1984 New Orleans Saints season

1984 New Orleans Saints season
Owner	John Mecom Jr.
General manager	Bum Phillips
Head coach	Bum Phillips
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	DE Bruce Clark LB Rickey Jackson P Brian Hansen

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. 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.

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

Main article: 1984 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

Personnel

Staff

1984 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office Owner – John Mecom Jr. President – Eddie Jones Director of football operations – Pat Peppler Head coaches Head Coach/General Manager – Bum Phillips Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – King Hill Offensive backfield – John Levra Receivers – Lamar McHan Offensive line – Carl Mauck Quality control – Joe Spencer

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Wade Phillips Defensive line – Willie Zapalac Linebackers – John Paul Young Defensive backfield – Lance Van Zandt Special teams coaches Special teams – Harold Richardson Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro

Roster

1984 New Orleans Saints roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 19 Guido Merkens 16 Ken Stabler 11 Richard Todd 18 Dave Wilson Running backs (RB) 22 Tyrone Anthony 35 Earl Campbell 46 Hokie Gajan 38 George Rogers 30 Wayne Wilson Wide receivers (WR) 83 Kenny Duckett 88 Eugene Goodlow 86 Jeff Groth 80 Lindsay Scott 89 Tyrone Young Tight ends (TE) 85 Hoby Brenner 87 Larry Hardy 82 John Tice

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Stan Brock T 78 Kelvin Clark T 63 Brad Edelman G 61 Joel Hilgenberg C 62 John Hill C 60 Steve Korte G 64 Dave Lafary T 68 Louis Oubre G 72 Chris Ward T Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Bruce Clark DE 99 Tony Elliott NT 97 Jumpy Geathers DE 98 Reggie Lewis DE 74 Derland Moore NT 73 Frank Warren DE 94 Jim Wilks NT

Linebackers (LB) 57 Rickey Jackson OLB 52 Jim Kovach ILB 51 Whitney Paul OLB 53 Scott Pelluer 58 Glen Redd OLB 56 Dennis Winston ILB Defensive backs (DB) 26 Jitter Fields 20 Russell Gary SS 24 Terry Hoage FS 25 Johnnie Poe CB 49 Frank Wattelet FS 44 Dave Waymer CB Special teams  7 Morten Andersen K 10 Brian Hansen P

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.

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 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 5 14 7 10 36 Saints 7 14 0 7 28 Date: September 2 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Gene Barth TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Buccaneers 7 3 3 0 13 • Saints 0 7 3 7 17 Date: September 9 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Gordon McCarter

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

Week 3: New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints (1–2)	0	10	10	0	20
49ers (3–0)	7	10	0	13	30

at Candlestick Park • San Francisco, California

• Date: September 16, 1984
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C); wind 16 mph
• Game attendance: 57,611
• Referee: Tom Dooley
• TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier (play-by-play) and Wayne Walker (color commentator)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
NO	Passing	Ken Stabler	14/27, 157 YDS, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
	Rushing	George Rogers	23 CAR, 88 YDS
	Receiving	Eugene Goodlow	6 REC, 62 YDS, 1 TD
SF	Passing	Joe Montana	10/17, 128 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Wendell Tyler	10 CAR, 82 YDS, 1 TD
	Receiving	Freddie Solomon	3 REC, 72 YDS, 1 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NO SF 1 9:04 49ers Solomon 32-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 0 7 2 14:57 49ers 31-yard field goal by Wersching 0 10 1 9:06 49ers Tyler 3-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 0 17 2 1:20 Saints Goodlow 8-yard touchdown reception from Stabler, Andersen kick good 7 17 2 0:00 Saints 32-yard field goal by Andersen 10 17 3 11:11 Saints Brenner 26-yard touchdown reception from Stabler, Andersen kick good 17 17 3 3:11 Saints 41-yard field goal by Andersen 20 17 4 9:33 49ers Cooper 23-yard touchdown reception from Cavanaugh, Wersching kick good 20 24 4 7:45 49ers 22-yard field goal by Wersching 20 27 4 1:56 49ers 30-yard field goal by Wersching 20 30 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 20 30

• 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 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 7 7 10 24 • Saints 10 3 7 14 34 Date: September 23 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 14 3 0 10 27 Oilers 0 0 3 7 10 Date: September 30 Location: Astrodome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Bob Frederic

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Saints 0 7 0 0 7 • Bears 6 7 0 7 20 Date: October 7 Location: Soldier Field Game start: 12:00 pm CDT Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Johnny Morris

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total • Rams 0 21 7 0 28 Saints 3 0 0 7 10 Date: October 14 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Chuck Heberling TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Hank Stram

Week 8

1 2 3 4 OT Total Saints 0 17 10 0 0 27 • Cowboys 3 3 0 21 3 30 Date: October 21 Location: Texas Stadium Game start: 8:45 pm CST Referee: Pat Haggerty TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and O. J. Simpson

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 0 10 0 6 16 Browns 0 7 7 0 14 Date: October 28 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium Referee: Jerry Seeman

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total • Packers 0 10 10 3 23 Saints 7 3 0 3 13 Date: November 4 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 12:00 pm CST Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jim Tunney

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 10 0 0 7 17 Falcons 0 10 3 0 13 Date: November 11 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Referee: Dick Jorgensen

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 14 0 10 24 • Saints 3 10 0 14 27 Date: November 19 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 8:00 pm CST Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Fred Silva TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and O. J. Simpson

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

Week 13: San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers (12–1)	0	7	14	14	35
Saints (6–7)	0	3	0	0	3

at Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana

• Date: November 25, 1984
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: indoors
• Game attendance: 65,177
• Referee: Jerry Markbreit
• TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and Terry Bradshaw (color commentator)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
SF	Passing	Joe Montana	14/30, 177 YDS, 2 TDs
	Rushing	Wendell Tyler	15 CAR, 117 YDS
	Receiving	Freddie Solomon	3 REC, 63 YDS, 1 TD
NO	Passing	Richard Todd	9/18, 72 YDS, 1 INT
	Rushing	George Rogers	21 CAR, 88 YDS
	Receiving	Tyrone Anthony	4 REC, 31 YDS

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SF NO 2 5:43 49ers Craig 1-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 7 0 2 2:18 Saints 27-yard field goal by Andersen 7 3 3 8:36 49ers Cooper 19-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 14 3 3 6:52 49ers Solomon 28-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good 21 3 4 11:35 — — — 49ers Interception returned 53 yards for touchdown by Shell, Wersching kick good 28 3 4 10:39 49ers Ring 1-yard touchdown run, Wersching kick good 35 3 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 35 3

• 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 2 3 4 Total Saints 0 7 0 14 21 • Rams 14 10 3 7 34 Date: December 2 Location: Anaheim Stadium Referee: Tom Dooley

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total • Bengals 0 3 14 7 24 Saints 0 7 7 7 21 Date: December 9 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Gene Barth

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 7 0 0 3 10 Giants 0 3 0 0 3 Date: December 15 Location: Giants Stadium Game start: 12:30 pm EST Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil

Scoring summary 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

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