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
Owner	Tom Benson
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Jim Mora
Home stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	12–3
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoffs	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Vikings) 10–44
Pro Bowlers	G Brad Edelman T Hoby Brenner RB Reuben Mayes LB Sam Mills CB Dave Waymer K Morten Andersen
← 1986 Saints seasons 1988 →

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

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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 Head coach – Jim Mora Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Carl Smith Running backs – Jim Skipper Wide receivers – Steve Walters Offensive line – Paul Boudreau

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

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NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 New Orleans Saints replacement roster
Quarterbacks 11 John Fourcade 12 Kevin Ingram 14 Tim Riordan Running backs 30 Vince Alexander (Cut) 34 Jeff Rodenberger 42 Derrick Hughes 43 Garland Jean-Batiste 45 Nate Johnson 47 Dwight Beverly Wide receivers 26 Stacey Dawsey(Cut) 46 Willis Jacox 80 Joey Gunnells (walked off) 83 Dwight Walker 84 Eric Martin 85 Curtland Thomas 86 Vic Harrison 89 Joe Thomas Tight ends 82 Ken O'Neal 85 Darren Gottschalk 87 Malcolm Scott 88 Mike Waters		Offensive linemen 50 Phillip James 59 James Campen 62 Byron Barrett 63 John Benton 66 Kelvin Scott 66 Sam Houston 68 Walt Housman 74 Bill Leach 79 Henry Thomas 79 Ken Kaplan Defensive linemen 69 Pat Swoopes 64 Ted Elliott 93 Kevin Young 75 Bruce Clark 95 Kendall Walls 96 Sheldon Andrus 99 Tony Elliott		Linebackers 51 Larry McCoy 52 Marcus Marek 53 Keith Fourcade 54 Bill Roe 55 Joe DeForest 56 Ron Weissenhofer 58 Scott Leach 59 Roland Myers 91 Ken Marchiol 98 Fuzzy Huddleston Defensive backs 20 John Sutton 22 Derrick Taylor 24 Milton Mack 27 Antonio Gibson 28 Gene Atkins 29 Reggie Sutton 32 Darrel Toussaint 33 Junior Thurman 38 Mike Turner 40 Michael Adams 48 Greg Harding Special teams 4 Mike Cofer K 5 Florian Kempf K 6 Tommy Barnhardt P

Roster

1987 New Orleans Saints roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 John Fourcade  3 Bobby Hebert 18 Dave Wilson Running backs (RB) 37 Mel Gray 21 Dalton Hilliard 23 Buford Jordan 36 Rueben Mayes 34 Barry Word Wide receivers (WR) 87 Lonzell Hill 86 Mike Jones 84 Eric Martin 88 Mark Pattison Tight ends (TE) 83 Cliff Benson 85 Hoby Brenner 82 John Tice

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Stan Brock T 59 James Campen C 66 Chuck Commiskey G 70 Bill Contz T 72 Jim Dombrowski T 63 Brad Edelman G 77 Daren Gilbert T 61 Joel Hilgenberg C 60 Steve Korte C 65 Steve Trapilo G Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Bruce Clark DE 99 Tony Elliott NT 97 Jumpy Geathers DE 69 Pat Swoopes NT 73 Frank Warren DE 94 Jim Wilks DE

Linebackers (LB) 92 James Haynes OLB 57 Rickey Jackson OLB 53 Vaughan Johnson ILB 55 Joe Kohlbrand OLB 51 Sam Mills ILB 56 Pat Swilling OLB 54 Alvin Toles ILB Defensive backs (DB) 40 Michael Adams CB 28 Gene Atkins SS 41 Toi Cook FS 22 Van Jakes CB 24 Milton Mack CB 39 Brett Maxie FS 25 Johnnie Poe CB 29 Reggie Sutton CB 44 Dave Waymer CB Special teams (ST)  7 Morten Andersen K 10 Brian Hansen P

Reserve 89 Robert Clark WR (IR) 27 Antonio Gibson S (IR) 78 Shawn Knight DE (IR) —- Mike Waters TE (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 13	Cleveland Browns	W 28–21	1–0	Louisiana Superdome	59,900
2	September 20	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–27	1–1	Veterans Stadium	57,485
–	September 27	Atlanta Falcons	canceled	1–1	Louisiana Superdome
3	October 4	Los Angeles Rams	W 37–10	2–1	Louisiana Superdome	29,745
4	October 11	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 19–24	2–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	11,795
5	October 18	at Chicago Bears	W 19–17	3–2	Soldier Field	46,813
6	October 25	San Francisco 49ers	L 22–24	3–3	Louisiana Superdome	60,497
7	November 1	at Atlanta Falcons	W 38–0	4–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	42,196
8	November 8	at Los Angeles Rams	W 31–14	5–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	43,379
9	November 15	at San Francisco 49ers	W 26–24	6–3	Candlestick Park	60,436
10	November 22	New York Giants	W 23–14	7–3	Louisiana Superdome	67,639
11	November 29	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 20–16	8–3	Three Rivers Stadium	47,896
12	December 6	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 44–34	9–3	Louisiana Superdome	66,471
13	December 13	Houston Oilers	W 24–10	10–3	Louisiana Superdome	68,257
14	December 20	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 41–24	11–3	Riverfront Stadium	43,424
15	December 27	Green Bay Packers	W 33–24	12–3	Louisiana Superdome	68,364
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	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

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	10	21	3	10	44
Saints	7	3	0	0	10

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, which was actually an untimed play after the Saints were penalized for offsides on the previous play (a half cannot end on an accepted penalty against the defense).