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 coachDick Nolan
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersQB Archie Manning

Offseason

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
6 157 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

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Conditioning – Bob Hill

[4]

Roster
1978 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 3, 1978 Minnesota Vikings W 31–24
54,187
2 September 10, 1978 at Green Bay Packers L 28–17
54,336
3 September 17, 1978 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–17
49,242
4 September 24, 1978 at Cincinnati Bengals W 20–18
40,455
5 October 1, 1978 Los Angeles Rams L 26–20
61,659
6 October 8, 1978 Cleveland Browns L 24–16
50,158
7 October 15, 1978 at San Francisco 49ers W 14–7
37,671
8 October 22, 1978 at Los Angeles Rams W 10–3
47,574
9 October 29, 1978 New York Giants W 28–17
59,807
10 November 5, 1978 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–14
48,526
11 November 12, 1978 Atlanta Falcons L 20–17
70,323
12 November 19, 1978 at Dallas Cowboys L 27–7
57,920
13 November 26, 1978 at Atlanta Falcons L 20–17
55,121
14 December 3, 1978 San Francisco 49ers W 24–13
50,068
15 December 10, 1978 Houston Oilers L 17–12
63,169
16 December 17, 1978 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–10
51,207

Standings
NFC West
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 2012-06-18. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
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