# 1980 New Orleans Saints season

The 1980 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 14th as a member of the National Football League (NFL). The Saints failed to improve on the previous season's record of 8–8, instead winning only one game. The team missed 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 New York Jets, who like the Saints had widely been predicted before the season to advance to the playoffs, but struggled instead. The main culprit of the Saints' collapse was the defense, which ranked last in yards and points (487) allowed.
The team's only bright spot was tenth-year quarterback Archie Manning, who proceeded to have the best year of his career, throwing for 3,716 yards, 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

## Season summary

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 on Monday Night Football. 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, and replaced by Dick Stanfel. 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 rallied behind quarterback Joe Montana, who rushed for a touchdown and passed for two more. The 49ers tied the game 35–35 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Lenvil Elliott and went 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 largest comeback in NFL history, and was the largest comeback in regular season history until it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Minnesota Vikings, who rallied from a 33-0 halftime deficit vs. the Indianapolis Colts to win 39–36 in overtime.
After equaling the 1976 Buccaneers’ record single-season 14-game losing streak and looking likely to become the first team to finish 0–16 when down 7–13 after three quarters against the New York Jets 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 matched the 14 game losing streak of both the 1980 Saints and the 1976 Buccaneers after starting 2–0.
The 1980 Saints were 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, 2009 St. Louis Rams, 2016 Cleveland Browns, and 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars later matched the 1980 Saints by finishing 1–15, but the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns both exceeded it by finishing with an 0–16 record. The 1991 Colts (vs. Jets) and 2000 Chargers (vs. Chiefs) also won their lone games by a single point.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1980 New Orleans Saints draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 12 | Stan Brock | Offensive tackle | Colorado |
| 2 | 41 | Dave Waymer * | Safety | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 96 | Mike Jolly | Cornerback | 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 ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1980 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Allen Anderson | Defensive back | Northern Illinois |
| Eric Anderson | Quarterback | California |
| John Arbeznik | Guard | Michigan |
| Mike Armand | Cornerback | New Mexico State |
| Mike Augustyniak | Fullback | Purdue |
| Gordon Banks | Wide receiver | Stanford |
| Ron Barnes | Safety | Houston |
| Steve Ensmimger | Quarterback | LSU |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 7 | San Francisco 49ers | L 23–26 | 0–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 58,621 |
| 2 | September 14 | at Chicago Bears | L 3–22 | 0–2 | Soldier Field | 62,523 |
| 3 | September 21 | Buffalo Bills | L 26–35 | 0–3 | Louisiana Superdome | 51,154 |
| 4 | September 28 | at Miami Dolphins | L 16–21 | 0–4 | Miami Orange Bowl | 40,946 |
| 5 | October 5 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 7–40 | 0–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 45,388 |
| 6 | October 12 | at Detroit Lions | L 13–24 | 0–6 | Pontiac Silverdome | 78,147 |
| 7 | October 19 | Atlanta Falcons | L 14–41 | 0–7 | Louisiana Superdome | 62,651 |
| 8 | October 26 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–22 | 0–8 | RFK Stadium | 51,375 |
| 9 | November 2 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 31–45 | 0–9 | Anaheim Stadium | 59,909 |
| 10 | November 9 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 21–34 | 0–10 | Louisiana Superdome | 44,340 |
| 11 | November 16 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 13–31 | 0–11 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 53,871 |
| 12 | November 24 | Los Angeles Rams | L 7–27 | 0–12 | Louisiana Superdome | 53,448 |
| 13 | November 30 | Minnesota Vikings | L 20–23 | 0–13 | Louisiana Superdome | 30,936 |
| 14 | December 7 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 35–38 (OT) | 0–14 | Candlestick Park | 37,949 |
| 15 | December 14 | at New York Jets | W 21–20 | 1–14 | Shea Stadium | 38,077 |
| 16 | December 21 | New England Patriots | L 27–38 | 1–15 | Louisiana Superdome | 38,277 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Game summaries
### Week 3 vs Bills

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| Saints | 0 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 26 |
at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
* Date: September 21
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 51,154
* Referee: Fred Wyant
* TV announcers (NBC): Jay Rudolph and Gene Washington
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
BUF – Frank Lewis 12-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Bills 7–0.
Second quarter
NO – Chuck Muncie 1-yard run (Benny Ricardo kick). Tie 7–7.
BUF – Joe Cribbs 12-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Bills 14–7.
NO – Ike Harris 44-yard pass from Archie Manning. Bills 14–13.
NO – Benny Ricardo 45-yard field goal. Saints 16–14.
NO – Benny Ricardo 47-yard field goal. Saints 19–14.
Third quarter
BUF – Frank Lewis 18-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Bills 21–19.
Fourth quarter
BUF – Mark Brammer 2-yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Bills 28–19.
BUF – Joe Cribbs 7-yard run (Nick Mike-Mayer kick). Bills 35-19.
NO – Ike Harris 15-yard pass from Archie Manning (Benny Ricardo kick). Bills 35–26.
Top passers
BUF – Joe Ferguson – 22/31, 295 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
NO – Archie Manning – 24/34, 285 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
BUF – Joe Cribbs – 22 rushes, 89 yards, 2 TD
NO – Chuck Muncie – 10 rushes, 22 yards
Top receivers
BUF – Jerry Butler – 5 receptions, 133 yards
NO – Brooks Williams – 6 receptions, 89 yards :

### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Saints | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| Jets | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 20 |

## Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |