | L | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 65541 | |
| Sun | 12/9/1979 | H | San Diego Chargers | 0-35 | L | New Orleans, LA | Louisiana Superdome | 61059 | |
| Sun | 12/16/1979 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 29-14 | W | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 53879 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| 63 | Barry Bennett | LDT-RDT | 6-4 | 259 | 24 | Concordia (Moorhead) | 16 | 14 |
| 50 | Ken Bordelon | LLB | 6-4 | 228 | 25 | Louisiana State | 16 | 14 |
| 27 | Ray Brown | SS | 6-2 | 206 | 30 | West Texas A&M | 12 | 12 |
| 11 | Ed Burns | QB | 6-3 | 210 | 25 | Nebraska | 16 | 0 |
| 73 | Joe Campbell | RDE | 6-6 | 250 | 24 | Maryland | 10 | 4 |
| 89 | Wes Chandler | WR | 6-0 | 186 | 23 | Florida | 16 | 16 |
| 24 | Clarence Chapman | LCB | 5-10 | 175 | 26 | Eastern Michigan | 16 | 15 |
| 85 | Henry Childs | TE | 6-2 | 226 | 28 | Kansas State | 16 | 16 |
| 66 | Conrad Dobler | ROG | 6-3 | 254 | 29 | Wyoming | 16 | 16 |
| 14 | Russell Erxleben | K-P | 6-4 | 238 | 22 | Texas | 1 | 0 |
| 58 | Joe Federspiel | MLB | 6-2 | 230 | 29 | Kentucky | 16 | 16 |
| 20 | Eric Felton | RCB | 6-0 | 200 | 24 | Texas Tech | 13 | 10 |
| 61 | Roger Finnie | ROT | 6-3 | 245 | 34 | Florida A&M | 8 | 1 |
| 72 | Mike Fultz | DT | 6-5 | 278 | 25 | Nebraska | 13 | 1 |
| 34 | Tony Galbreath | FB | 6-0 | 228 | 25 | Centerville JC; Missouri | 15 | 15 |
| 21 | David Gray | RCB | 6-0 | 190 | 24 | East Los Angeles JC; Oregon State; San Diego State | 16 | 6 |
| 78 | Elois Grooms | LDE | 6-4 | 250 | 26 | Tennessee Tech | 16 | 16 |
| 87 | Larry Hardy | TE | 6-3 | 240 | 23 | Jackson State | 16 | 0 |
| 82 | Ike Harris | WR | 6-3 | 207 | 27 | Iowa State | 14 | 14 |
| 62 | John Hill | C | 6-2 | 246 | 29 | Lehigh | 16 | 16 |
| 45 | Jack Holmes | FB | 5-11 | 210 | 26 | Texas Southern | 16 | 1 |
| 54 | Pat Hughes | RLB | 6-2 | 231 | 32 | Boston University | 16 | 16 |
| 32 | Kim Jones | RB | 6-4 | 243 | 27 | Colorado State | 2 | 0 |
| 52 | Jim Kovach | LB | 6-2 | 239 | 23 | Kentucky | 16 | 0 |
| 64 | Dave Lafary | OG | 6-7 | 280 | 24 | Purdue | 16 | 0 |
| 8 | Archie Manning | QB | 6-3 | 205 | 30 | Mississippi | 16 | 16 |
| 56 | Reggie Mathis | LB | 6-2 | 220 | 23 | Navarro JC; Oklahoma | 16 | 0 |
| 84 | Rich Mauti | WR | 6-0 | 195 | 25 | Nassau CC; Penn State | 15 | 0 |
| 49 | Ralph McGill | FS | 5-11 | 178 | 29 | Northeastern Oklahoma A&M JC; Tulsa | 13 | 1 |
| 57 | Jim Merlo | LLB | 6-1 | 220 | 28 | Fresno CC; Stanford | 16 | 2 |
| 74 | Derland Moore | RDT-LDT | 6-4 | 265 | 28 | Oklahoma | 15 | 15 |
| 42 | Chuck Muncie | HB | 6-3 | 233 | 26 | Arizona Western JC; California | 16 | 15 |
| 37 | Tommy Myers | FS | 6-0 | 180 | 29 | Syracuse | 15 | 15 |
| 83 | Tinker Owens | WR | 5-11 | 170 | 25 | Oklahoma | 13 | 2 |
| 17 | Rick Partridge | P | 6-1 | 175 | 22 | Golden West JC; Utah | 13 | 0 |
| 76 | Jim Pietrzak | C | 6-5 | 260 | 26 | Eastern Michigan | 11 | 0 |
| 75 | Elex Price | LDT | 6-3 | 260 | 29 | Alcorn State | 6 | 2 |
| 22 | Ricky Ray | LCB | 5-11 | 185 | 22 | Norfolk State | 6 | 1 |
| 60 | Don Reese | RDE | 6-6 | 255 | 28 | Jackson State | 16 | 12 |
| 48 | Don Schwartz | SS | 6-1 | 191 | 23 | Washington State | 14 | 4 |
| 12 | Bobby Scott | QB | 6-1 | 201 | 30 | Tennessee | 3 | 0 |
| 33 | Mike Strachan | HB | 6-0 | 199 | 26 | Iowa State | 10 | 1 |
| 68 | Fred Sturt | OG | 6-4 | 250 | 28 | Bowling Green State | 16 | 0 |
| 71 | J.T. Taylor | LOT | 6-4 | 270 | 23 | Missouri | 16 | 16 |
| 67 | John Watson | OT | 6-4 | 244 | 30 | Oklahoma | 5 | 0 |
| 88 | Brooks Williams | TE | 6-4 | 226 | 25 | North Carolina | 16 | 0 |
| 30 | Wayne Wilson | RB | 6-3 | 213 | 22 | Shepherd | 14 | 0 |
| 65 | Robert Woods | ROT | 6-3 | 253 | 29 | Tennessee State | 15 | 15 |
| 1 | Garo Yepremian | K | 5-8 | 172 | 35 | none | 14 | 0 |
| 79 | Emanuel Zanders | LOG | 6-1 | 248 | 28 | Jackson State | 16 | 16 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 11 | Russell Erxleben | K-P | Texas |
| 2 | 38 | Reggie Mathis | LB | Oklahoma |
| 4 | 93 | Jim Kovach | LB | Kentucky |
| 5 | 120 | Harlan Huckleby | TB | Michigan |
| 6 | 146 | Ricky Ray | DB | Norfolk State |
| 7 | 176 | Stan Sytsma | LB | Minnesota |
| 8 | 202 | Doug Panfil | G | Tulsa |
| 11 | 285 | David Hall | WR | Missouri-Rolla |
| 12 | 311 | Kelsey Finch | RB | Tennessee |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 62 | 146 | 81 | 81 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 51 | 126 | 69 | 108 | 6 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 315 | 160 | 135 | 20 | 86/215 40.0% | / % | 93 | 812 | |
| Opponents Totals | 334 | 147 | 168 | 19 | 105/239 43.9% | / % | 98 | 871 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garo Yepremian | 0 | 39 | 40 | 97.5 | 12 | 16 | 75.0 | 0 | 75 |
| Tony Galbreath | 10 | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | 0 | 67 |
| Chuck Muncie | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | ||
| Wes Chandler | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Mike Strachan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Henry Childs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Ike Harris | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Archie Manning | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Russell Erxleben | 0 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Ken Bordelon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Larry Hardy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Tommy Myers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Tinker Owens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Elois Grooms | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Team Totals | 46 | 44 | 46 | 95.7 | 16 | 21 | 76.2 | 1 | 370 |
| Opponents Totals | 47 | 45 | 46 | 97.8 | 11 | 17 | 64.7 | 0 | 360 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garo Yepremian | 12 | 16 | 75.0 | 1 | 44 | 1/1 | 5/5 | 3/4 | 3/6 | 0/0 |
| Tony Galbreath | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | 0 | 27 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| Russell Erxleben | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 0 | 38 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| Team Totals | 16 | 21 | 76.2 | 1 | 44 | 1/2 | 7/7 | 5/6 | 3/6 | 0/0 |
| Opponents Totals | 11 | 17 | 64.7 | 2/2 | 4/4 | 2/4 | 3/5 | 0/2 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Muncie | 238 | 1198 | 5.0 | 69t | 11 |
| Tony Galbreath | 189 | 708 | 3.7 | 27 | 9 |
| Mike Strachan | 62 | 276 | 4.5 | 23 | 6 |
| Archie Manning | 35 | 186 | 5.3 | 20 | 2 |
| Jack Holmes | 17 | 68 | 4.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Wayne Wilson | 5 | 26 | 5.2 | 16 | 0 |
| Ike Harris | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 16 | 0 |
| Kim Jones | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 3 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 551 | 2476 | 4.5 | 69t | 28 |
| Opponents Totals | 521 | 2469 | 4.7 | 60 | 22 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Manning | 420 | 252 | 60.0 | 148 | 3169 | 7.5 | 12.6 | 85 | 15 | 3.6 | 20 | 4.8 | 17 | 140 | 3029 | 75.6 |
| Chuck Muncie | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | 1 | 40 | 20.0 | 40.0 | 40t | 1 | 50.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 135.4 |
| Bobby Scott | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 0 | 12 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 91.7 |
| Tony Galbreath | 3 | 2 | 66.7 | 0 | 70 | 23.3 | 35.0 | 48 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 70.1 |
| Russell Erxleben | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 428 | 257 | 60.0 | 149 | 3291 | 7.7 | 12.8 | 85 | 16 | 3.7 | 22 | 5.1 | 17 | 140 | 3151 | 75.2 |
| Opponents Totals | 488 | 265 | 54.3 | 197 | 3457 | 7.1 | 13.0 | 66t | 24 | 4.9 | 26 | 5.3 | 46 | 391 | 3066 | 71.0 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wes Chandler | 65 | 1069 | 16.4 | 85 | 6 |
| Tony Galbreath | 58 | 484 | 8.3 | 38 | 1 |
| Henry Childs | 51 | 846 | 16.6 | 51 | 5 |
| Chuck Muncie | 40 | 308 | 7.7 | 28 | 0 |
| Ike Harris | 25 | 395 | 15.8 | 42 | 2 |
| Tinker Owens | 7 | 72 | 10.3 | 21 | 1 |
| Jack Holmes | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 13 | 0 |
| Mike Strachan | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Rich Mauti | 2 | 64 | 32.0 | 61 | 0 |
| Brooks Williams | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Larry Hardy | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3t | 1 |
| Team Totals | 257 | 3291 | 12.8 | 85 | 16 |
| Opponents Totals | 265 | 3457 | 13.0 | 66t | 24 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Myers | 7 | 127 | 18.1 | 52t | 1 |
| Pat Hughes | 4 | 62 | 15.5 | 40 | 0 |
| Eric Felton | 4 | 53 | 13.3 | 53 | 0 |
| Don Schwartz | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 22 | 0 |
| Ken Bordelon | 2 | 24 | 12.0 | 19t | 1 |
| Clarence Chapman | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 12 | 0 |
| David Gray | 1 | 32 | 32.0 | 32 | 0 |
| Ralph McGill | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Joe Federspiel | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Ray Brown | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Elois Grooms | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | -2 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 26 | 351 | 13.5 | 53 | 2 |
| Opponents Totals | 22 | 199 | 9.0 | 35 | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Partridge | 57 | 2330 | 40.9 | 61 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 164 | 2026 | 35.5 |
| Wes Chandler | 8 | 248 | 31.0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 211 | 26.4 |
| Russell Erxleben | 4 | 148 | 37.0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 126 | 31.5 |
| Team Totals | 69 | 2726 | 39.5 | 61 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 223 | 2363 | 34.3 |
| Opponents Totals | 71 | 2724 | 38.4 | 60 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 231 | 2293 | 32.3 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Mauti | 27 | 13 | 218 | 8.1 | 33 | 0 |
| Wes Chandler | 3 | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 8 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 30 | 16 | 231 | 7.7 | 33 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 32 | 11 | 223 | 7.0 | 19 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Mauti | 36 | 801 | 22.3 | 39 | 0 | |
| Wayne Wilson | 11 | 230 | 20.9 | 31 | 0 | |
| Jack Holmes | 8 | 120 | 15.0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Wes Chandler | 7 | 136 | 19.4 | 37 | 0 | |
| Brooks Williams | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 12 | 0 | |
| Jim Kovach | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Tinker Owens | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 66 | 1319 | 20.0 | 39 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 76 | 1523 | 20.0 | 53 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Elois Grooms | 12.0 | |
| Don Reese | 12.0 | |
| Pat Hughes | 5.0 | |
| Derland Moore | 5.0 | |
| Mike Fultz | 3.0 | |
| Elex Price | 3.0 | |
| Barry Bennett | 2.0 | |
| Joe Campbell | 2.0 | |
| Jim Merlo | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 46.0 | 391.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 17.0 | 140.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Childs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Conrad Dobler | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Galbreath | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Elois Grooms | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ike Harris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Holmes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Archie Manning | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 0 | |
| Rich Mauti | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ralph McGill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Merlo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Chuck Muncie | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tommy Myers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Elex Price | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Reese | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Strachan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wayne Wilson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 24 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 5 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 32 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 0 |
| In Memoriam |
| NFL Boxscores |
| NFL Game Officials |
| NFL Training Camps |
| NFL Roster Limits |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Super Bowl Scores |
| Privacy Policy |
| ©2006-2024 Pro Football Archives. All Rights Reserved. |
| Last Updated: April 26, 2024 |