1982 New Orleans Saints season

The 1982 New Orleans Saints season saw the team nearly qualify for the NFL playoffs, missing it by a tiebreaker. The Saints finished with a 4–5 record, and narrowly missed the playoffs in a complicated labyrinth of tie-breakers.

1982 New Orleans Saints season
Owner	John Mecom, Jr.
General manager	Bum Phillips
Head coach	Bum Phillips
Home stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	4–5
Conference place	9th NFC (would have been 2nd in the NFC West)
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB George Rogers
← 1981 Saints seasons 1983 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1982 NFL draft

1982 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	13	Lindsay Scott	Wide receiver	Georgia
2	30	Brad Edelman *	Guard	Missouri
3	58	Rodney Lewis	Defensive back	Nebraska
3	66	Eugene Goodlow	Wide receiver	Kansas State
3	68	Kenny Duckett	Wide receiver	Wake Forest
3	76	John Krimm	Defensive back	Notre Dame
4	86	Morten Andersen * †	Placekicker	Michigan State
5	114	Tony Elliott	Defensive tackle	North Texas
6	142	Marvin Lewis	Running back	Tulane
8	198	Chuck Slaughter	Offensive tackle	South Carolina
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

1982 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office Owner – John Mecom, Jr. President – Eddie Jones Director of Football Operations – Harry Hulmes Director of player personnel – 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 – Joe Spencer Assistant Offensive Line – Carl Mauck

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

1982 New Orleans Saints roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 19 Guido Merkens 12 Bobby Scott 16 Ken Stabler Running backs (RB) 46 Hokie Gajan 45 Jack Holmes 24 Marvin Lewis 38 George Rogers 41 Jimmy Rogers 42 Toussaint Tyler 30 Wayne Wilson Wide receivers (WR) 83 Kenny Duckett 86 Jeff Groth 84 Rich Mauti 80 Lindsay Scott 89 Aundra Thompson Tight ends (TE) 87 Larry Hardy

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Stan Brock T 78 Kelvin Clark G 63 Brad Edelman G 72 Leon Gray T 62 John Hill C 64 Dave Lafary T 66 Louis Oubre G 76 Jim Pietrzak C 79 Chuck Slaughter T Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Bruce Clark DE 99 Tony Elliott NT 98 Reggie Lewis DE 74 Derland Moore NT 73 Frank Warren DE 94 Jim Wilks DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Ken Bordelon OLB 57 Rickey Jackson OLB 52 Jim Kovach ILB 55 Rob Nairne OLB 51 Whitney Paul OLB 53 Scott Pelluer ILB 54 Ed Simonini ILB 56 Dennis Winston ILB Defensive backs (DB) 20 Russell Gary SS 33 Kevin Gray CB 28 Bill Hurley SS 21 John Krimm FS 29 Rodney Lewis CB 25 Johnnie Poe CB 49 Frank Wattelet FS 44 Dave Waymer CB Special teams (ST)  7 Morten Andersen K 14 Russell Erxleben P

Reserve 85 Hoby Brenner TE (IR) 65 Calvin Close G (IR) -- Marvin Dumas WR (IR) 37 Tom Myers S (IR) 58 Glen Redd LB (IR) 18 Dave Wilson QB (IR) Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–21	0–1	Louisiana Superdome	58,673
2	September 19	at Chicago Bears	W 10–0	1–1	Soldier Field	56,600
–	September 26	Denver Broncos	canceled	1–1	Louisiana Superdome	1982 NFL players strike
–	October 3	at Los Angeles Raiders	canceled	1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
–	October 10	San Francisco 49ers	canceled	1–1	Louisiana Superdome
–	October 17	at Minnesota Vikings	canceled	1–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
–	October 24	at Los Angeles Rams	canceled	1–1	Anaheim Stadium
–	October 31	Atlanta Falcons	postponed	1–1	Louisiana Superdome
–	November 7	Los Angeles Rams	canceled	1–1	Louisiana Superdome
–	November 14	at San Diego Chargers	canceled	1–1	Jack Murphy Stadium
3	November 21	Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–17	2–1	Louisiana Superdome	39,341
4	November 28	at San Francisco 49ers	W 23–20	3–1	Candlestick Park	51,611
5	December 5	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 10–13	3–2	Louisiana Superdome	61,709
6	December 12	at Atlanta Falcons	L 0–35	3–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	39,535
7	December 19	at Dallas Cowboys	L 7–21	3–4	Texas Stadium	64,506
8	December 26	Washington Redskins	L 10–27	3–5	Louisiana Superdome	48,667
9	January 2, 1983	Atlanta Falcons	W 35–6	4–5	Louisiana Superdome	47,336
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Atlanta Falcons(5)	5	4	0	.556	3–1	4–3	183	199	L2
New Orleans Saints	4	5	0	.444	2–1	3–5	129	160	W1
San Francisco 49ers	3	6	0	.333	1–3	2–3	209	206	L1
Los Angeles Rams	2	7	0	.222	1–2	1–5	200	250	W1

NFC v t e
#	Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Seeded postseason qualifiers
1	Washington Redskins	8	1	0	.889	190	128	W4
2	Dallas Cowboys	6	3	0	.667	226	145	L2
3	Green Bay Packers	5	3	1	.611	226	169	L1
4[a]	Minnesota Vikings	5	4	0	.556	187	198	W1
5[a]	Atlanta Falcons	5	4	0	.556	183	199	L2
6[a]	St. Louis Cardinals	5	4	0	.556	135	170	L1
7[a]	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	4	0	.556	158	178	W3
8[b]	Detroit Lions	4	5	0	.444	181	176	W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
9[b]	New Orleans Saints	4	5	0	.444	129	160	W1
10[b]	New York Giants	4	5	0	.444	164	160	W1
11[c]	San Francisco 49ers	3	6	0	.333	209	206	L1
12[c]	Chicago Bears	3	6	0	.333	141	174	L1
13[c]	Philadelphia Eagles	3	6	0	.333	191	195	L1
14	Los Angeles Rams	2	7	0	.222	200	250	W1
Tiebreakers
Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games. Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5). San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5).