1985 New Orleans Saints season

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1985 New Orleans Saints season
Owner Tom Benson
General manager Bum Phillips
Head coach Bum Phillips (weeks 1-12)
Wade Phillips (interim, weeks 13-16)
Home field Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record5–11
Division place3rd NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers LB Rickey Jackson
K Morten Andersen

The 1985 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints 19th season.

Contents

The offseason began with rampant rumors the franchise was on its way out of town. Original owner John W. Mecom Jr. was anxious to sell the team, and he threatened to move to Jacksonville, Florida if no suitable owner could be found.

In May, local car magnate Tom Benson stepped up and pledged to meet Mecom's asking price of $70 million. Mecom and Benson sat down with Louisiana governor Edwin W. Edwards and hammered out a deal, which was finalized May 31. Prior to the sale to Benson, businessman Abram Nicholas Pritzker attempted to purchase the team, but he could not meet Mecom's asking price, and Edwards was unable to secure a loan from the Louisiana Legislature to assist Pritzker.

Benson moved training camp from Vero Beach, Florida to Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. The team quickly brought in local legend and United States Football League standout Bobby Hebert to compete with Richard Todd and Dave Wilson for the starting quarterback position. Hebert won the position late in the season and started the final five games.

Coach Bum Phillips offered to resign when Benson completed his purchase, but Benson declined the offer. The season got off to a disastrous start, as the Saints were routed 47–27 at home by the Kansas City Chiefs, and an angry woman poured a cup of beer on Phillips as he exited the field. The Saints won three consecutive games following a week two loss at Denver, but the season quickly turned sour, thanks to a six-game losing streak that dropped the club to 3-8.

One day after winning at Minnesota to end the skid, Phillips resigned. His son, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, took over as interim coach for the final four games. The Saints won their first game under the younger Phillips, routing the eventual NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams 29-3, but losses to the Cardinals, 49ers and Falcons ended the year on another glum note.

The Saints finished with a non-winning record for the nineteenth time in as many seasons, going 5–11. Benson promised big changes following the campaign, which he delivered upon.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1985 New Orleans Saints draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
124 Alvin Toles   Linebacker Tennessee
238 Daren Gilbert   Offensive tackle Cal State Fullerton
368 Jack Del Rio  * Linebacker USC
495Billy Allen  Defensive back Florida State
7179 Eric Martin  *  Wide receiver LSU
8206Joe Kohlbrand Linebacker Miami (FL)
9236Earl Johnson Defensive back South Carolina
12320Treg Songy Defensive back Tulane
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1985 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Wade Phillips
  • Defensive line – Willie Zapalac
  • Linebackers – John Paul Young
  • Defensive backfield – Mark Hatley

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Russell Paternostro



Roster

1985 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

A ticket for a September 15, 1985 game between the Saints and the Denver Broncos. New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos 1985-09-15 (ticket).jpg
A ticket for a September 15, 1985 game between the Saints and the Denver Broncos.
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 8 Kansas City Chiefs L 27–470–1 Louisiana Superdome 57,760
2September 15at Denver Broncos L 23–340–2 Mile High Stadium 74,488
3September 22 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 20–131–2Louisiana Superdome45,320
4September 29at San Francisco 49ers W 20–172–2 Candlestick Park 58,053
5October 6 Philadelphia Eagles W 23–213–2Louisiana Superdome56,364
6October 13at Los Angeles Raiders L 13–233–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 48,152
7October 20at Atlanta Falcons L 24–313–4 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 44,784
8October 27 New York Giants L 13–213–5Louisiana Superdome54,082
9November 3at Los Angeles Rams L 10–283–6 Anaheim Stadium 49,030
10November 10 Seattle Seahawks L 3–273–7Louisiana Superdome47,365
11November 17at Green Bay Packers L 14–383–8 Milwaukee County Stadium 52,104
12November 24at Minnesota Vikings W 30–234–8 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 54,117
13December 1 Los Angeles Rams W 29–35–8Louisiana Superdome44,122
14December 8at St. Louis Cardinals L 16–285–9 Busch Memorial Stadium 29,527
15December 15 San Francisco 49ers L 19–315–10Louisiana Superdome46,065
16December 22 Atlanta Falcons L 10–165–11Louisiana Superdome37,717
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 8

1234Total
• Giants0701421
Saints3001013

[2]

Week 12

1234Total
• Saints1463730
Vikings7331023
Scoring summary
Q1NO Wilson 41 yard run (Andersen kick)NO 7–0
Q1MIN Anderson 54 yard pass from Kramer (Stenerud kick)Tie 7–7
Q1NO Campbell 4 yard run (Andersen kick)NO 14–7
Q2NOAndersen 26 yard field goalNO 17–7
Q2NOAndersen 47 yard field goalNO 20–7
Q2MINStenerud 22 yard field goalNO 20–10
Q3NOAndersen 45 yard field goalNO 23–10
Q3MINStenerud 22 yard field goalNO 23–13
Q4MINStenerud 37 yard field goalNO 23–16
Q4MIN Jones 6 yard pass from Kramer (Stenerud kick)Tie 23–23
Q4NO Tice 39 yard pass from Hebert (Andersen kick)NO 30–23

[3]

Week 15

1234Total
• 49ers07101431
Saints097319
Scoring summary
Q2SF Clark 26 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)SF 7–0
Q2NO Andersen 46 yard field goalSF 7–3
Q2NO Warren 42 yard blocked field goal return (kick failed)NO 9–7
Q3SF Wilson 52 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)SF 14–9
Q3NO Goodlow 76 yard pass from Hebert (Andersen kick)NO 16–14
Q3SFWersching 24 yard field goalSF 17–16
Q4NOAndersen 41 yard field goalNO 19–17
Q4SF Francis 17 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)SF 24–19
Q4SF Craig 15 yard run (Wersching kick)SF 31–19

[4]

Standings

NFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Los Angeles Rams (2)1150.6883–38–4340277L1
San Francisco 49ers (5)1060.6254–27–5411263W2
New Orleans Saints 5110.3132–45–7294401L3
Atlanta Falcons 4120.2503–34–8282452W2

Notable events

On opening day, quarterback Dave Wilson set the unwanted record of completing only two of twenty-two passes: the lowest pass completion percent in an NFL game for any quarterback with a double figure total of attempts.

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References

  1. ↑ "1985 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-09.
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-18.
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