| Team: | New Orleans Saints |
| Year: | 1978 |
| Record: | 7–9 |
| Division Place: | 3rd NFC West |
| Coach: | Dick Nolan |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers: | QB Archie Manning |
| Shortnavlink: | Saints seasons |
The 1978 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints’ twelfth season. Quarterback Archie Manning put together one of his finest seasons, earning the NFC Player of the Year award and becoming the Saints’ first Pro Bowl representative since the NFL–AFL merger[1] as the Saints finished with a franchise-best 7–9 mark under new head coach Dick Nolan. Seven of the Saints’ losses came against teams that qualified for the playoffs (including both Super Bowl XIII teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys), whilst all nine losses came against teams who finished at or above .500.
See main article: article and 1978 NFL draft. [3]
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | Minnesota Vikings | W 31–24 | 1–0 | Louisiana Superdome | 54,187 | |
| 2 | September 10 | at Green Bay Packers | L 17–28 | 1–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,336 | |
| 3 | September 17 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 17–24 | 1–2 | Louisiana Superdome | 49,242 | |
| 4 | September 24 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 20–18 | 2–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 40,455 | |
| 5 | October 1 | Los Angeles Rams | L 20–26 | 2–3 | Louisiana Superdome | 61,659 | |
| 6 | October 8 | Cleveland Browns | L 16–24 | 2–4 | Louisiana Superdome | 50,158 | |
| 7 | October 15 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 14–7 | 3–4 | Candlestick Park | 37,671 | |
| 8 | October 22 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 10–3 | 4–4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 47,574 | |
| 9 | October 29 | New York Giants | W 28–17 | 5–4 | Louisiana Superdome | 59,807 | |
| 10 | November 5 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–20 | 5–5 | Three Rivers Stadium | 48,526 | |
| 11 | November 12 | Atlanta Falcons | L 17–20 | 5–6 | Louisiana Superdome | 70,323 | |
| 12 | November 19 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 7–27 | 5–7 | Texas Stadium | 57,920 | |
| 13 | November 26 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 17–20 | 5–8 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 55,121 | |
| 14 | December 3 | San Francisco 49ers | W 24–13 | 6–8 | Louisiana Superdome | 50,068 | |
| 15 | December 10 | Houston Oilers | L 12–17 | 6–9 | Louisiana Superdome | 63,169 | |
| 16 | December 17 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 17–10 | 7–9 | Tampa Stadium | 51,207 | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||