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| Steve Bartkowski threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns in the Falcons' 40-34 opening day win over the Saints in 1979. |
There was no team that the New Orleans Saints wanted to face more than the Atlanta Falcons when the 1979 season began and they would get that chance as the two NFC West rivals met on opening day of the season in the Louisiana Superdome.
The Saints wanted to enact some revenge on the Falcons for the 1978 season as Atlanta pulled off two last-second victories over New Orleans by the score of 20-17 in each game.
The sweep of the Saints was the difference for the Falcons to clinch their first playoff berth in team history as they finished with a 9-7 record while New Orleans finished with a 7-9 record, which was their best record in the team’s 12-year history.
Under second-year head coach Dick Nolan and an offense that featured veteran quarterback Archie Manning, running back Chuck Muncie, and wide receiver Wes Chandler, Saints fans had high hopes that their beloved team would have that first winning season in 1979.
Even though they had made the playoffs the year before, the Falcons still sought room for improvement in 1979, especially to their offense which ranked 26th out of 28 teams in 1978.
In the third round of the 1979 NFL draft, the Falcons drafted running back William Andrews to complement quarterback Steve Bartkowski and wide receiver Alfred Jenkins.
The Saints got on the scoreboard first with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Ike Harris to end a 14-play, 85-yard drive for the only points of the first quarter.
The second quarter turned into a track meet as both teams combined for 41 points, which would be more than the 37 combined points of each game from the previous season.
The second quarter fireworks began on the second play when Manning handed off to Muncie, who then threw a pass downfield that was caught by Wes Chandler for a 40-yard touchdown to increase the Saints’ lead to 14-0.
After the Muncie touchdown pass, the Falcons drove down the field in nine plays to set up Lee Mazzetti’s 27-yard field goal for Atlanta’s first points of the day.
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| Archie Manning(8) completed 14-of-29 passes for 284 yards and threw one touchdown pass. |
The Atlanta defense would force the Saints to punt, the only time either team had to punt in the second quarter, where it took the Falcons seven plays to get into the end zone as Bartkowski hit Alfred Jenkins for a 20-yard touchdown to trim the Saints’ lead to 14-10.
It only took the Saints one play to get back into the end zone as Muncie took a toss sweep around the right side and ran 69 yards for the touchdown to put New Orleans back up by double digits at 21-10 with just over six minutes to play before halftime
The back-and-forth action would continue as the Falcons drove down the field and score another touchdown as Bartkowski threw another 20-yard touchdown pass, this one to Wallace Francis to bring Atlanta to back within four at 21-17 with 1:57 left in the first half.
Once again, the Saints responded quickly to an Atlanta score as Manning threw a pair of 23-yard completions to Harris and Chandler, respectively, as well as a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty that put New Orleans at the Falcons’ 4-yard-line.
That is where Muncie would punch it for his third touchdown of the game and the quarter to give the Saints a 11-point lead at 28-17 late in the second quarter.However there was still enough time for Bartkowski to drive the Falcons into field goal range where Mazzetti connected from 43 yards out with two seconds left in the half to make it a 28-20 game as the first half came to an end.
The offensive fireworks would continue on the opening drive of the second half for each team as they both got points on their initial possessions.
However, the Saints had to settle for a field goal, a 37-yarder by Russell Erxleben that made it 31-20 in favor of the Saints while the Falcons would get another touchdown as Bartkowski found Francis wide open in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown that cut the New Orleans lead 31-27 with 3:52 left in the third quarter.
The score remained that way into the 4th quarter when it appeared the Saints were going to increase their lead as they had driven from their 17-yard-line to the Falcons’ 13-yard-line, only to have Manning picked off in the end zone by cornerback Frank Reed, killing the drive and giving the Falcons the ball back at their own 20.
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| Chuck Muncie ran for 22 times for 161 yards and scored one touchdown plus threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Wes Chandler. |
It would take the Falcons 10 plays to drive the 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, a 4-yard touchdown run by Andrews, that gave Atlanta its first lead of the game at 34-31.
The Falcons had a chance to put the game away on their next drive as they drove to inside the Saints’ 20-yard-line until defensive end Joe Campbell sacked Bartkowski, knocking the ball loose, which was recovered by fellow defensive end Elois Grooms to give New Orleans the ball at their own 18-yard-line with 4:32 to play.
Manning directed to the Saints to the Falcons’ 15-yard-line, setting up a potential game-tying field goal by Erxleben with 51 seconds to play.
Erxleben made the 33-yard field goal, but the kick was nullified by an illegal motion penalty, forcing the Saints back and for Erxleben to try again, this time from 38 yards.
However, the penalty would not hurt the Saints as Erxleben drilled the 38-yarder that tied the game at 34 with 44 seconds left in regulation, but giving the Falcons a chance to win the game.
Bartkowski would get the Falcons to the Saints’ 29-yard-line in just over 20 seconds, but had to come out of the game after he scrambled for a 1st down, replaced by June Jones.
The change at quarterback caused mass confusion and led to a five-yard illegal procedure penalty on the Falcons, killing the drive and forcing Mazzetti to come on a try a 52-yard field goal.
Mazzetti’s kick was on target but a few yards short, sending the game into overtime.
Bartkowski would return for the Falcons but he was unable to direct a scoring drive as the two defenses finally got rolling and forced a series of punts by both teams.
Eight minutes through the overtime period, the Saints were poised to punt the ball back to the Falcons from their own 40-yard-line.
But center John Watson’s snap sailed over the head of Erxelben and bounced to around New Orleans five-yard line where it was picked up by the rookie kicker.
However, a pair of Falcon players met Erxelben just as he was picking up the ball and got their hands around the punter forcing a desperation pass from the punter that landed in the hands of rookie special teamer James Mayberry at the six-yard-line, who ran in for the game-winning touchdown to give the Falcons their third straight shocking win over the Saints, 40-34 which cut in half is 20-17, the score of the two Atlanta victories from the previous season(click to play the video).
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| In his very first NFL game, William Andrews ran for 161 yards on 30 carries and scored one touchdown. |
The bizarre finish brought to an end an epic shootout that had both teams combining for 74 points and 1,064 yards of offense as the Saints wasted record performances by Muncie who ran for 161 yards on 22 carries and Chandler who caught six passes for a record 205 yards, while Andrews broke the Falcons’ record for rushing yards in a game as he totaled 167 yards on 30 carries.
The Saints would finally beat the Falcons when the two teams met again in November as New Orleans routed Atlanta 37-6 on their to first non-losing season, as the Saints finished with a 8-8 record.
Atlanta finished a disappointing 6-10 but would rebound the next season by winning the NFC West with a 12-4 record.
For the highlights of the game, click on the video below:
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