The season was notable for the curious behavior of Albert Connell, a wide receiver acquired in the offseason and intended to be the long-term starter opposite Joe Horn. [31] Morten Andersen was selected in 2017, becoming the third former player inducted primarily for their accomplishments in New Orleans. Instead, the team, led by offensive line coach Aaron Kromer for its first six games, started the season with four straight losses and a last place spot in the NFC South. In the 1971 NFL Draft, the Saints owned the second overall pick behind the Boston Patriots. https://clutchpoints.com/5-best-quarterbacks-in-new-orleans-saints-history The two teams have met each other 104 times (including 1 postseason game), with the New Orleans Saints winning 51 games and the Atlanta Falcons winning 53 games. The Saints won the NFC South title on December 26 and ended the 2011 season as the third seed in the NFC. The logo replaced the striping pattern that had been on the uniforms since the team's inception; save for color variations, the striping pattern was similar to that used by the Washington Redskins (until 1979), Green Bay Packers (until 1997), and Cleveland Browns (until 2014), which is likely why the change was made. [citation needed] The NFL needed congressional approval of the proposed AFL–NFL merger. The Vikings then got the final wild card spot thanks to their win over the Saints. Their next few seasons continued along similar lines. No, the New Orleans Saints have been known by that name since 1967. Despite the promise Manning showed, the Saints' misfortunes continued as they finished 4-8-2. Connell caught only 12 passes in 11 games with the Saints; the team suspended him for the last four games of the season and later terminated his contract. [citation needed]. The team lost the following week to the Minnesota Vikings. The Saints put together a record of 7-9, their best ever mark. The Saints lost 24-22, but that would be the last time they would taste defeat that year. The team finally broke through with a win in Week 5, against the San Diego Chargers, a game that also saw quarterback Drew Brees break Johnny Unitas's longstanding record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Since 1975, the team plays its home games at Mercedes-Benz Superdome[6][7] (formerly the Louisiana Superdome) after utilizing Tulane Stadium during its first eight seasons. Haslett was fired after the 2005 season, in which the Saints finished 3–13 and did not play any regular season games in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. However, they turned their season around and close wins in their final two games of the season were enough to give them an 8-8 record and a playoff berth in the newly expanded NFL playoffs, which now included six teams from each conference. They picked Alvin Kamara. After the end of the 1996 season, ironically as Diliberto had suggested before Mora's resignation, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka was hired to replace Mora. Rogers was the team's workhorse, playing in all but one game and averaging more than 25 carries a game. The team started 0-12, and Dick Nolan was fired; he was replaced by Dick Stanfel, who lost two games (including one in San Francisco where the Saints blew a 28-point lead). In 2011, New Orleans played in the season opener for the second year in a row, but this time in Green Bay as guests of the defending champion Packers. The Saints went on a 5–0 win streak, but were stopped short by the New England Patriots in Week 6, losing 30–27, with a touchdown pass by Tom Brady in the last 5 seconds of the game. The 2004 season started poorly for the Saints, as they went 2–4 through their first six games and 4–8 through their first twelve games. Most preseason games are televised by WVUE (Channel 8), a station which until its outright 2017 sale to Raycom Media (and subsequent sale in 2019 to Gray Television) was owned by a consortium led by Saints owner Tom Benson since mid-2008 (that consortium, now led by Gayle Benson, continues to hold a minority stake in the station). That would be one of the Saints' only triumphs in their inaugural campaign; they ended the season 3–11, the second-worst mark in the league and ​3.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px;white-space:nowrap} 1⁄2 games behind Washington in the divisional race. Backing up Brooks in 2002 was fan-favorite Jake Delhomme, who'd played at nearby UL-Lafayette and had come off the bench to cement a victory over Tampa Bay several weeks earlier. They won their last game of the season, against Atlanta, but they missed out on the playoffs due to tiebreakers. Despite his injury, Williams rushed for 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games. Except for minor modifications, the Saints' logo and uniforms have basically remained the same since the club debuted in 1967. They compiled a 4-8 record in their first 12 games, and Haslett's job appeared to be in jeopardy. Bounties were placed on four specific players: quarterbacks Brett Favre, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, and Kurt Warner. They are named after the jazz music heritage of New Orleans and the spiritual hymn "When the Saints Go Marching In". A bright spot of the campaign was the emergence of quarterback and Louisiana native Bobby Hebert, who led the Saints to victories over the Vikings and Rams late in the season. The attendance for the game was a sellout crowd of 70,003. After winning their first game, against the Seattle Seahawks, two weeks later, the team went on a four-game winning streak to bring their record to an even 4–4. Ditka's remarks that he'd "trade his entire draft" for the standout runner were well-publicized; holding the #13 overall pick, the Saints needed to trade up to have a chance at selecting Williams. It was the first ever playoff game between NFC South teams since the division's formation in 2002. During the 1984 season, New Orleans traded for former Heisman Trophy winner and future Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell, who won the NFL rushing championship in each of his first three seasons with the Oilers, when Bum Phillips coached the club. The program rewarded cash to players for violent hits on opposing players that took place during the 2009–2011 seasons. 1977 was not much better as the Saints went 3-11, including a humiliating 33-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 11, the Buccaneers' first victory in the NFL after 26 consecutive losses. The NFL needed congressional approval of the proposed AFL–NFL merger. [51] Former Saints guard Zach Strief is the play-by-play announcer, with former Saints running back Deuce McAllister as color commentator. He was named to the NFC Pro Bowl squad for the first time and was also named the NFC's Most Valuable Player by The Sporting News and UPI. On Sunday, August 8, 2010, NBC announced the televised opening festivities of the evening would begin with Taylor Swift and Dave Matthews Band. The Saints went 2-1 with replacement players as they were led by their quarterback, New Orleans native John Fourcade. Drew Brees set new Saints single-season records in passes completed (356), passer rating (96.2), and passing yards (4,418). A screen pass by Drew Brees to running back Pierre Thomas was good for a touchdown, giving the Saints a 13–10 lead, their first of the game. The Saints finished 1st in the NFL in passing yards per game and 2nd in overall offense, but they were last in the league in overall defense. The Saints reached the playoffs four times in six seasons from 1987 to 1992 and won their first NFC West championship in 1991. In the season opener, Manning did not disappoint; he passed for 218 yards and a touchdown and ran in another touchdown on the final play to give the Saints a 24-20 win over the Rams. A loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought the record to 4–2, but the team bounced back with a 62–7 blowout win against the struggling Indianapolis Colts. A week later, the Saints upset the favored Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, 27–24, and the Saints were taken seriously heading into their bye week. In the end, his efforts were negated by a defense that could not get enough stops and a late touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch breaking over a half-dozen tackles with 3:22 left which helped the Seahawks defeat the Saints 41–36. That game marked the end of an era as Drew Brees announced his retirement on March 14, 2021 on Instagram with the help of his children.[13]. McAllister ran for a career-high 1,641 yards. Defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove was suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season. The Vikings added 13 more points in the second half to make the final score 44-10. Although New Orleans' defense had performed poorly up to Week 3, the unit got back in sync by limiting Jacksonville to 10 points in a 23-point win the following game. On January 7, 2018, the two teams met in the NFL playoffs for the first time in the Wild Card round. After winning the 2000 NFL Executive of the Year Award, General Manager Randy Mueller was fired between the 2001 and 2002 seasons without explanation by Benson. Their playoff hopes came down to the final game of the season, when they hosted the Rams. Four weeks later, Manning engineered a 24-14 upset of the Dallas Cowboys, the same team who would return to Tulane Stadium three months later and win Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins. Because of the metallic gold's bright color, the gold jerseys were considered the "light" jersey in the game, so the Vikings wore their purple home jerseys as the "dark" colored team. In 1982, the Saints signed former Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers quarterback Ken Stabler and traded Archie Manning to the Oilers. The next week, they were blown out 35-0 at the Superdome by the San Diego Chargers, ending their playoff hopes. Mora coached the Saints until the middle of the 1996 season, when he stepped down halfway through the 3–13 season. It was the most-watched program for the night, broadcast or cable, and was the second-highest rated cable program of all time at the time. Temporary stadiums in 2005 due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina: The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. Andersen was only the second full-time placekicker inducted into the Hall of Fame (the other was Jan Stenerud in 1991).[32]. The Saints relocated their headquarters to San Antonio, Texas. The moniker "Aints" was also born due to the ineptitude of the 1980 Saints. The New Orleans Saints famously introduced its iconic fleur-de-lis logo upon their inception in 1967. The Saints then lost their last game of the season to the New England Patriots to finish 1-15, the worst mark in team history and (at the time) the worst for a 16-game schedule, since eclipsed by the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns (0-16). In that game, Brees broke the NFL's single-season passing yardage record set by Dan Marino 27 years earlier. With the 7-0 start, the Saints opened up a four-game lead over the rest of the division. The Saints announced that for the second year in a row, the Louisiana Superdome had sold out every ticket for the season. On January 17, 2006, the Saints hired Sean Payton as their new head coach and, on March 14, signed former San Diego Chargers quarterback Drew Brees to a six-year, $60 million deal. Previous color commentators include former Saints players Jim Taylor (RB, 1967), Steve Stonebreaker (LB, 1967-68), Danny Abramowicz (WR, 1967-73), Archie Manning (QB, 1971–82) and Stan Brock (OT, 1980–91). During the 1981–82 seasons (Bum Phillips' first two seasons as coach), the team wore white jerseys with black pants at home, but reverted to the black jerseys and white pants for 1983. The Saints were ultimately ruled to have recovered it. Green Day and U2 performed "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "The Saints Are Coming", respectively, before the game. The next five seasons failed to meet the raised expectations of fans and media. The Saints were placed in the NFC West, where they would remain through 2001. Five Saints were selected to the Pro Bowl: Horn, left tackle Willie Roaf, defensive linemen Joe Johnson and La'Roi Glover, and linebacker Keith Mitchell. 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