1978 New Orleans Saints season

The 1978 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints’ twelfth season. Quarterback Archie Manning put together one of his finest seasons, earning the NFC Player of the Year award and becoming the Saints’ first Pro Bowl representative since the NFL–AFL merger^[1] as the Saints finished with a franchise-best 7–9 mark under new head coach Dick Nolan. Seven of the Saints’ losses came against teams that qualified for the playoffs (including both Super Bowl XIII teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys), whilst all nine losses came against teams who finished at or above .500.

1978 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Dick Nolan
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	QB Archie Manning
← 1977 Saints seasons 1979 →

Offseason

• On August 5, the NFL played its first game in Mexico City. The Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 14–7.^[2]

NFL draft

Main article: 1978 NFL draft

1978 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Wes Chandler *	Wide receiver	Florida
2	33	James Taylor	Offensive tackle	Missouri
3	60	Barry Bennett	Defensive tackle	Concordia College
4	87	Don Schwartz	Defensive back	Washington State
5	115	Eric Felton	Defensive back	Texas Tech
6	142	Mike Rieker	Quarterback	Lehigh
6	157	Francis Chesley	Linebacker	Wyoming
8	199	Brooks Williams	Tight end	North Carolina
9	226	Richard Carter	Defensive back	North Carolina State
11	283	Nathan Besaint	Defensive tackle	Southern
11	285	Dave Riley	Running back	West Virginia
12	310	Larry Hardy	Tight end	Jackson State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[3]

Personnel

Staff

1978 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

^[4]

Roster

1978 New Orleans Saints roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 8 Archie Manning 12 Bobby Scott Running backs (RB) 34 Tony Galbreath FB 32 Kim Jones 42 Chuck Muncie 33 Mike Strachan Wide receivers (WR) 89 Wes Chandler 82 Ike Harris 83 Tinker Owens 84 Rich Mauti Tight ends (TE) 85 Henry Childs 87 Larry Hardy

Offensive linemen (OL) 69 Bill Fifer T 62 John Hill C 64 Dave Lafary G 70 Mark Meseroll T 76 Don Morrison T 71 J. T. Taylor T 65 Robert Woods T 79 Emanuel Zanders G Defensive linemen (DL) 73 Joe Campbell DE 72 Mike Fultz DT 78 Elois Grooms DE 74 Derland Moore DT 75 Elex Price DT

Linebackers (LB) 51 Ron Crosby 58 Joe Federspiel 54 Pat Hughes 53 Rick Kingrea 57 Jim Merlo 56 Rusty Rebowe 52 Skip Vanderbundt Defensive backs (DB) 27 Ray Brown S 24 Clarence Chapman CB 20 Eric Felton CB 49 Ralph McGill FS 37 Tom Myers FS 48 Don Schwartz SS 29 Mo Spencer CB Special teams 16 Tom Blanchard P 10 Tom Jurich K

Reserve 26 Jimmy Stewart SS (IR) 35 Jim Van Wagner RB (IR) 67 John Watson T (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 3	Minnesota Vikings	W 31–24	1–0	Louisiana Superdome	54,187
2	September 10	at Green Bay Packers	L 17–28	1–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	54,336
3	September 17	Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–24	1–2	Louisiana Superdome	49,242
4	September 24	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–18	2–2	Riverfront Stadium	40,455
5	October 1	Los Angeles Rams	L 20–26	2–3	Louisiana Superdome	61,659
6	October 8	Cleveland Browns	L 16–24	2–4	Louisiana Superdome	50,158
7	October 15	at San Francisco 49ers	W 14–7	3–4	Candlestick Park	37,671
8	October 22	at Los Angeles Rams	W 10–3	4–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	47,574
9	October 29	New York Giants	W 28–17	5–4	Louisiana Superdome	59,807
10	November 5	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–20	5–5	Three Rivers Stadium	48,526
11	November 12	Atlanta Falcons	L 17–20	5–6	Louisiana Superdome	70,323
12	November 19	at Dallas Cowboys	L 7–27	5–7	Texas Stadium	57,920
13	November 26	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–20	5–8	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	55,121
14	December 3	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–13	6–8	Louisiana Superdome	50,068
15	December 10	Houston Oilers	L 12–17	6–9	Louisiana Superdome	63,169
16	December 17	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–10	7–9	Tampa Stadium	51,207
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams(1)	12	4	0	.750	4–2	10–2	316	245	W1
Atlanta Falcons(4)	9	7	0	.563	5–1	8–4	240	290	L1
New Orleans Saints	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	281	298	W1
San Francisco 49ers	2	14	0	.125	0–6	1–11	219	350	L1

References

1. "New Orleans Saints All-Pros and Pro Bowlers". Pro Football Reference.
2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.284
3. "1978 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
4. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2014.

External links

• 1978 New Orleans Saints at Pro-Football-Reference.com