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1981 New Orleans Saints

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Record: 4-12-0, Finished 4th in NFC West Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 207 points (12.9/g), 28th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 378 points (23.6/g), 24th.
 Differential of -171 points (-10.7/g), 27th.
 Expected W-L: 3.1-12.9.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -13 (-0.8/g), 22nd.

Coached by Bum Phillips (4-12-0)

1981 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 6 box L 0-1 @ Atlanta Falcons 0 27 14 249 173 76 4 21 299 135 164 4
2 Sun September 13 box W 1-1 Los Angeles Rams 23 17 19 304 78 226 3 17 255 167 88 4
3 Sun September 20 box L 1-2 @ New York Giants 7 20 18 299 190 109 3 26 421 315 106 2
4 Sun September 27 box L 1-3 @ San Francisco 49ers 14 21 18 413 250 163 4 15 314 168 146 2
5 Sun October 4 box L 1-4 Pittsburgh Steelers 6 20 16 180 102 78 5 19 406 269 137 3
6 Sun October 11 box L 1-5 Philadelphia Eagles 14 31 18 240 50 190 4 21 369 200 169 2
7 Sun October 18 box L 1-6 @ Cleveland Browns 17 20 14 334 192 142 1 23 355 261 94 1
8 Sun October 25 box W 2-6 Cincinnati Bengals 17 7 18 336 170 166 1 15 205 171 34 2
9 Sun November 1 box L 2-7 Atlanta Falcons 10 41 14 262 204 58 3 20 406 262 144 1
10 Sun November 8 box W 3-7 @ Los Angeles Rams 21 13 26 462 155 307 2 16 304 191 113 4
11 Sun November 15 box L 3-8 @ Minnesota Vikings 10 20 23 314 198 116 2 17 357 287 70 1
12 Sun November 22 box W 4-8 @ Houston Oilers 27 24 20 321 140 181 2 16 260 161 99 2
13 Sun November 29 box L 4-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 31 20 341 204 137 3 22 345 218 127 2
14 Sun December 6 box L 4-10 @ St. Louis Cardinals 3 30 11 176 59 117 3 19 290 135 155 1
15 Sun December 13 box L 4-11 Green Bay Packers 7 35 16 252 165 87 6 17 318 202 116
16 Sun December 20 box L 4-12 San Francisco 49ers 17 21 15 222 89 133 1 19 349 195 154 3

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 207 4705 1028 4.6 280 238 441 2419 8 27 5.0 124 546 2286 16 4.2 126 47 20 30
Team Defense 378 5253 1002 5.2 479 287 471 3337 26 17 6.7 161 504 1916 17 3.8 303 34 17 15
Lg Rank Offense 28 25 23 24 28 28 23 24 10 7 13 8 23 17
Lg Rank Defense 24 11 11 5 20 23 21 26 12 11 17 10 21 14

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
Archie Manning 32 QB 12 11 3-8-0 134 232 57.8 1447 5 2.2 11 4.7 55 6.2 4.3 10.8 120.6 63.6 21 164 5.1 3.3 8.3
Dave Wilson 22 qb 11 4 1-3-0 82 159 51.6 1058 1 0.6 11 6.9 50 6.7 3.6 12.9 96.2 46.1 12 121 5.5 2.6 7.0
Bobby Scott 32 4 1 0-1-0 20 46 43.5 245 1 2.2 5 10.9 31 5.3 0.7 12.3 61.3 28.2 7 72 3.3 -0.8 13.2
Guido Merkens 26 WR 16 11 1 2 50.0 20 0 0.0 0 0.0 20 10.0 10.0 20.0 1.3 85.4 1 2 6.0 6.0 33.3
Tom Myers 31 FS 16 15 1 2 50.0 8 1 50.0 0 0.0 8 4.0 9.0 8.0 0.5 100.0 0 0 4.0 9.0 0.0
Team Total 26.0 16 4-12-0 238 441 54.0 2778 8 1.8 27 6.1 55 6.3 3.7 11.7 173.6 53.8 41 359 5.0 2.7 8.5
Opp Total 16 287 471 60.9 3337 26 5.5 17 3.6 7.1 6.0 11.6 208.6 85.7 27 241 6.7 5.2

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
George Rogers*+ 23 RB 16 16 378 1674 13 79 4.4 104.6 23.6 16 126 7.9 0 25 1.0 7.9 1800 13 13
Jack Holmes 28 FB 16 15 58 194 2 11 3.3 12.1 3.6 38 206 5.4 0 19 2.4 12.9 400 2 0
Wayne Wilson 24 RET 16 0 44 137 1 13 3.1 8.6 2.8 31 384 12.4 4 55 1.9 24.0 521 5 1
Toussaint Tyler 22 16 0 36 183 0 42 5.1 11.4 2.3 23 135 5.9 0 18 1.4 8.4 318 0 4
Jimmy Rogers 26 15 0 9 37 0 15 4.1 2.5 0.6 2 12 6.0 0 9 0.1 0.8 49 0 3
Dave Wilson 22 qb 11 4 5 1 0 9 0.2 0.1 0.5 1 0 4
Bobby Scott 32 4 1 3 -4 0 -1 -1.3 -1.0 0.8 -4 0 1
Guido Merkens 26 WR 16 11 2 -1 0 2 -0.5 -0.1 0.1 29 458 15.8 1 50 1.8 28.6 457 1 1
Jeff Groth 24 WR 15 13 2 27 0 28 13.5 1.8 0.1 20 380 19.0 1 54 1.3 25.3 407 1 0
Scott Stauch 22 10 0 2 6 0 5 3.0 0.6 0.2 1 7 7.0 0 7 0.1 0.7 13 0 1
Russell Erxleben 25 P 16 0 2 10 0 26 5.0 0.6 0.1 10 0 1
Archie Manning 32 QB 12 11 2 28 0 15 14.0 2.3 0.2 28 0 3
Tom Myers 31 FS 16 15 2 -3 0 6 -1.5 -0.2 0.1 -3 0 1
Rich Caster 33 4 0 1 -3 0 -3 -3.0 -0.8 0.3 7 108 15.4 0 31 1.8 27.0 105 0 2
Larry Hardy 25 TE 16 16 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 23 275 12.0 1 27 1.4 17.2 275 1 2
Wes Chandler 25 4 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 17 285 16.8 1 39 4.3 71.3 285 1 0
Rich Martini 26 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 8 72 9.0 0 15 0.7 6.0 72 0 0
Hoby Brenner 22 9 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 7 143 20.4 0 34 0.8 15.9 143 0 1
Aundra Thompson 28 10 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 6 81 13.5 0 25 0.6 8.1 81 0 0
Brooks Williams 27 7 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 5 50 10.0 0 13 0.7 7.1 50 0 0
Gordon Banks 23 6 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 18 9.0 0 12 0.3 3.0 18 0 2
Ike Harris 29 3 3 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 2 33 16.5 0 20 0.7 11.0 33 0 0
Dave Lafary 26 16 4 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 1 5 5.0 0 5 0.1 0.3 5 0 0
Team Total 26.0 16 546 2286 16 79 4.2 142.9 34.1 238 2778 11.7 8 55 14.9 173.6 5064 24 40
Opp Total 16 504 1916 17 3.8 119.8 31.5 287 3337 11.6 26 17.9 208.6 5253 43 31

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Jeff Groth 24 WR 15 13 37 436 0 36 11.8 3 50 0 21 16.7 893
Wayne Wilson 24 RET 16 0 31 722 0 57 23.3 1243
Jimmy Rogers 26 15 0 28 621 0 44 22.2 670
Gordon Banks 23 6 1 2 0 0 0 0.0 1 9 0 9 9.0 27
Guido Merkens 26 WR 16 11 1 -12 0 -12 -12.0 2 38 0 20 19.0 483
Scott Stauch 22 10 0 3 65 0 29 21.7 78
Stan Brock 23 RT 16 16 2 18 0 12 9.0 18
Johnnie Poe 22 RCB 15 15 1 2 0 2 2.0 2
Team Total 26.0 16 41 426 0 36 10.4 70 1523 0 57 21.8 7013
Opp Total 16 36 0 50 966 0 19.3

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0--19 20--29 30--39 40--49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
Russell Erxleben 25 P 16 0 66 2672 60 0 40.5
Benny Ricardo 27 K 16 0 5 5 9 3 10 5 1 25 13 52.0% 24 24 100.0%
Team Total 26.0 16 5 5 9 3 10 5 1 25 13 52.0% 24 24 100.0% 66 2672 60 0 40.5
Opp Total 16 25 19 76.0% 46 45 97.8% 69 3043 44.1

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Gordon Banks 23 6 1 2 1 0 0
Ken Bordelon 27 15 3 1 3 0 3
Hoby Brenner 22 9 1 1 0 0 0
Stan Brock 23 RT 16 16 0 2 0 0
Rich Caster 33 4 0 2 0 0 0
Wes Chandler 25 4 4 0 1 51 0
Russell Erxleben 25 P 16 0 1 0 0 0
Russell Gary 22 SS 14 14 1 0 0 0
Elois Grooms 28 RDE 16 16 0 1 20 0
Larry Hardy 25 TE 16 16 2 2 0 0
Nat Hudson 24 16 0 0 1 14 0
Rickey Jackson 23 LOLB 16 16 2 0 1 0 0 125
Jim Kovach 25 RILB 15 15 1 13 0 13 0 1 0 0
Dave Lafary 26 16 4 0 1 0 0
Archie Manning 32 QB 12 11 3 0 0 0
Guido Merkens 26 WR 16 11 1 3 0 0
Derland Moore 30 LDE 16 16 0 1 0 0
Tom Myers 31 FS 16 15 2 70 0 54 1 1 0 0
Rob Nairne 27 ROLB 16 13 1 18 0 18 0 2 0 0
Scott Pelluer 22 16 0 0 1 0 0
Johnnie Poe 22 RCB 15 15 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 0
Ricky Ray 24 4 4 1 33 0 33
Glen Redd 23 LILB 16 16 1 7 0 7
George Rogers*+ 23 RB 16 16 13 1 0 0
Jimmy Rogers 26 15 0 3 1 0 0
Bobby Scott 32 4 1 1 1 0 0
Mike Spivey 27 12 0 1 0 0 0
Scott Stauch 22 10 0 1 1 0 0
J.T. Taylor 25 LT 12 12 0 1 0 0
Toussaint Tyler 22 16 0 4 0 0 0
Frank Warren 22 16 0 0 0 1 0 0 20
Frank Wattelet 23 16 3 3 16 0 16 0 1 0 0
Dave Waymer 23 LCB 16 13 4 54 0 31 0 2 0 0
Jim Wilks 23 16 0 0 2 0 0
Dave Wilson 22 qb 11 4 4 3 -8 0
Wayne Wilson 24 RET 16 0 1 1 0 0
Team Total 26.0 16 17 214 0 54 2 40 35 87 0 145
Opp Total 16 41 31 14

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
George Rogers*+ 23 RB 16 16 13 78
Benny Ricardo 27 K 16 0 24 13 63
Wayne Wilson 24 RET 16 0 1 4 30
Jack Holmes 28 FB 16 15 2 12
Wes Chandler 25 4 4 1 6
Jeff Groth 24 WR 15 13 1 6
Larry Hardy 25 TE 16 16 1 6
Guido Merkens 26 WR 16 11 1 6
Team Total 26.0 16 16 8 24 13 207
Opp Total 16 17 26 45 19 378