1987 New Orleans Saints season

Last updated

1987 New Orleans Saints season
Owner Tom Benson
General manager Jim Finks
Head coach Jim Mora
Home stadium Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record12–3
Division place2nd NFC West
PlayoffsLost Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Vikings) 10–44
Pro Bowlers G Brad Edelman
T Hoby Brenner
RB Reuben Mayes
LB Sam Mills
CB Dave Waymer
K Morten Andersen

The 1987 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 21st year in the National Football League (NFL). The strike-shortened year was the Saints' first-ever winning season. The Saints also qualified for the postseason for the first time, riding largely on a nine-game winning streak to close the season. The Saints earned the second-best record in the NFL in 1987, but were in the same division as the team with the best record, the San Francisco 49ers, and entered the playoffs as a wild card. However, they were soundly defeated at home by the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, by a score of 44–10. The Vikings entered the playoffs with an 8–7 record and needed the Dallas Cowboys to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals on the final day of the season to qualify. The Saints' first winning season would be followed by another six consecutive non-losing seasons. Before the 1987 season, the Saints' non-losing seasons had consisted of only two 8–8 seasons, in 1979 and 1983. Head coach Jim Mora was named NFL Coach of the Year.

Contents

Offseason

NFL draft

1987 New Orleans Saints draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
111 Shawn Knight   Defensive end BYU
240 Lonzell Hill   Wide receiver Washington
367Michael Adams  Defensive back Arkansas State
496 Steve Trapilo   Guard Boston College
5123 Milton Mack  Defensive back Alcorn State
6152Thomas Henley Wide receiver Stanford
7179 Gene Atkins  Defensive back Florida A&M
8207 Toi Cook  Defensive backStanford
9234Scott Leach  Linebacker Ohio State
10263 Robert Clark  Wide receiver North Carolina Central
11290Arthur Wells  Tight end Grambling State
12319Tyrone Sorrells Guard Georgia Tech
      Made roster  

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1987 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office

  • Owner/General Partner – Tom Benson
  • President/General Manager – Jim Finks
  • Vice president of administration – Jim Miller
  • Director of player personnel – Bill Kuharich

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Russell Paternostro

[2]

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 New Orleans Saints replacement roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Roster

1987 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 13 Cleveland Browns W 28–211–0 Louisiana Superdome 59,900
2September 20at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–271–1 Veterans Stadium 57,485
September 27 Atlanta Falcons canceled1–1Louisiana Superdome
3October 4 Los Angeles Rams W 37–102–1Louisiana Superdome29,745
4October 11at St. Louis Cardinals L 19–242–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 11,795
5October 18at Chicago Bears W 19–173–2 Soldier Field 46,813
6October 25 San Francisco 49ers L 22–243–3Louisiana Superdome60,497
7November 1at Atlanta Falcons W 38–04–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 42,196
8November 8at Los Angeles Rams W 31–145–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 43,379
9November 15at San Francisco 49ers W 26–246–3 Candlestick Park 60,436
10November 22 New York Giants W 23–147–3Louisiana Superdome67,639
11November 29at Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–168–3 Three Rivers Stadium 47,896
12December 6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 44–349–3Louisiana Superdome66,471
13December 13 Houston Oilers W 24–1010–3Louisiana Superdome68,257
14December 20at Cincinnati Bengals W 41–2411–3 Riverfront Stadium 43,424
15December 27 Green Bay Packers W 33–2412–3Louisiana Superdome68,364
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
San Francisco 49ers (1)1320.8675–110–1459253W6
New Orleans Saints (4)1230.8004–18–3426283W9
Los Angeles Rams 690.4001–55–7317361L2
Atlanta Falcons 3120.2001–43–8205436L3

Playoffs

NFC Wild Card Game

Minnesota Vikings 44, New Orleans Saints 10
Quarter1234Total
Vikings102131044
Saints730010

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans

In the Saints' first playoff game in history, the Vikings dominated the game by recording two sacks, forcing four turnovers, and allowing only 149 yards. Anthony Carter returned a punt for a touchdown, and future Saints quarterback Wade Wilson threw a Hail Mary pass for a touchdown to Hassan Jones on the last play of the first half, which was actually an untimed play after the Saints were penalized for offsides on the previous play (a half cannot end on an accepted penalty against the defense).

References

  1. "1987 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  2. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2011.