1984 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 New Orleans Saints 1984 7–9 3rd NFC West Bum Phillips Bum Phillips John Mecom Jr. Louisiana Superdome Did not qualify DE Bruce ClarkLB Rickey JacksonP Brian Hansen Saints seasons thumb|right|The Saints playing against the Chicago Bears during a 1984 away game at Soldier Field. 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.1984 New Orleans Saints 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. 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. Todd and Stabler both played for the Alabama Crimson Tide under coach Bear Bryant. Following the loss to the Bears, the Saints traded for Houston Oilers running back Earl Campbell, reuniting the number one selection in the 1978 draft and 1977 Heisman Trophy winner with coach Bum Phillips, the Oilers' coach from 1975-80. Campbell joined 1980 Heisman recipient and 1981 first overall selection George Rogers in the New Orleans backfield. 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 ($212 million in 2024 dollars). 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 NFL draft 1984 New Orleans Saints 2 42 Jumpy Geathers Defensive end Wichita State yes 3 68 Terry Hoage Free Safety Georgia yes 3 69 Tyrone Anthony Running back North Carolina yes 4 97 Joel Hilgenberg Center Iowa yes yes 5 123 Jitter Fields Defensive back Texas yes 6 156 Don Thorp Defensive tackle Illinois yes 8 210 Clemon Terrell Running back Southern Miss 9 237 Brian Hansen Punter Sioux Falls yes yes 10 264 Paul Gray Linebacker Western Kentucky 11 291 Michel Bourgeau Defensive end Boise State 12 324 Byron Nelson Offensive tackle Arizona no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/1984_draft.htm 1984 New Orleans Saints draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com November 10, 2014 Personnel Staff 1984 New Orleans Saints Owner – John Mecom Jr. President – Eddie Jones Director of football operations – Pat Peppler Head Coach/General Manager – Bum Phillips Offensive coordinator – King Hill Offensive backfield – John Levra Receivers – Lamar McHan Offensive line – Carl Mauck Quality control – Joe Spencer Defensive coordinator – Wade Phillips Defensive line – Willie Zapalac Linebackers – John Paul Young Defensive backfield – Lance Van Zandt Special teams – Harold Richardson Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro Roster 1984 New Orleans Saints 19 Guido Merkens 11 Richard Todd American football 18 Dave Wilson American football 22 Tyrone Anthony y 35 Earl Campbell 46 Hokie Gajan 38 George Rogers American football 41 Jimmy Rogers running back 30 Wayne Wilson American football 88 Eugene Goodlow 86 Jeff Groth American football 80 Lindsay Scott 89 Tyrone Young 85 Hoby Brenner 87 Larry Hardy American football 84 Junior Miller 65 David Carter G/C 78 Kelvin Clark T/G 63 Brad Edelman G 61 Joel Hilgenberg C 62 John Hill American football C 60 Steve Korte G/C 68 Louis Oubre G 76 Jim Pietrzak T 72 Chris Ward American football T 75 Bruce Clark gridiron football DE 99 Tony Elliott defensive lineman NT 97 Jumpy Geathers y DE 98 Reggie Lewis defensive lineman DE 73 Frank Warren American football DE 94 Jim Wilks DE 92 James Haynes American football y OLB 57 Rickey Jackson OLB 52 Jim Kovach ILB 51 Whitney Paul OLB 53 Scott Pelluer OLB 58 Glen Redd ILB 56 Dennis Winston ILB 26 Jitter Fields y CB 20 Russell Gary SS 28 Greg Harding no SS 24 Terry Hoage y FS 34 Bobby Johnson defensive back CB 29 Rodney Lewis American football CB 25 Johnnie Poe CB 49 Frank Wattelet FS 44 Dave Waymer CB  7 Morten Andersen K 10 Brian Hansen American football P 67 Stan Brock American football T IR 83 Kenny Duckett WR NF-Ill. 64 Dave Lafary T (IR) 7px 93 Gary Lewis defensive lineman NT IR 74 Derland Moore NT IR 96 Don Thorp y NT IR 82 John Tice TE IR 45 Tim Wilson American football RB IR 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. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1984/10/10/oilers-exchange-campbell-for-saints-no-1-draft-pick/0a249baa-1c58-4711-a00d-2883adc2beea/ Oilers Exchange Campbell For Saints' No. 1 Draft Pick Washington Post 2021-02-22 en 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 Falcons 5 14 7 10 Saints 7 14 0 7 September 2 Louisiana Superdome Indoors (dome) Gene Barth Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil CBS The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 2 Buccaneers 7 3 3 0 Saints 0 7 3 7 September 9 Louisiana Superdome Indoors (dome) Gordon McCarter The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 3 (Sunday, September 16, 1984): at San Francisco 49ers The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. New Orleans Saints 1984 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 3: New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers September 16, 1984 1:00 p.m. PDT Saints (1–2) 0 10 10 0 49ers (3–0) 7 10 0 13 Candlestick Park • San Francisco, California 57,611 65 °F °C; wind 16 mph Tom Dooley CBS Tom Brookshier (play-by-play) and Wayne Walker (color commentator) Pro-Football-Reference.com right New Orleans Saints NO San Francisco 49ers SF Ken Stabler 14/27, 157 YDS, 2 TDs, 2 INTs George Rogers 23 CAR, 88 YDS Eugene Goodlow 6 REC, 62 YDS, 1 TD Joe Montana 10/17, 128 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT Wendell Tyler 10 CAR, 82 YDS, 1 TD Freddie Solomon 3 REC, 72 YDS, 1 TD NO SF collapsed 1 9:04 49ers RecTD Solomon Montana 32 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 7 2 14:57 49ers FG 31 Wersching 0 10 1 9:06 49ers RushTD Tyler 3 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 17 2 1:20 Saints RecTD Goodlow Stabler 8 good Andersen run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 17 2 0:00 Saints FG 32 Andersen 10 17 3 11:11 Saints RecTD Brenner Stabler 26 good Andersen run/pass good/failed/incomplete 17 17 3 3:11 Saints FG 41 Andersen 20 17 4 9:33 49ers RecTD Cooper Cavanaugh 23 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 20 24 4 7:45 49ers FG 22 Wersching 20 27 4 1:56 49ers FG 30 Wersching 20 30 20 30 Point spread: 49ers by 5½ Over/under: 45.0 (over) Time of game: SaintsGame statistics49ers20 First downs 1931–119 Rushes–yards 32–148162 Passing yards 17916–34–5 Passes Completions–Attempts–Interceptions 13–26–12–13 Sacked–yards 3–20149 Net passing yards 159268 Total yards 307166 Return yards 1603–46.0 Punts Number–Average yardage 5–40.80–0 Fumbles–lost 0–04–47 Penalties–yards 6–5431:38 Time of Possession 28:22 Week 4 Cardinals 0 7 7 10 Saints 10 3 7 14 September 23 Louisiana Superdome Indoors (dome) Jim Tunney Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw CBS The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 5 Saints 14 3 0 10 Oilers 0 0 3 7 September 30 Astrodome 12:00 p.m. CDT Indoors (dome) Bob Frederic The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 6 Saints 0 7 0 0 Bears 6 7 0 7 October 7 Soldier Field 12:00 pm CDT Bob McElwee Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris CBS The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 7 Rams 0 21 7 0 Saints 3 0 0 7 October 14 Louisiana Superdome Indoors (dome) Chuck Heberling Dick Stockton and Hank Stram CBS The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 8 Saints 0 17 10 0 0 Cowboys 3 3 0 21 3 October 21 Texas Stadium 8:45 pm CST Pat Haggerty Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and O. J. Simpson ABC The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 9 Saints 0 10 0 6 Browns 0 7 7 0 October 28 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST Jerry Seeman Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw CBS The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 10 Packers 0 10 10 3 Saints 7 3 0 3 November 4 Louisiana Superdome 12:00 pm CST Indoors (dome) Jim Tunney Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil CBS The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 11 Saints 10 0 0 7 Falcons 0 10 3 0 November 11 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Dick Jorgensen The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 12 Steelers 0 14 0 10 Saints 3 10 0 14 November 19 Louisiana Superdome 8:00 pm CST Indoors (dome) Fred Silva Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and O. J. Simpson ABC The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 13 (Sunday, November 25, 1984): vs. San Francisco 49ers The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. New Orleans Saints 1984 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 13: San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints November 25, 1984 3:00 p.m. CST 49ers (12–1) 0 7 14 14 Saints (6–7) 0 3 0 0 Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana 65,177 indoors Jerry Markbreit CBS Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and Terry Bradshaw (color commentator) Pro-Football-Reference.com right San Francisco 49ers SF New Orleans Saints NO Joe Montana 14/30, 177 YDS, 2 TDs Wendell Tyler 15 CAR, 117 YDS Freddie Solomon 3 REC, 63 YDS, 1 TD Richard Todd 9/18, 72 YDS, 1 INT George Rogers 21 CAR, 88 YDS Tyrone Anthony 4 REC, 31 YDS SF NO collapsed 2 5:43 49ers RushTD Craig 1 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 0 2 2:18 Saints FG 27 Andersen 7 3 3 8:36 49ers RecTD Cooper Montana 19 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 3 3 6:52 49ers RecTD Solomon Montana 28 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 21 3 4 11:35 49ers — — — IntTD Shell 53 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 28 3 4 10:39 49ers RushTD Ring 1 good Wersching run/pass good/failed/incomplete 35 3 35 3 Point spread: 49ers by 2 Over/under: 42.0 (under) Time of game: 49ersGame statisticsSaints22 First downs 1233–219 Rushes–yards 28–131201 Passing yards 11815–32–0 Passes Completions–Attempts–Interceptions 14–26–11–13 Sacked–yards 8–48188 Net passing yards 70407 Total yards 201107 Return yards 1136–44.3 Punts Number–Average yardage 8–45.51–0 Fumbles–lost 1–04–60 Penalties–yards 3–2027:48 Time of Possession 32:12 Week 14 Saints 0 7 0 14 Rams 14 10 3 7 December 2 Anaheim Stadium Tom Dooley The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 15 Bengals 0 3 14 7 Saints 0 7 7 7 December 9 Louisiana Superdome 12:00 p.m. CST Indoors (dome) Gene Barth Gary Gerould and Harvey Martin NBC The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Week 16 Saints 7 0 0 3 Giants 0 3 0 0 December 15 Giants Stadium 12:30 pm EST Fred Wyant Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil CBS yes Q1 8:54 NO Gajan 2 yard pass from Wilson (Andersen kick) NO 7–0 Q2 14:31 NYG Haji-Sheikh 37 yard field goal NO 7–3 Q4 13:55 NO Andersen 37 yard field goal NO 10–3 yes The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29. Standings References Category:New Orleans Saints seasons New Orleans Saints New