After the devastating previous season of 1980 Bum Phillips took over and began to transform the New Orleans Saints into a more competitive foe. With addition of Heisman Award winner George Rodgers the Saints produced a Run Heavy offense as Rodgers led the NFL in rushing attempt, yards and touchdowns. Bobby Scott and rookie Dave Wilson saw extended playing time and Saints runners Jack Holmes and Wayne Wilson were #1 & #2 in pass receiving.
1981 New Orleans Saints Individual Offensive Player Statistics
Passing Stats
| Attempts | Completions | % | Yards | Yds./Att | Longest | Tds | Int | Rating | Sacked/Yards Lost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Manning | 232 | 134 | 57.7% | 1447 | 6.2 | 55 | 5 | 11 | 63.6 | 21/-164 |
| Dave Wilson | 159 | 82 | 51.5% | 1058 | 6.7 | 50 | 1 | 11 | 46.1 | 12/-121 |
| Bobby Scott | 46 | 20 | 43.4% | 245 | 5.3 | 31 | 1 | 5 | 28.2 | 7/-72 |
| Guido Merkins | 2 | 1 | 50.0% | 20 | 10.0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 85.4 | 1/-2 |
| Tommy Myers | 2 | 1 | 50.0% | 8 | 4.0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 0/0 |
| Totals | 441 | 238 | 54.0% | 2778 | 6.3 | 55 | 8 | 27 | 53.8 | 41/-359 |
Rushing Statistics
| Attempts | Yards | Average | Longest | TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Rodgers | *378 | *1674 | 4.4 | 79 | *13 |
| Jack Holmes | 58 | 194 | 3.3 | 11 | 2 |
| Toussaint Tyler | 36 | 183 | 5.1 | 23 | 0 |
| Wayne Wilson | 44 | 137 | 3.1 | 13 | 1 |
| Jim Rodgers | 9 | 37 | 4.1 | 15 | 0 |
| Archie Manning | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Jeff Groth | 2 | 27 | 13.5 | 28 | 0 |
| Russell Erxleben | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 26 | 0 |
| Scott Stauch | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Dave Wilson | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Totals | 546 | 2286 | 4.2 | 79 | 16 |
| *League Best For The Year | |||||
Receiving Statistics
| Catches | Yards | Average | Longest | TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Holmes | 38 | 206 | 5.4 | 19 | 0 |
| Wayne Wilson | 31 | 384 | 12.3 | 55 | 4 |
| Guido Merkens | 29 | 458 | 15.7 | 50 | 1 |
| Larry Hardy | 23 | 275 | 11.9 | 27 | 1 |
| T. Tyler | 23 | 135 | 5.8 | 18 | 0 |
| Jeff Groth | 20 | 380 | 19.0 | 54 | 1 |
| Wes Chandler | 17 | 285 | 16.8 | 39 | 1 |
| George Rodgers | 16 | 126 | 7.8 | 25 | 0 |
| Rich Martini | 8 | 72 | 9.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Rich Caster | 7 | 108 | 15.4 | 31 | 0 |
| Hoby Brenner | 7 | 143 | 20.4 | 34 | 0 |
| Aundra Thompson | 6 | 81 | 13.5 | 25 | 0 |
| Brooks Williams | 5 | 50 | 10.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Ike Harris | 2 | 33 | 16.5 | 20 | 0 |
| Gordon Banks | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Jim Rodgers | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Scott Stauch | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Dave Lafary | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
Punting Stats
| Number | Average | Longest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom McNeill | 74 | 42.9 | 66 |
Kicking Stats
| XP | XPA | % | FG | Attempts | % | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benny Ricardo | 24 | 24 | 100% | 13 | 25 | 52% | 63 |
1981 Total Offense Statistics
| Points | Avg PPG | Yards | Avg YPG | Plays | Avg | 1st Downs | Turnovers | NFL Rank | NFC Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 207 | 12.9 | 4705 | 294.0 | 1028 | 4.5 | 280 | 47 | 28† | 14† |
| †Offensive Rankings based on Total Yards gained. | ||||||||||
Individual Defensive Statistics
Interceptions
| NO | Yards | Average | Longest | TDs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Waymer | 4 | 54 | 13.5 | 31 | 0 |
| Tommy Myers | 2 | 70 | 35.0 | 31 | 0 |
| Frank Wattellet | 3 | 16 | 7.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Rob Nairne | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 |
| Jim Kovach | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13. | 0 |
| Johnnie Poe | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kenny Bordeleon | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Russell Gary | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ricky Ray | 1 | 33 | 33.0 | 33 | 0 |
| Totals | 22 | 333 | 15.1 | 41 | 2 |
| *League Best for the Year | |||||
1981 New Orleans Saints Total Defense
| Points | Avg PPG | Yards | Avg YPG | Plays | Avg | 1st Downs | Turnovers | NFL Rank | NFC Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 378 | 23.6 | 5253 | 328.0 | 1002 | 5.2 | 303 | 34 | 11† | 8† |
| †Defensive Rankings based on Total Yards given up. | ||||||||||
Defensive Notes for the Saints 1981 NFL Season
- The Saints Defense of 1981 was credited with 27 Sacks. (Sacks were not kept as an individual statistic until 1982)
- Rookie Rickey Jackson credited with 125 Tackles.
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