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1981 New Orleans Saints: 4-12-0
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Home record: 2-6-0 (108 points scored, 203 allowed) Road record: 2-6-0 (99 points scored, 175 allowed) Head Coach: Bum Phillips

207 points scored (28th of 28 teams), 378 points allowed (24th) NFL Averages: 20.7 points/game (330.8 points/team)

Team stats and rankings:
           ---------------- PASSING ----------------    ----------- RUSHING ----------    --- TOTAL ---
           Cmp   Att   Yards  (Rank) Yd/Att  TD  Int    Att   Yards  (Rank) Yd/Att  TD    Yards   (Rank)  Turnovers
Offense:   238   441   2,419   (28)   5.02    8   27    546   2,286   ( 7)    4.2   16    4,705    (25)      47
Defense:   287   471   3,337   (20)   6.70   26   17    504   1,916   (11)    3.8   17    5,253    (11)      34

Team roster (starters in bold):
 #   Player              Pos   GP   Hgt   Wgt  Age  Exp   College
 1  Benny Ricardo        K     16   5'10  170   27    5   San Diego State
 8  Archie Manning       QB    12   6'3   200   32   10   Mississippi
12  Bobby Scott          QB     4   6'1   197   32    9   Tennessee
14  Russell Erxleben     P     16   6'4   220   24    3   Texas
18  Dave Wilson          QB    11   6'3   195   22    R   Illinois
19  Guido Merkens        WR    16   6'1   200   26    4   Sam Houston State
20  Russell Gary         DB    14   5'11  195   22    R   Nebraska
22  Ricky Ray            DB     4   5'11  180   24    3   Norfolk State
25  Johnnie Poe          DB    15   6'1   182   22    R   Missouri
30  Wayne Wilson         RB    16   6'3   208   24    3   Shepherd
32  Scott Stauch         RB    10   5'11  204   22    R   UCLA
37  Tom Myers            DB    16   5'11  180   31   10   Syracuse
38  George Rogers        RB    16   6'2   224   22    R   South Carolina
41  Jimmy Rogers         RB    15   5'10  190   26    2   Oklahoma
42  Toussaint Tyler      RB    16   6'2   220   22    R   Washington
44  Dave Waymer          DB    16   6'1   195   23    2   Notre Dame
45  Jack Holmes          RB    16   5'11  210   28    4   Texas Southern
47  Mike Spivey          DB    12   6'0   198   27    5   Colorado
48  Jeff Groth           WR    15   5'10  172   24    3   Bowling Green
49  Frank Wattelet       DB    16   6'0   185   23    R   Kansas
50  Ken Bordelon         LB    15   6'4   226   27    5   Louisiana State
52  Jim Kovach           LB    15   6'2   225   25    3   Kentucky
53  Scott Pelluer        LB    16   6'2   210   22    R   Washington State
54  Paul Ryczek          C      8   6'2   230   29    7   Virginia
55  Rob Nairne           LB    16   6'4   227   27    5   Oregon State
57  Rickey Jackson       LB    16   6'2   230   23    R   Pittsburgh
58  Glen Redd            LB    16   6'1   225   23    R   Brigham Young
59  Chuck Evans          LB    16   6'3   235   24    2   Stanford
61  Sam Adams            OG    16   6'3   260   33   10   Prairie View A&M
62  John Hill            C     13   6'2   246   31   10   Lehigh
63  Barry Bennett        DT     3   6'4   257   25    4   Concordia
64  Dave Lafary          OT    16   6'7   280   26    5   Purdue
65  Bob Young            OG     2   6'2   279   39   16   Howard Payne
67  Stan Brock           OT    16   6'6   275   23    2   Colorado
68  Fred Sturt           OG    16   6'4   255   30    7   Bowling Green
69  Nat Hudson           OG    16   6'3   270   24    R   Georgia
71  J.T. Taylor          OT    12   6'4   265   25    4   Missouri
73  Frank Warren         DE    16   6'4   275   22    R   Auburn
74  Derland Moore        DE    16   6'4   253   30    9   Oklahoma
76  Jim Pietrzak         C     16   6'5   260   28    7   Eastern Michigan
77  Jerry Boyarsky       DT    11   6'3   290   22    R   Pittsburgh
78  Elois Grooms         DE    16   6'4   250   28    7   Tennessee Tech
80  Gordon Banks         WR     6   5'9   178   23    2   Stanford
82  Ike Harris           WR     3   6'3   210   28    7   Iowa State
85  Hoby Brenner         TE     9   6'4   240   22    R   Southern California
86  Rich Caster          TE     4   6'5   230   33   12   Jackson State
86  Rich Martini         WR    12   6'2   185   25    3   California-Davis
87  Larry Hardy          TE    16   6'3   230   25    4   Jackson State
88  Brooks Williams      TE     7   6'4   226   26    4   North Carolina
89  Aundra Thompson      WR    10   6'0   186   28    5   East Texas State
89  Wes Chandler         WR     4   5'11  186   25    4   Florida
91  Monte Bennett        DT    16   6'3   260   22    R   Kansas State
94  Jim Wilks            DE    16   6'4   252   23    R   San Diego State

                                               Per   Per
Passing              Att  Cmp    Pct  Yards    Att   Cmp  TD   TD%  Int  Int%  Sack  Loss  Rating
Archie Manning       232  134   57.8  1,447   6.24  10.8   5   2.2   11   4.7    21   164    63.6
Dave Wilson          159   82   51.6  1,058   6.65  12.9   1   0.6   11   6.9    12   121    46.1
Bobby Scott           46   20   43.5    245   5.33  12.2   1   2.2    5  10.9     7    72    28.2
Guido Merkens          2    1   50.0     20  10.00  20.0   0   0.0    0   0.0     1     2    85.4
Tom Myers              2    1   50.0      8   4.00   8.0   1  50.0    0   0.0     0     0   100.0
Receiving             Rec  Yards    Avg   TD
Jack Holmes            38    206    5.4    0
Wayne Wilson           31    384   12.4    4
Guido Merkens          29    458   15.8    1
Larry Hardy            23    275   12.0    1
Toussaint Tyler        23    135    5.9    0
Jeff Groth             20    380   19.0    1
Wes Chandler           17    285   16.8    1
George Rogers          16    126    7.9    0
Rich Martini            8     72    9.0    0
Hoby Brenner            7    143   20.4    0
Rich Caster             7    108   15.4    0
Aundra Thompson         6     81   13.5    0
Brooks Williams         5     50   10.0    0
Ike Harris              2     33   16.5    0
Gordon Banks            2     18    9.0    0
Jimmy Rogers            2     12    6.0    0
Scott Stauch            1      7    7.0    0
Dave Lafary             1      5    5.0    0
Rushing               Att  Yards    Avg   TD
George Rogers         378  1,674    4.4   13
Jack Holmes            58    194    3.3    2
Toussaint Tyler        36    183    5.1    0
Wayne Wilson           44    137    3.1    1
Jimmy Rogers            9     37    4.1    0
Archie Manning          2     28   14.0    0
Jeff Groth              2     27   13.5    0
Russell Erxleben        2     10    5.0    0
Scott Stauch            2      6    3.0    0
Dave Wilson             5      1    0.2    0
Guido Merkens           2     -1   -0.5    0
Rich Caster             1     -3   -3.0    0
Tom Myers               2     -3   -1.5    0
Bobby Scott             3     -4   -1.3    0
Kickoff Returns       Att  Yards    Avg   TD
Wayne Wilson           31    722   23.3    0
Jimmy Rogers           28    621   22.2    0
Scott Stauch            3     65   21.7    0
Jeff Groth              3     50   16.7    0
Guido Merkens           2     38   19.0    0
Stan Brock              2     18    9.0    0
Gordon Banks            1      9    9.0    0
Punt Returns          Att  Yards    Avg   FC   TD
Jeff Groth             37    436   11.8    6    0
Gordon Banks            2      0    0.0    0    0
Johnnie Poe             1      2    2.0    0    0
Guido Merkens           1    -12  -12.0    1    0
Punting Punts Yards Avg TB In20 Blk Ret Yards Net Russell Erxleben 66 2,672 40.5 6 11 0 36 282 34.4 Kicking 0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Total PAT Pts Benny Ricardo 0/0 5/5 3/9 5/10 0/1 13/25 24/24 63 Defense Sacks Ints Yards TD Barry Bennett 1.0 Ken Bordelon 1 3 0 Jerry Boyarsky 1.0 Russell Gary 1.0 1 0 0 Elois Grooms 4.0 Rickey Jackson 8.0 Jim Kovach 1.0 1 13 0 Derland Moore 1.0 Tom Myers 2 70 0 Rob Nairne 1.0 1 18 0 Johnnie Poe 1 0 0 Ricky Ray 1 33 0 Glen Redd 1.0 1 7 0 Mike Spivey 1 0 0 Frank Warren 3.5 Frank Wattelet 3 16 0 Dave Waymer 4 54 0 Jim Wilks 3.5

1981 Draft:
NFL Rnd Ovr Pos Player Games College 1 1 RB George Rogers 92 South Carolina 2 29 DB Russell Gary 80 Nebraska 2 51 LB Ricky Jackson 227 Pittsburgh [pick acquired from SD] 3 57 DE Frank Warren 189 Auburn 3 71 TE Hoby Brenner 175 USC [pick acquired from MIN] 5 112 OT Louis Orbre 40 Oklahoma 5 128 DT Jerry Boyarsky 98 Pittsburgh [pick acquired from MIN] 6 139 OG Nat Hudson 18 Georgia 6 144 DB Johnnie Poe 100 Missouri [pick acquired from TB] 6 166 LB Glen Redd 76 Brigham Young [pick acquired from OAK] 7 167 WR Kevin Williams 11 USC 8 214 LB Gene Gladys Penn State [pick acquired from BUF] 8 215 DB Kevin Evans Arkansas [pick acquired from SD] 9 222 RB Toussaint Tyler 18 Washington 10 249 RB Hokie Gajan 45 LSU 11 277 WR Lester Mickens Kansas 12 305 DT Jim Wilks 183 San Diego State

Traded draft picks: #4 to MIA (Sam Greene), #8 to NE (Ken Naber)


Transactions:

04-23-1981traded New Orleans' #8 pick in the 1981 draft to Patriots for Sam Adams
04-30-1981traded Henry Childs to Redskins for Washington's #3 pick in the 1982 draft
07-14-1981traded Guy Benjamin to 49ers for San Francisco's #6 pick in the 1982 draft
08-27-1981claimed Jim Asmus on waivers from Eagles
08-31-1981traded New Orleans' #5 pick in the 1983 draft to Broncos for Rob Nairne
08-31-1981traded Tony Galbreath to Vikings for Minnesota's #3 pick in the 1982 draft
09-01-1981claimed Scott Pelluer on waivers from Cowboys
09-01-1981claimed Bill Hurley on waivers from Steelers
09-29-1981traded Wes Chandler to Chargers for Aundra Thompson, Green Bay's #1 pick and San Diego's #3 pick in the 1982 draft


1981 Regular Season Game Log:
Click on the date to view the game summary. Date Opponent Result Record
09/06/81 at Atlanta Falcons L 0-27 0-1-0 09/13/81 vs Los Angeles Rams W 23-17 1-1-0 09/20/81 at New York Giants L 7-20 1-2-0 09/27/81 at San Francisco 49ers L 14-21 1-3-0 10/04/81 vs Pittsburgh Steelers L 6-20 1-4-0 10/11/81 vs Philadelphia Eagles L 14-31 1-5-0 10/18/81 at Cleveland Browns L 17-20 1-6-0 10/25/81 vs Cincinnati Bengals W 17-7 2-6-0 11/01/81 vs Atlanta Falcons L 10-41 2-7-0 11/08/81 at Los Angeles Rams W 21-13 3-7-0 11/15/81 at Minnesota Vikings L 10-20 3-8-0 11/22/81 at Houston Oilers W 27-24 4-8-0 11/29/81 vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 14-31 4-9-0 12/06/81 at St. Louis Cardinals L 3-30 4-10-0 12/13/81 vs Green Bay Packers L 7-35 4-11-0 12/20/81 vs San Francisco 49ers L 17-21 4-12-0

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