1984 New Orleans Saints season

The 1984 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 18th as a member of the National Football League. They were unable to improve on their previous season's output of 8–8, winning only seven games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the eighteenth consecutive season. The Saints started out winning three of their first five games. However, the Saints would struggle as newly acquired quarterback Richard Todd threw 19 interceptions to just 11 touchdowns as the Saints again finished the season with a losing record at 7-9. It was in week 6 against the Bears that Walter Payton passed Jim Brown to become the NFL's all-time leading rusher.

1984 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerJohn Mecom Jr.
General managerBum Phillips
Head coachBum Phillips
Home fieldLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersDE Bruce Clark
LB Rickey Jackson
P Brian Hansen
The Saints playing against the Chicago Bears during a 1984 away game at Soldier Field.

Todd was acquired from the New York Jets for a first-round draft choice, and he beat out the aging Ken Stabler for the starting job at training camp, the Saints' last at Vero Beach, Florida. Stabler, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, retired midway through the season.

Late in the season, owner John Mecom Jr., who purchased the Saints as an expansion franchise for $8.5 million in late 1966, announced he would sell the team, with an asking price of $70 million. Fears abounded across Louisiana the team would be moved to Jacksonville if Mecom could not find a local buyer. Eventually, the team was sold in early 1985 to New Orleans native and car magnate Tom Benson, with Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards brokering the deal.

Offseason

NFL draft

1984 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 42 Jumpy Geathers  Defensive end Wichita State
3 68 Terry Hoage  Free Safety Georgia
3 69 Tyrone Anthony  Running back North Carolina
4 97 Joel Hilgenberg *  Center Iowa
5 123 Jitter Fields  Defensive back Texas
6 156 Don Thorp  Defensive tackle Illinois
8 210 Clemon Terrell  Running back Southern Miss
9 237 Brian Hansen *  Punter Sioux Falls
10 264 Paul Gray  Linebacker Western Kentucky
11 291 Michel Bourgeau  Defensive end Boise State
12 324 Byron Nelson  Offensive tackle Arizona
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1984 New Orleans Saints staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Wade Phillips
  • Defensive line – Willie Zapalac
  • Linebackers – John Paul Young
  • Defensive backfield – Lance Van Zandt

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro

Roster

1984 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Practice squad {{{practice_squad}}}


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Transactions

  • October 10, 1984: The New Orleans Saints in exchange for their top choice in the 1985 NFL Draft to the Houston Oilers in exchange for running back Earl Campbell.[3]

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 2 Atlanta Falcons L 28–36 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 66,652
2 September 9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–13 1–1 Louisiana Superdome 54,686
3 September 16 at San Francisco 49ers L 20–30 1–2 Candlestick Park 57,611
4 September 23 St. Louis Cardinals W 34–24 2–2 Louisiana Superdome 58,723
5 September 30 at Houston Oilers W 27–10 3–2 Astrodome 43,108
6 October 7 at Chicago Bears L 7–20 3–3 Soldier Field 53,752
7 October 14 Los Angeles Rams L 10–28 3–4 Louisiana Superdome 63,161
8 October 21 at Dallas Cowboys L 27–30 (OT) 3–5 Texas Stadium 50,966
9 October 28 at Cleveland Browns W 16–14 4–5 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 52,489
10 November 4 Green Bay Packers L 13–23 4–6 Louisiana Superdome 57,426
11 November 11 at Atlanta Falcons W 17–13 5–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 40,590
12 November 19 Pittsburgh Steelers W 27–24 6–6 Louisiana Superdome 66,005
13 November 25 San Francisco 49ers L 3–35 6–7 Louisiana Superdome 65,177
14 December 2 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–34 6–8 Anaheim Stadium 49,348
15 December 9 Cincinnati Bengals L 21–24 6–9 Louisiana Superdome 40,855
16 December 15 at New York Giants W 10–3 7–9 Giants Stadium 63,739
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

1 234Total
Falcons 5 14710 36
Saints 7 1407 28
  • Date: September 2
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Gene Barth
  • TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil

[4]

Week 2

1 234Total
Buccaneers 7 330 13
Saints 0 737 17
  • Date: September 9
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Gordon McCarter

[5]

Week 3 (Sunday, September 16, 1984): at San Francisco 49ers

[6]

Week 3: New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers
Period 1 2 34Total
Saints (1–2) 0 10 10020
49ers (3–0) 7 10 01330

at Candlestick ParkSan Francisco, California

TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
NO PassingKen Stabler14/27, 157 YDS, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
RushingGeorge Rogers23 CAR, 88 YDS
ReceivingEugene Goodlow6 REC, 62 YDS, 1 TD
SF PassingJoe Montana10/17, 128 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
RushingWendell Tyler10 CAR, 82 YDS, 1 TD
ReceivingFreddie Solomon3 REC, 72 YDS, 1 TD
  • Point spread: 49ers by 5½
  • Over/Under: 45.0 (over)
  • Time of Game:
Saints Game Statistics 49ers
20 First downs 19
31–119 Rushes–yards 32–148
162 Passing yards 179
16–34–5 Passes 13–26–1
2–13 Sacked–yards 3–20
149 Net passing yards 159
268 Total yards 307
166 Return yards 160
3–46.0 Punts 5–40.8
0–0 Fumbles–lost 0–0
4–47 Penalties–yards 6–54
31:38 Time of Possession 28:22

Week 4

1 234Total
Cardinals 0 7710 24
Saints 10 3714 34
  • Date: September 23
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney
  • TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw

[7]

Week 5

1 234Total
Saints 14 3010 27
Oilers 0 037 10
  • Date: September 30
  • Location: Astrodome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Bob Frederic

[8]

Week 6

1 234Total
Saints 0 700 7
Bears 6 707 20

[9]

Week 7

1 234Total
Rams 0 2170 28
Saints 3 007 10
  • Date: October 14
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Chuck Heberling
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Hank Stram

[10]

Week 8

1 234OTTotal
Saints 0 171000 27
Cowboys 3 30213 30

[11]

Week 9

1 234Total
Saints 0 1006 16
Browns 0 770 14

[12]

Week 10

1 234Total
Packers 0 10103 23
Saints 7 303 13
  • Date: November 4
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game start: 12:00 pm CST
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney

[13]

Week 11

1 234Total
Saints 10 007 17
Falcons 0 1030 13

[14]

Week 12

1 234Total
Steelers 0 14010 24
Saints 3 10014 27

[15]

Week 13 (Sunday, November 25, 1984): vs. San Francisco 49ers

[16]

Week 13: San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints
Period 1 2 34Total
49ers (12–1) 0 7 141435
Saints (6–7) 0 3 003

at Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, Louisiana

TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
SF PassingJoe Montana14/30, 177 YDS, 2 TDs
RushingWendell Tyler15 CAR, 117 YDS
ReceivingFreddie Solomon3 REC, 63 YDS, 1 TD
NO PassingRichard Todd9/18, 72 YDS, 1 INT
RushingGeorge Rogers21 CAR, 88 YDS
ReceivingTyrone Anthony4 REC, 31 YDS
  • Point spread: 49ers by 2
  • Over/Under: 42.0 (under)
  • Time of Game:
49ers Game Statistics Saints
22 First downs 12
33–219 Rushes–yards 28–131
201 Passing yards 118
15–32–0 Passes 14–26–1
1–13 Sacked–yards 8–48
188 Net passing yards 70
407 Total yards 201
107 Return yards 113
6–44.3 Punts 8–45.5
1–0 Fumbles–lost 1–0
4–60 Penalties–yards 3–20
27:48 Time of Possession 32:12

Week 14

1 234Total
Saints 0 7014 21
Rams 14 1037 34

[17]

Week 15

1 234Total
Bengals 0 3147 24
Saints 0 777 21
  • Date: December 9
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Gene Barth

[18]

Week 16

1 234Total
Saints 7 003 10
Giants 0 300 3

[19]

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(1) 15 1 0 .938 6–0 12–0 475 227 W9
Los Angeles Rams(4) 10 6 0 .625 3–3 7–5 346 316 L1
New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 298 361 W1
Atlanta Falcons 4 12 0 .250 2–4 3–9 281 382 W1

References

  1. 1984 New Orleans Saints
  2. "1984 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. "Oilers Exchange Campbell For Saints' No. 1 Draft Pick". Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  4. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  5. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  6. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  7. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  8. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  9. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  10. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  11. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  12. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  13. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  14. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  15. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  16. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  17. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  18. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  19. The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
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