A Sunday throwback...Saints (37) at Atlanta (6) in 1979

Thank you for sharing the link!

Tied for first going into the game. I wonder if we had a game lead on LA after the Saints picked up the win.

That Rams' team must have turned it on after the 6-6 start.

How about SF with the 1-11 record.

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That Rams' team must have turned it on after the 6-6 start.

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Rams were not good. That was the Rams team that made the Super Bowl led by Vince Ferragamo and Wendell Tyler. They were on the steep decline but caught a break when the Bucs got HFA. It was a down year for the entire NFC. Cowboys, Vikings, Rams, Redskins--all the great NFC teams of the 70s were on the way down. Vermeil's Eagles were a year away. Joe Gibbs was about to be getting hired. The Bears were just starting to rise. The Giants were one of the worst teams in the NFC. So were the 49ers. The Saints were that close to making some serious noise. The conference was as wide open as it ever was.

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How about SF with the 1-11 record.

That is a beautiful sight to see.

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That year Joe Montana was on the bench behind Steve DeBerg.

And O.J. was in the backfield for the Niners- his last season.

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lsutigers1992

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Thank you for the recap.

Question...did the Saints occupy sole possession of the West Division at any point in 1979? Also, were the Saints 8-6 after 14 games?

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Question...did the Saints occupy sole possession of the West Division at any point in 1979? Also, were the Saints 8-6 after 14 games?

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I don't think that they ever had sole possession of first. They started off 1979 0 - 3. They were on their way to being 8 - 6 but sadly, the game after this one was the painful Monday Night debacle where they blew a 35 - 14 lead to Oakland lost 42 - 35.

Footnote on the 1979 Niners. It was their first season under Bill Walsh. He had just come over from 2 years at Stanford, including the 1977 season where they beat Charles Alexander and LSU in the Sun Bowl.

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In your opinion, do you feel like the 1979 team was our best pre-1987 squad?

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He beat me to your question, but yeah, the week 14 MNF choke vs. the Raiders was the heartbreaker. The next week they were deflated and the Chargers curb-stomped them to drop to 7-8. And then they whipped the Rams in the Coliseum to finish 8-8. The Rams finished 9-7 and made it to the Super Bowl and the Bucs had HFA with a 10-6 record. The Saints went 2-1 vs. the Bucs and Rams. They were THAT close to being a legit Super Bowl contender that year because the rest of the NFC was in flux.

It's debatable whether 78 or 79 was the best Saints team ever before 1987. 78 was 7-9 but lost on 2 Hail Marys to the Falcons (one completed, one bullshite DPI penalty), and the Falcons finished 9-7 and made the playoffs. Those Hail Marys don't happen and the Saints were a wild card in 78 instead of the Falcons.

In 82 the Saints were 4-5 and they had an expanded playoff that year because of the strike. And the Saints were the ONLY 4-5 team in the NFL that didn't make the playoffs. They lost every tiebreaker.

In 83, the Saints were 2 minutes from the playoffs. And then Bum decided to not let Morten Andersen kick a long FG, punted to the Rams, they drove down the field on our prevent defense, kicked a long FG, and beat the Saints and stole our playoff spot.

Those were the two saddest days of my childhood.

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Those were the two saddest days of my childhood

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I can imagine.

My thoughts on "Just Missed" playoff seasons that I experienced:

I took 1988 pretty hard, the Saints were 10-6 but lost out due to tiebreakers.

In 1989, we finished the season strong, beating Buffalo, Philly on Monday night (almost a four hour game, Buddy Ryan refused to shake Jim Mora's hand) and Indianapolis which brought our record to 8-8.

In 1993 we started 5-0 but failed to reach the playoffs.

In 1998 we were 6-8 but if we won out, the black and gold would have made the playoffs. Instead the Saints lost a heart breaker in the desert to Arizona and were eliminated.

In 2002, the Saints were 9-4 and dropped the last three and were eliminated (probably the most frustrating season of all).

In 2003, Carney missed the extra point after that miracle touchdown in Jacksonville that should have forced overtime. Saints were eliminated from playoff contention same day.

In 2004, the Saints were 4-8 but won the next four, had a shot the last weekend but lost all the 8-8 tiebreakers (I believe they lost the tiebreakers to Minnesota and STL).