New Orleans Saints vs Falcons Archie Manning 9-2-1979 Clips

1979 New Orleans Saints vs Falcons Archie Manning 9-2-1979, Highlights from the game played opening day in the Louisiana Superdome. Coach Dick Nolan, Archie Manning, Chuck Muncie, Ike Harris. This was the first time a home season game was broadcast locally to fans because it was a sellout crowd.
For the first time in recent years, New Orleans Saints fans where actually looking forward to a new season. Dick Nolan had brought New Orleans their finest season yet the preceding year and there was no reason to expect anything different. Pro-Bowler Archie Manning was back with the same receiving corps. Roger Finnie was obtained from St. Louis to help out an offensive line looking forward to the return of injured Conrad Dobler and Emmanual Zanders. If the defense could get the hang of Nolan’s flex defense, things could get interesting.
The collage draft produced only two names that would be remembered. Kentucky linebacker Jim Kovach who played 6 seasons with the Saints, and Texas Kicker Russell Erxleben. Nicknamed “Thunderfoot”, Erxleben had had a legendary career at Texas hitting 11 field goals over 50 yards and 3 over 60….. including a record 67-yarder against Rice in 1978. By season’s end though, his nickname would be changed to “Blunderfoot”.
As opening day against the hated Falcons of Atlanta arrived, memories of the previous years games where still fresh in the minds of these Saints……visions of “Big Ben” and last second scores. Fate would still be unkind to the bearers of Black-and-Gold. In overtime, with the score knotted up at 34, a deep snap sailed over rookie punter Russell Erxleben’s head. Erxleben managed to recover the foiled snap and hurl a desperation pass into the air…… only to be snatched away by back-up running back James Mayberry, who trotted 6 yards into the end zone for the winning score. For the third consecutive time, the Falcons had won in the losing seconds. While offense managed to hang tough (Muncie had 158 yards on the ground) the defense yielded 552 yards to the Falcons.

[@billfarrar246]

I loved these uniforms for the saints back then.

[@hectorlopez1069]

They look the same, as today.

[@westcoastwhodat6091]

I didn't become a fan till 1982, but would have loved to have been at this game, first time ever seeing it.

[@rexthompson8905]

I was 12 or 13 when was played I remember sitting at my grandmother 's house watching football especially the saints. I miss those days

[@pinkman12_25]

The quality of this for being in the 70s is awesome

[@phoenixrison9883]

rockies "SUCK" WEAK ASS SORRY NICKNAME, NOT AS LAME AS THE HOCKEY TEAM THOUGH!!!!

[@RobFranzen]

I was 16 and remember the hype leading up to this game and the heart breaking loss.

[@jbuggggg]

wooow! Muncie with that gazelle stride..thunder and lightning, wes chandler, ike harris, arch with that beautiful side armed pass and the royal olds commercial, the southern jags. I heard the commentator say that was the first saints home game to be televised locally.. it doesn't get the credit it deserves but this is the greatest rivalry in all of sports

[@randalldenison4628]

Lets not go overboard with that statement.

[@jbuggggg]

that was an understatement. mind your business

[@hectorlopez1069]

Archie did some gorgeous passing to his receivers. He had a really good arm to pass.

[@stevescattaregia9810]

John Hill, Center #62 ended up in Saints HOF and a member of the 50 year Saints All Star team. John passed away October 21, 2018 after a second career as a State Farm agent in Raleigh, NC. One of the best guys you'd ever get to meet.

[@earlgray7003]

I remember watching this the year I was in high school. It was a rare televised home game.

[@georgeorwell4534]

Thanks, I was at this game. Archie had a lively arm, and these were the best tools he ever had. That stinking Flex defense destroyed their best chance in the 70s to make it to the playoffs.

[@Football-Sidelines-NO]

Thanks for posting this, what a tough game for New Orleans to lose.

[@hectorlopez1069]

Archie manning was a great QB. He was the only player that made amazing plays and touchdowns for the saints in the 70s.

[@todmatthew8816]

I remember this one, thank you

[@fredcrippen6130]

I remember this team...Dynamic offense led by the brilliant Manning....Thunder and lightning backfield...Harris and Chandler gifted receivers...

[@truejustice5185]

This the best rivalry in NFL that nobody knows about

[@kawhishell8082]

Love the Saints throwback uniforms. Though game. Atlanta was a heck of a team!

[@salvadorealiberto]

I love how they get the score wrong at the end. Final was 40-34. Look at that 42 sitting there at 36:18 and Lindsey Nelson, he of the colorful sports coats, reads it exactly as it's written.

[@PhilMoskowitz]

4:52 - Man look how relatively thin we were back then. And that's even with the video being stretched. Even the older people back then were thinning than young people now.

[@tannergriffith1559]

I love them if they win or lose GO New Orleans Saints

[@jzzchc]

OMG! I may have been at that game.

[@joebates2368]

Wes Chandler and Ike Harris the real GOATs

[@cliffordmoskowitz7966]

This was a great offense

[@kingfish4242]

The final score was 40-34 not 42-34. The game was tied 34-34 before that pass. The 6 points gave the Falcons an automatic win. There was no need to kick the XP,and the 2 point conversion wasn't in the rule book that season. I know, I was there :(

[@623professormartino]

Thank you, it was bothering me too. Glad you cleared it up

[@88vandal1]

Good gosh Chuck Muncie was a beast!

[@Odawg96]

Yes, he was. He was the first RB to really catch my eye as a kid. He could do it ALL: run, receive, block. The catch, though, was that when i saw him is that he was in SAN DIEGO...along with the same Wes Chandler at wideout in this video. As potent as this offense was, it just boggles the mind that the GM allowed them to leave. Of course, the Chargers had a powerhouse offense at that time.

[@randalldenison4628]

Yea to bad he ruined his career with that old 👃 candy devil cocaine.

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

@@Odawg96 owner kept that money

[@sweeabn6736]

Coolest Saints Uniforms

[@aap34798]

great seventies disco music of the time, at the end of the broadcast. it was cool to dance, and watch and play football. . .

[@markofly76]

Heard the ending of this was a classic.

[@Odawg96]

Wow...one of the many games that encapsulated Archie Manning's career: awesome performance, and still coming up short at the end. I noted that Muncie seems to be a lot bigger here than he was in San Diego. I guess by then the addiction was really kicking in...although he was still awesome. For the younger people here, you also go a glimpse of Atlanta's rookie RB William Andrews, who became the NFL's premiere one-man gang in the first half of the 80s. He was John Madden's favorite player at the time, and he'd probably be in the HoF if not for a catastrophic injury.

[@hectorlopez1069]

He should of not lasted so long with the saints. He didn't went anywhere with the saints.

[@Odawg96]

@@hectorlopez1069 That’s how it was back then in the dark ages before modern free agency. Players were stuck with the teams that drafted them unless they were traded or released. If there was ever a player who could have benefitted from free agency, it was Archie Manning.

[@eddiekulp1241]

I remember this game , saints best usually wasn't enough allways found a way to blow games

[@lenpey]

2 of the biggest blunders in Saints front office history was sending Muncie and Chandler to San Diego.

[@michaelizzo6520]

Proof that NFL was a much heavier rushing league in the 70s and 80s

[@jamisonbondero7391]

Back when I used to watch the saints game's on the radio, when they were playing in the dome

[@whocaresboutdat3972]

I was there, It's where the Falcon hate cemented after Big Ben the year before......

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

Boy did we suck back then

[@randalldenison4628]

Falcons had Gr8 teams from 77-80.

[@houstonrebel4449]

I don't know about 1980. Didn't they go 1-15 that year? Firing Dick Nolan after the season and making way for Bum Philips in 1981.

[@hectorlopez1069]

Can you imagine how it must of felt when you are the best QB in the NFL and you have no one good on your team. That's how Archie felt.

[@tommythomason6187]

Those Falcon defensive backs were all big hitters. New Orleans' uniforms are great!

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

Muncie didn't do a big line before overtime is why they lost

[@MrZeldalove]

Watched the first few minutes of it and will continue, but it's obvious that the Falcons had some very mean people on that defense. The "Gritz Blitz" of two years before had set some defensive records that still stand, and was a precursor to Buddy Ryan's "46" in Chicago. No back gets hit only one time by the Falcon defenders. he gets belted and punished hard by two or three of them. Tony Dorsett of Dallas described them as "Yellow Jackets."

[@rahlohmcdonogh5035]

Southern University band behind the end zone at 17:46.Jeffrey Herbert band captain @ that time!!

[@hectorlopez1069]

Even archie was running for his life. He must of gotten alot of sacks. He had no protection from his offensive line.

[@austinteutsch]

Russell Erxleben and I are writing his autobiography and it should be out by Christmas of 2019. Pretty good story here! Look for it! It is entitled SHANKED!! From The Grid Iron To Leg Irons.

[@caponsacchi]

Archie was a pretty exciting quarterback, less consistent or disciplined than his sons and more unpredictable once the ball was snapped. He seemed to plan and perform "on the fly"--and it appears his offensive line left him little other choice. If I were teaching the QB position to a youngster, I agree with Stabler that Ken Anderson was so exemplary in footwork, hand-offs, passing form (in the pocket or on the run) that he's the most exemplary. Montana had the instincts, which you can't teach. Archie's two sons had more athletic bodies than their father. They also benefited from the development of the W. Coast Offense, its protections of the QB, and its opening up more down-field action through rules protecting great receivers. Finally, they knew what kinds of lines and teammates they required to take advantage of all of the above. These days, great quarterbacks are as important as coaches, management, budgeters in "constructing" the teams they know they need in order to win.

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

Wide receiver in 3 point stance that's old school

[@phoenixrison9883]

Isn't that cool, I wonder when they stopped doing that.

[@joseramirez-vi7yu]

Wow great to hear lindsey nelson

[@SapphicTwist]

I just wish we had the Muncie run in it's entirety. Frustrating. You can see the insane fluidity and burst even in slow motion, but in real time I remember this run as being one of the few jaw-dropping moments in Muncie's disappointing NFL career. He was so spectacular at Cal, before he got involved with coke...

[@michaelstern8657]

I remember that final play like it was yesterday. Just curious though...after Erxleben picked up the fumble and threw the ball at the 2 yard line, and had it fallen to the ground for an incompletion, would the Falcons have gotten the ball where the Saints had 4th down, on the 40?

[@tommythomason6187]

Those Grits Blitz Falcon defensive dudes were very active...and mean to the core - booed in Dallas, L.A., Pittsburg, San Francisco. Running outside on them was worthless. Big teams, like the Redskins, would run right at them. Manning's quick-release plays work here.

[@MrZeldalove]

When you think of the science and strategy of playing good defense, it might sound silly, or childish to say this, but the Falcons had some very mean dudes on that defense back in the late 70's/early 80's. Like, maybe - all of them! Hah! "Captain Crazy", linebacker, Fulton Kuykendall (54), Buddy Curry, the "Bruise Brothers" in that secondary, mean Jeff Merrow (75), hard scrabble Jeff Yeates (79) and so on, and so forth. They may have given up some points in this game, but that was rare. They set a record somewhere around this time for the fewest rushing yards allowed, and it has been said that the great Buddy Ryan got his ideas for his 46 Defense from watching the gang-tacking Grits Blitz of the 1977 season.

[@timthomas7001]

😊

[@gordoncosta]

I want Chuck Muncie on my fantasy team. Id take him late first round.

[@randalldenison4628]

He destroyed his career with that 👃 🍬 (cocaine) .

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

@@randalldenison4628 nose candy getting old bro

[@garyr898]

These old films are more fun to watch than the current NFL flag football

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

Saints drafted a punter in first round wtf all the needs we had

[@gethomas02]

All he had to do go down

[@major600]

The Falcons would've gotten the ball at the three and been in an easy position to kick a game-winning field goal. Don't forget. It was sudden death overtime.

[@SapphicTwist]

Frustrating to watch how the Saints utilized Muncie. Dickerson in this offense would have had the same struggles. I know the Saints loved Galbraith, but running Muncie laterally was futile for the most part--except for the occasional 70 yd TD. At Cal Muncie lined up in the I, 7-8 yds deep, and did most of his damage running north/south. I guess the Saints didn't have the OL to do that, and that's why Dickerson had the success Muncie didn't. There certainly wasn't any skill difference between the two..

[@howardcosell2022]

Chuck had off the field problems

[@SapphicTwist]

@@howardcosell2022 yep

[@rennie504]

WhoDat⚜️⚜️

[@richardwilliams1439]

thats why Muncie wanted to be a Forest Ranger....hes an elk

[@juliusjones2220]

The Saints won the Super Bowl that year 👍 👍

[@rustyduet9711]

Are you high

[@randalldenison4628]

Haha. ... Not hardly.

[@AarHan3]

Dusted again!

[@randalldenison4628]

Chuck muncie could have been Gr8 if not for that 👃 🍬.

[@boseefusmacmurphy1156]

Same people who say kaepernick can't play say this archie manning was legendary. Lol! His best season would be been kaepernicks worst. Only topped 80 qbr 2x in a 14 year career, threw more picks than tds every year except 2. Under average would be a better way to sum up his career. Backup quality, journeyman would be ok..

[@richardwilliams1439]

the big ELK Muncie outruns dirty birds