Saints Host Titans: Memorable Game One

This Friday evening, the New Orleans Saints will play host to the Tennessee Titans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, in their second preseason game of the 2014 season.

You can hear all the action on ESPN 1420, beginning with the pregame show at 5 o'clock, with kickoff set for 7 pm.

Prior to becoming the Tennessee Titans in 1999, the Titans were originally the Houston Oilers, when they called Houston, Texas their home, from 1960-1996, and then the Tennessee Oilers, after they moved from Houston to Nashville, Tennessee, from 1997-1998.

The Titans lead the all-time series against the Saints, 7-5-1, including 279-255 advantage in all-time points scored.

This week, in preparation for Friday night's game, we'll look at some of the more memorable games between the two franchises.

Today, we go back to the first-ever match-up between the two franchises, October 3, 1971, a game that ended in a tie, 13-13.

New Orleans went into the contest at 1-1, following a season-opening 24-20 upset win over the Los Angeles Rams in week one, and a 38-20 setback to the San Francisco 49ers in week two.

Houston was looking for their first win, following losses in their first two games to the Cleveland (31-0) and the Kansas City Chiefs (20-16).

The Saints led at halftime, 7-3, courtesy of a 63-yard touchdown pass from Archie Manning to Danny Abramowicz.

That would turn out to be the only touchdown of the game for the Saints however, with their only other points coming via the leg of Charlie Durkee.

Durkee's first field goal of 14 yards gave New Orleans a 10-3 advantage in the fourth quarter, before Houston tied it, after Charlie Joiner caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Charley Johnson, making it 10-10.

The Oilers grabbed their first lead of the game, 13-10, on their next possession, when Mark Moseley was good on a 44-yard field goal, prior to Durkee's second field goal of the game, this one from 37 yards away, to tie the game, 13-13.

That's the way the game ended, with both teams gaining 263 yards of total offense.

For New Orleans, Manning completed 8-of-20 passes for 120 yards, along with one touchdown and two interceptions, while Abramowicz had 89 receiving yards, including a touchdown, on three catches, and James Ford had 62 rushing yards on 16 carries.

For Houston, Woody Campbell accumulated 51 rushing yards on 18 carries.

The Saints finished 1971 at 4-8-2, despite being 4-5-2 with three games to go, while the Oilers, after a 1-9-1 start, won their last three games, to finish 4-9-1.

Below, spend a moment with Abramowicz, who was also an assistant coach and broadcaster with the Saints: