Record 1–15 Playoff finish did not qualify Home field Mercedes-Benz Superdome | Division place 4th NFC West Start date 1980 Head coaches Dick Nolan, Dick Stanfel | |
Similar 1975 New Orleans Saints se, 1979 New Orleans Saints se, 1970 New Orleans Saints se, 1983 New Orleans Saints se, 1973 New Orleans Saints se | ||
The 1980 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 14th as a member of the National Football League. It was unable to improve on the previous season's output of 8–8, winning only one game. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourteenth consecutive season and had the dubious distinction not only of winning only a single game, but winning it by a single point against the equally disappointing Jets, who like the Saints had widely been predicted before the season to advance to their first playoff appearance for over a decade.
Disgruntled fans called their team “the Aints”, going so far as to show up to games wearing brown paper bags over their heads after their team was 0–12 and playing the Los Angeles Rams, to whom they lost 27–7. In embarrassment they called themselves the Unknown Fan (a spinoff from The Unknown Comic) in a practice that would become the trademark of disgruntled fans across various sports in the United States. Coach Dick Nolan was fired after this game, replaced by Dick Stanfel, and then a most notable loss occurred in Week 14. Playing the San Francisco 49ers in Candlestick Park, the Saints charged out to a 35–7 lead at halftime, led by three touchdown passes from Archie Manning and a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from Jack Holmes. However, the 49ers would rally behind quarterback Joe Montana, who would rush for a touchdown and pass for two more. The 49ers would tie the game 35–35 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Lenvil Elliott and go on to win in overtime, 38–35, on a Ray Wersching field goal. The 28-point comeback by the 49ers was, at the time, the greatest comeback in NFL history, and currently remains the greatest comeback in NFL regular season history (the 1992 AFC Wildcard game between the Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers is currently #1, with the Bills overcoming a 32-point deficit to win).
After equalling the 1976 Buccaneers’ single season losing streak and looking likely to become the first team to finish 0–16 when down 7–13 after three quarters on a day of 46 miles per hour (74 km/h) winds and a wind chill-adjusted temperature of 5 °F (−15 °C), quarterback Archie Manning threw a touchdown pass into the gale to Tony Galbreath to go ahead 14–13 and then another to win 21–20.
The 2013 Houston Texans matched the 14 game losing streak of both the 1980 Saints and the 1976 Buccaneers after starting 2–0.
The 1980 Saints were the first team to end the season at 1–15.
The 1989 Dallas Cowboys, 1990 New England Patriots, 1991 Indianapolis Colts, 1996 New York Jets, 2000 San Diego Chargers, 2001 Carolina Panthers, 2007 Miami Dolphins, 2009 St. Louis Rams and 2016 Cleveland Browns later matched the 1980 Saints by finishing 1–15, but the 2008 Detroit Lions exceeded it by finishing with an 0–16 record.