Saints vs. Raiders Memorable Game: 1979 – VIDEO

The New Orleans Saints will open their 2016 regular season schedule next Sunday, when they play host to the Oakland Raiders in an NFC/AFC match-up.

Kickoff time at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans is scheduled for noon, and you can hear all the play-byplay action on ESPN 1420, as well as 97.3 The Dawg.

The Saints lead the all-time series, 6-5-1, and have won the last three meetings between the two, including four of the last five.

On of the more heartbreaking losses that the Saints have ever had came against the Raiders, on a Monday night, December 3, 1979.

After a convincing 37-6 win over the Falcons the week prior, the Saints entered the match-up against the Raiders, a Monday Night Football affair, which had the city and the state excited, with a 7-6 record, and playoffs hopes and dreams dancing in players and fans heads.

Keep in mind, at the time, the team had not only never made the playoffs, they had not even had a winning season.

A sellout crowd of 71,323 awaited the visiting Raiders, along with a huge national television audience estimated at over 40,000,000. This was Monday Night Football and the Raiders were the class of this prime-time series, with a record of 12-1-1.

The Saints were leading the NFC West at the time, and were looking to make a statement on the national stage.

The Saints jumped out to a 28-7 lead, before taking a 28-14 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

After linebacker Ken Bordelon returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter, the Saints led 35-14, and things looked good.

But the Raiders weren't done, scoring four unanswered touchdowns, including three fourth quarter TD passes from Ken Stabler, as they came back to win, 42-35.

The loss was a tough one to take, as the following Sunday the Saints looked defeated before they walked onto the field, and fell to the San Diego Chargers, 35-0.

The Saints, did win their season finale, defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 29-14, to win 8 games in a season for the first time in franchise history, but failed to make the playoffs, in part because of that crushing Monday Night Football loss to the Raiders.

Below, we go back to that Saints/Raiders game from 1979: