1986 New Orleans Saints 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

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

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

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 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

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 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
	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