1978 New Orleans Saints season

1978 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Dick Nolan
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1978 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints 12th season. Quarterback Archie Manning put together one of his finest seasons earning The NFC Player of the Year as the Saints flirt all year with .500, before finishing with a franchise best 7-9 mark under new head coach Dick Nolan.

Offseason

• On August 5, the NFL played its first game in Mexico City. The New Orleans Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 14–7.^[1]

NFL draft

1978 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Wes Chandler *	Wide receiver	Florida
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

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

^[3]

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. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.284
2. "1978 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
3. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Retrieved November 4, 2014.

External links

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