# 1982 New Orleans Saints season

The 1982 New Orleans Saints season saw the team nearly qualify for the NFL playoffs, missing it by a tiebreaker. The Saints finished with a 4–5 record, and narrowly missed the playoffs in a complicated labyrinth of tie-breakers.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1982 New Orleans Saints draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 13 | Lindsay Scott | Wide receiver | Georgia |
| 2 | 30 | Brad Edelman * | Guard | Missouri |
| 3 | 58 | Rodney Lewis | Defensive back | Nebraska |
| 3 | 66 | Eugene Goodlow | Wide receiver | Kansas State |
| 3 | 68 | Kenny Duckett | Wide receiver | Wake Forest |
| 3 | 76 | John Krimm | Defensive back | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 86 | Morten Andersen * $^†$ | Placekicker | Michigan State |
| 5 | 114 | Tony Elliott | Defensive tackle | North Texas |
| 6 | 142 | Marvin Lewis | Running back | Tulane |
| 8 | 198 | Chuck Slaughter | Offensive tackle | South Carolina |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 7–21 | 0–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 58,673 |
| 2 | September 19 | at Chicago Bears | W 10–0 | 1–1 | Soldier Field | 56,600 |
| – | September 26 | Denver Broncos | canceled | 1–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 1982 NFL players strike |
| – | October 3 | at Los Angeles Raiders | canceled | 1–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 1982 NFL players strike |
| – | October 10 | San Francisco 49ers | canceled | 1–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 1982 NFL players strike |
| – | October 17 | at Minnesota Vikings | canceled | 1–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 1982 NFL players strike |
| – | October 24 | at Los Angeles Rams | canceled | 1–1 | Anaheim Stadium | 1982 NFL players strike |
| – | October 31 | Atlanta Falcons | postponed | 1–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 1982 NFL players strike |
| – | November 7 | Los Angeles Rams | canceled | 1–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 1982 NFL players strike |
| – | November 14 | at San Diego Chargers | canceled | 1–1 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 1982 NFL players strike |
| 3 | November 21 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 27–17 | 2–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 39,341 |
| 4 | November 28 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 23–20 | 3–1 | Candlestick Park | 51,611 |
| 5 | December 5 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–13 | 3–2 | Louisiana Superdome | 61,709 |
| 6 | December 12 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 0–35 | 3–3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 39,535 |
| 7 | December 19 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 7–21 | 3–4 | Texas Stadium | 64,506 |
| 8 | December 26 | Washington Redskins | L 10–27 | 3–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 48,667 |
| 9 | January 2, 1983 | Atlanta Falcons | W 35–6 | 4–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 47,336 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

## Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Atlanta Falcons$^{(5)}$ | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 3–1 | 4–3 | 183 | 199 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 2–1 | 3–5 | 129 | 160 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 209 | 206 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 200 | 250 | W1 |
NFCvte :
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| Seeded postseason qualifiers |||||||||
| 1 | Washington Redskins | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 190 | 128 | W4 |
| 2 | Dallas Cowboys | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 226 | 145 | L2 |
| 3 | Green Bay Packers | 5 | 3 | 1 | .611 | 226 | 169 | L1 |
| 4 | Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 187 | 198 | W1 |
| 5 | Atlanta Falcons | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 183 | 199 | L2 |
| 6 | St. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 135 | 170 | L1 |
| 7 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 158 | 178 | W3 |
| 8 | Detroit Lions | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 181 | 176 | W1 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason |||||||||
| 9 | New Orleans Saints | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 129 | 160 | W1 |
| 10 | New York Giants | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 164 | 160 | W1 |
| 11 | San Francisco 49ers | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 209 | 206 | L1 |
| 12 | Chicago Bears | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 141 | 174 | L1 |
| 13 | Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 191 | 195 | L1 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Rams | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 200 | 250 | W1 |
| Tiebreakers |||||||||
| 1 2 3 4 Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games. 1 2 3 Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5). 1 2 3 San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5). |||||||||