1986 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season

1986 New Orleans Saints season
Owner	Tom Benson
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Jim Mora
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Reuben Mayes LB Rickey Jackson LB Sam Mills K Morten Andersen
← 1985 Saints seasons 1987 →

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.

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

Main article: 1986 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1986 New Orleans Saints draft
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

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 Head Coach – Jim Mora 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

Roster

**1986 New Orleans Saints roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 3 Bobby Hebert 18 Dave Wilson Running backs (RB) 21 Dalton Hilliard 36 Reuben Mayes 30 Wayne Wilson 45 John Williams Wide receivers (WR) 37 Mel Gray 86 Mike Jones 84 Eric Martin Tight ends (TE) 85 Hoby Brenner 82 John Tice		Offensive linemen (OL) 69 Chuck Comiskey G 70 Bill Contz T 72 Jim Dombrowski T 63 Brad Edelman G 61 Joel Hilgenberg C 60 Steve Korte G Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Bruce Clark DE 99 Tony Elliott NT 97 Jumpy Geathers DE 74 Derland Moore NT 73 Frank Warren DE 94 Jim Wilks DE		Linebackers (LB) 92 James Haynes 57 Rickey Jackson OLB 53 Vaughan Johnson ILB 55 Joe Kohlbrand ILB 51 Sam Mills ILB 56 Pat Swilling OLB 54 Alvin Toles Defensive backs (DB) 28 Gene Atkins 39 Brett Maxie SS 25 Johnnie Poe CB 49 Frank Wattelet FS 44 Dave Waymer CB Special teams 7 Morten Andersen K 10 Brian Hansen P		Reserve 43 Bobby Fowler RB (IR) 46 Hokie Gajan RB (IR) 29 Reggie Sutton CB (NF-Ill.) 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

See also: 1986 Atlanta Falcons season Atlanta Falcons (0–0) at New Orleans Saints (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	7	7	7	10	31
Saints	0	3	0	7	10

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

Bobby Hebert
13/33, 115 Yds, 2 INT
Dalton Hilliard
15 Rush, 51 Yds, TD
Eugene Goodlow
4 Rec, 58 Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	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

See also: 1986 Green Bay Packers season Green Bay Packers (0–1) at New Orleans Saints (0–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	0	3	7	0	10
Saints	17	7	0	0	24

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

Randy Wright
18/44, 195 Yds, TD, 5 INT
Gary Ellerson
9 Rush, 33 Yds
James Lofton
8 Rec, 100 Yds, TD

Saints

Bobby Hebert
9/14, 200 Yds, TD, 2 INT
Dalton Hilliard
24 Rush, 59 Yds, TD
Eric Martin
3 Rec, 164 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	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
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers	10	5	1	.656	3–2–1	6–5–1	374	247	W3
Los Angeles Rams	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

1986 New Orleans Saints
"1986 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
"All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2011.

v t e New Orleans Saints
Founded in 1967 Based in New Orleans, Louisiana Headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana
Franchise	Franchise Seasons History All-time roster Coaches Expansion draft First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Broadcasters
Stadiums	Tulane Stadium Caesars Superdome Temporary home venues in 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina: Alamodome Giants Stadium Tiger Stadium
Culture	Gumbo Sir Saint Saints Cheer Krewe Who Dat? Tom Benson Effect of Hurricane Katrina Buddy D "When the Saints Go Marching In" Home Team Number One A Saintly Switch
Lore	"Aints" (1–15) Dempsey's 63-yard field goal Dome Patrol Ricky Williams trade River City Relay Steve Gleason's blocked punt Beast Quake Bountygate Minneapolis Miracle NOLA No-Call
Rivalries	Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers Los Angeles Rams Minnesota Vikings Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wild card berths (5)	1987 1990 1992 2010 2013
Division championships (9)	1991 2000 2006 2009 2011 2017 2018 2019 2020
Conference championships (1)	2009
League championships (1)	2009 (XLIV)
Retired numbers	31 81
Ring of Honor	Andersen Benson Jackson Manning Mills Roaf Smith
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division

v t e New Orleans Saints seasons
1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Bold indicates Super Bowl victory

1986 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Buffalo	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Indianapolis	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	LA Rams
Miami	Houston	LA Raiders	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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