There are 85 days left to count down until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2025 regular season, which makes the longest pass of Archie Manning’s career the Saints Play of the Day. Manning lobbed an 85-yard toss to Wes Chandler back in 1979, setting up a much-needed touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers. You can see it for yourself here.
Chandler would have scored on the play if not for a horse-collar tackle, which flung him out of bounds and injured his knee. But he returned to complete the 16-game season and ended up winning his first Pro Bowl appearance that season. As for this game? Both rivals entered the field needing their first win of the season, and Manning put on a clinic to get it done — he completed 20 of 28 passes for 355 yards and two scores, including a 5-yard strike to Chandler earlier in the game.
Advertisement
New Orleans ended the year at 8-8 and second-place in the old NFC West, their best record in the franchise’s history to that point. It’s just a shame they couldn’t sustain that success. The next season saw head coach Dick Nolan fired after an 0-12 ugly start, and by 1982 both Chandler and Manning would be traded to other teams as the Saints attempted to rebuild. The road ahead was bleak, but in this moment, both Manning and Chandler proved they could make a big play when their team needed it.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints Play of the Day: Archie Manning’s 85-yard pass to Wes Chandler