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1987 New Orleans Saints season
Head Coach Jim Mora
General Manager Jim Finks
Home Field Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record 12–3
Place 2nd NFC West
Playoff Finish Lost Wild Card playoffs (Vikings) 10–44
Timeline
Previous season Next season
1986 1988

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. 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.

Offseason[]

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

  • Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Carl Smith
  • Running Backs – Jim Skipper
  • Wide Receivers – Steve Walters
  • Tight Ends – Joe Marciano
  • Offensive Line – Paul Boudreau
Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Joe Marciano

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro

[2]

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
view · talk · edit W L T PCT PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers 13 2 0 .867 459 253 W6
New Orleans Saints 12 3 0 .800 422 283 W9
Los Angeles Rams 6 9 0 .400 317 361 L2
Atlanta Falcons 3 12 0 .200 205 436 L3

[3]

Playoffs[]

NFC Wild Card Game[]

Minnesota Vikings 44, New Orleans Saints 10
1 2 3 4 Total
Vikings 10 21 3 10

44

Saints 7 3 0 0

10

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.

References[]

External links[]

AFC East Central West East Central West NFC
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
1987 NFL Draft1987 NFL strikeNFL PlayoffsPro BowlSuper Bowl XXII
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