1987 New Orleans Saints season

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.

1987 New Orleans Saints season
Head coachJim Mora
General managerJim Finks
OwnerTom Benson
Home fieldLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record12–3
Division place2nd NFC West
Playoff finishLost Wild Card playoffs (Vikings) 10–44
Pro BowlersG Brad Edelman
T Hoby Brenner
RB Reuben Mayes
LB Sam Mills
CB Dave Waymer
K Morten Andersen

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 1987 NFL Draft
1987 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 11 Shawn Knight  Defensive end BYU
2 40 Lonzell Hill  Wide receiver Washington
3 67 Michael Adams  Defensive back Arkansas State
4 96 Steve Trapilo  Guard Boston College
5 123 Milton Mack  Defensive back Alcorn State
6 152 Thomas Henley  Wide receiver Stanford
7 179 Gene Atkins  Defensive back Florida A&M
8 207 Toi Cook  Defensive back Stanford
9 234 Scott Leach  Linebacker Ohio State
10 263 Robert Clark  Wide receiver North Carolina Central
11 290 Arthur Wells  Tight end Grambling State
12 319 Tyrone 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

  • Special Teams/Tight Ends – Joe Marciano

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:

Roster of the 1987 Replacement Saints

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  • 30 Vince Alexander
  • 34 Jeff Rodenberger
  • 42 Derrick Hughes
  • 43 Garland Jean-Batiste
  • 45 Nate Johnson
  • 47 Dwight Beverly

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

  • 82 Ken O'Neal
  • 85 Darren Gottschalk
  • 87 Malcolm Scott
  • 88 Mike Waters

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

  • 51 Larry McCoy
  • 52 Marcus Marek
  • 53 Keith Fourcade
  • 54 Bill Roe
  • 55 Joe DeForest
  • 56 Ron Weisenhofer
  • 58 Scott Leach
  • 59 Roland Myers
  • 91 Ken Marchiol
  • 98 Fuzzy Huddleston

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Roster
1987 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 13, 1987 Cleveland Browns W 28–21
59,900
2 September 20, 1987 at Philadelphia Eagles L 27–21
57,485
– September 27, 1987 Atlanta Falcons canceled
3 October 4, 1987 Los Angeles Rams W 37–10
29,745
4 October 11, 1987 at St. Louis Cardinals L 24–19
11,795
5 October 18, 1987 at Chicago Bears W 19–17
46,813
6 October 25, 1987 San Francisco 49ers L 24–22
60,497
7 November 1, 1987 at Atlanta Falcons W 38–0
42,196
8 November 8, 1987 at Los Angeles Rams W 31–14
43,379
9 November 15, 1987 at San Francisco 49ers W 26–24
60,436
10 November 22, 1987 New York Giants W 23–14
67,639
11 November 29, 1987 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–16
47,896
12 December 6, 1987 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 44–34
66,471
13 December 13, 1987 Houston Oilers W 24–10
68,257
14 December 20, 1987 at Cincinnati Bengals W 41–24
43,424
15 December 27, 1987 Green Bay Packers W 33–24
68,364

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(1) 13 2 0 .867 5–1 10–1 459 253 W6
New Orleans Saints(4) 12 3 0 .800 4–1 8–3 426 283 W9
Los Angeles Rams 6 9 0 .400 1–5 5–7 317 361 L2
Atlanta Falcons 3 12 0 .200 1–4 3–8 205 436 L3

Playoffs

NFC Wild Card Game
Minnesota Vikings 44, New Orleans Saints 10
1 2 34Total
Vikings 10 21 31044
Saints 7 3 0010

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans

  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
  • Game attendance: 68,127
  • TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

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.

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 2012-06-18. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
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