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.

On Monday, we went back to 1971 to take a look back at the first-ever metting between the two franchises.

Today, we go back to the third-ever match-up between the two franchises, December 10, 1978, a game that the Oilers won, 17-12.

New Orleans went into the contest at 6-8, with visions hopes of a .500 season still dancing in their heads, while Houston, who would go on to play in the AFC Championship Game that year, was 9-5.

Houston rookie sensation Earl Campbell gave the Oilers a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run, before Toni Fritsch converted on a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter, extending their lead to 10-0 at halftime.

The Saints would cut into that lead in the third quarter, after quarterback Archie Manning hit receiver Tinker Owens with a 6-yard touchdown pass, trimming the Houston lead to 10-7.

The Oilers just about put the game away in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Dan Pastorini connected with Robert Woods on an 80-yard touchdown toss, making it 17-7.

New Orleans got closer, thanks to a safety, followed by a 21-yard field goal by Steve Mike-Mayer, to trim the deficit to 17-12, but that as close as they would get, as Houston would leave the Superdome with a five-point win.

It was an extremely frustrating loss for the Saints, who outgained the Oilers, in terms of total offense, 297-244, and held Campbell to only 67 yards on 25 carries, his second-lowest yardage output, and lowest yards-per-carry average in a single game all year.

The Saints did everything they had to do to win the game, but just couldn't make the big play, and suffered a tough loss, ending their chance at a .500 season.

For New Orleans, Manning completed 25-of-37 passes for 251 yards, along with one touchdown and one interception, while Henry Childs caught five passes for 80 yards.

For Houston, Pastorini finished the game completing 12-of-18 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown.

The Saints finished 1978 a frustrating 7-9, including six losses by seven points, or less, while the Oilers went 10-6, and later advanced to the AFC title game, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Below, enjoy a couple of songs that revolved around the Saints throughout their history.

The first one was a minor hit for a group called Skids back in 1978, which actually became much more popular with a remake by U2 and Green Day in 2006, following Hurricane Katrina, called "The Saints Are Coming".

 

 

The second one is from back in 1969, called the "Ballad of the New Orleans Saints", by Lee Cole.

 

 

 

 

 

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