1980 New Orleans Saints season

1980 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Dick Nolan Dick Stanfel
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	1–15
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

Archie Manning attempting a pass for the Saints during an away game in 1980.

The 1980 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 14th as a member of the National Football League. They were unable to improve on their previous season’s output of 8–8, winning only one game. The team failed to qualify for 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 equally disappointing Jets, who like the Saints had widely been predicted before the season to advance to their first playoff appearance for over a decade.

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 and playing the Los Angeles Rams, to whom they lost 27–7. 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, replaced by Dick Stanfel, and then a most notable loss occurred 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 would rally behind quarterback Joe Montana, who would rush for a touchdown and pass for two more. The 49ers would tie the game 35–35 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Lenvil Elliott and go 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 greatest comeback in NFL history, and currently remains the greatest comeback in NFL regular season history (the 1992 AFC Wildcard game between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers is currently #1, with the Bills overcoming a 32-point deficit to win).

After equalling the 1976 Buccaneers’ single season losing streak and looking likely to become the first team to finish 0–16 when down 7–13 after three quarters on a day of 46 miles per hour (74 km/h) winds and a wind chill-adjusted temperature of 5 °F (−15 °C), 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.

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

The 1980 Saints continue to hold the worst regular-season record by a team whose stadium hosted the Super Bowl that season (the Oakland Raiders went on to become the first wild card team to win the Super Bowl).

The 1980 Saints are the first team to end the season at 1-15.

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 and 2009 St. Louis Rams later matched the 1980 Saints' embarrassment by finishing 1-15, but the 2008 Detroit Lions would exceed it by finishing with an 0-16 record.

Offseason

NFL draft

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 *	Defensive back	Notre Dame
4	96	Mike Jolly	Defensive back	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

Personnel

Staff

1980 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. Head coaches Head Coach – Dick Nolan Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Ed Hughes Quarterbacks/Receivers – Lamar McHan Offensive Backfield – Nick Nicolau Offensive Line – Dick Stanfel			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ed Beard Defensive Line – Tom Pratt Defensive Backfield – Fred Glick Special teams coaches Special Teams – Whitey Campbell Strength and conditioning Strength – Lou Riecke

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1980	San Francisco 49ers	L 23–26	58,621
2	September 14, 1980	at Chicago Bears	L 3–22	62,523
3	September 21, 1980	Buffalo Bills	L 26–35	51,154
4	September 28, 1980	at Miami Dolphins	L 16–21	40,946
5	October 5, 1980	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–40	45,388
6	October 12, 1980	at Detroit Lions	L 13–24	78,147
7	October 19, 1980	Atlanta Falcons	L 14–41	62,651
8	October 26, 1980	at Washington Redskins	L 14–22	51,375
9	November 2, 1980	at Los Angeles Rams	L 31–45	59,909
10	November 9, 1980	Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–34	44,340
11	November 16, 1980	at Atlanta Falcons	L 13–31	53,871
12	November 24, 1980	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–27	53,448
13	November 30, 1980	Minnesota Vikings	L 20–23	30,936
14	December 7, 1980	at San Francisco 49ers	L 35–38	37,949
15	December 14, 1980	at New York Jets	W 21–20	38,077
16	December 21, 1980	New England Patriots	L 27–38	38,277

Game summaries

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 7 0 0 14 21 Jets 0 13 0 7 20 Date: December 14 Location: Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 31°F, wind 21 mph

Scoring summary 1 NO Jack Holmes 14 yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick) Saints 7–0 2 NYJ Kevin Long 1 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Tie 7–7 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 27 yard field goal Jets 10–7 2 NYJ Pat Leahy 47 yard field goal Jets 13–7 4 NO Tony Galbreath 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) Saints 14–13 4 NYJ Richard Todd 31 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) Jets 20–14 4 NO Tony Galbreath 1 yard run (Benny Ricardo kick) Saints 21–20

Standings

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