1986 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season

The 1986 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 20th as a member of the National Football League. They improved upon their previous season's output of 5–11, winning seven games.[1]

Offseason

Organizational changes

On January 14, owner Tom Benson hired Jim Finks as the franchise's general manager, and turned over the entire football operation to the veteran operative who previously built championship clubs with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. Two weeks later, Finks hired Jim Mora as the new head coach. Mora was the most successful coach in the history of the United States Football League, leading the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars to two USFL championships and a runner-up finish.

NFL Draft

1986 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 6 Jim Dombrowski  Offensive tackle Virginia
2 31 Dalton Hilliard *  Running back LSU
3 57 Rueben Mayes *  Running back Washington State
3 60 Pat Swilling *  Linebacker Georgia Tech
3 62 Barry Word  Running back Virginia
4 88 Kelvin Edwards  Wide receiver Liberty
5 115 Reggie Sutton  Cornerback Miami (FL)
6 142 Bob Thompson  Wide receiver Youngstown State
7 173 Gill Fenerty  Running back Holy Cross
8 200 Filipo Mokofisi  Linebacker Utah
9 226 Merlon Jones  Linebacker Florida A&M
10 253 Jon Dumbauld  Defensive end Kentucky
11 284 Pat Swoopes  Defensive tackle Mississippi State
12 311 Sebastian Brown  Wide receiver Bethune-Cookman
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1986 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

  • Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Carl Smith
  • Running Backs – Jim Skipper
  • Wide Receivers – Steve Walters
  • Offensive Line – Jim Erkenbeck
 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator – Steve Sidwell
  • Defensive Line – John Pease
  • Linebackers – Vic Fangio
  • Defensive Backs – Dom Capers

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams/Tight Ends – Joe Marciano

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro

[3]

Roster

1986 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

  • 37 Mel Gray KR/PR
  • 86 Mike Jones
  • 84 Eric Martin

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 43 Bobby Fowler RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 46 Hokie Gajan RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 7 Atlanta Falcons L 10–31 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 67,950 Recap
2 September 14 Green Bay Packers W 24–10 1–1 Louisiana Superdome 46,383 Recap
3 September 21 at San Francisco 49ers L 17–26 1–2 Candlestick Park 58,297 Recap
4 September 28 at New York Giants L 17–20 1–3 Giants Stadium 72,769 Recap
5 October 5 Washington Redskins L 6–14 1–4 Louisiana Superdome 57,378 Recap
6 October 12 at Indianapolis Colts W 17–14 2–4 Hoosier Dome 53,512 Recap
7 October 19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 38–7 3–4 Louisiana Superdome 43,355 Recap
8 October 26 at New York Jets L 23–28 3–5 Giants Stadium 44,246 Recap
9 November 2 San Francisco 49ers W 23–10 4–5 Louisiana Superdome 53,234 Recap
10 November 9 Los Angeles Rams W 6–0 5–5 Louisiana Superdome 62,532 Recap
11 November 16 at St. Louis Cardinals W 16–7 6–5 Busch Memorial Stadium 32,069 Recap
12 November 23 at Los Angeles Rams L 13–26 6–6 Anaheim Stadium 58,600 Recap
13 November 30 New England Patriots L 20–21 6–7 Louisiana Supedome 58,259 Recap
14 December 7 Miami Dolphins L 27–31 6–8 Louisiana Superdome 64,761 Recap
15 December 14 at Atlanta Falcons W 14–9 7–8 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 39,994 Recap
16 December 21 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–33 7–9 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,209 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1

Atlanta Falcons (0–0) at New Orleans Saints (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 7 7 71031
Saints 0 3 0710

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: September 7
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Game attendance: 67,950
  • Referee: Tom Dooley
  • The Football Database
Game information
Falcons
  • David Archer
    13/16, 207 Yds, 2 TD, INT
  • Cliff Austin
    27 Rush, 104 Yds, TD
  • Charlie Brown
    7 Rec, 119 Yds, TD
Saints

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP ATL NO
1 10:17 Falcons Brown 17-yard touchdown reception from Archer, Luckhurst kick good 7 0
2 7:43 Falcons Austin 1-yard touchdown run, Luckhurst kick good 14 0
2 1:01 Saints 47-yard field goal by Andersen 14 3
3 2:21 Falcons Riggs 1-yard touchdown run, Luckhurst kick good 21 3
4 10:12 Falcons Anthony Allen 19-yard touchdown reception from Archer, Luckhurst kick good 28 3
4 3:30 Falcons 32-yard field goal by Luckhurst 31 3
4 0:08 Saints Hilliard 1-yard touchdown run, Andersen kick good 10 31
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 10

Week 2

Green Bay Packers (0–1) at New Orleans Saints (0–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Packers 0 3 7010
Saints 17 7 0024

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: September 14
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Game attendance: 46,383
  • Referee: Chuck Heberling
  • The Football Database
Game information
Packers
Saints

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP GB NO
1 13:28 Saints Martin 72-yard touchdown reception from Hebert, Andersen kick good 0 7
1 6:42 Saints 20-yard field goal by Andersen 0 10
1 3:38 Saints Hilliard 3-yard touchdown run, Andersen kick good 0 17
2 14:25 Packers 50-yard field goal by Del Greco 3 17
2 5:00 Saints Interception returned 17 yards for touchdown by Haynes, Andersen kick good 3 24
4 1:17 Packers Lofton 8-yard touchdown reception from Wright, Del Greco kick good 10 24
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 10 24

Standings

NFC West
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(3) 10 5 1 .656 3–2–1 6–5–1 374 247 W3
Los Angeles Rams(5) 10 6 0 .625 3–3 8–4 309 267 L2
Atlanta Falcons 7 8 1 .469 2–3–1 6–5–1 280 280 W1
New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 288 287 L1

References

  1. ^ 1986 New Orleans Saints
  2. ^ "1986 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  3. ^ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
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New Orleans Saints
  • Founded in 1967
  • Based in New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana
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Wild card berths (5)
Division championships (9)
Conference championships (1)
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