1991 New Orleans Saints season
The 1991 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 25th season in the National Football League. The Saints won their first-ever division title, and reached the postseason for the second consecutive year. However, they lost their playoff opener at home in the wild card round to their bitter division rival, the Atlanta Falcons, and would have to wait another nine years before winning their first playoff game in franchise history.
| 1991 New Orleans Saints season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Tom Benson |
| Head coach | Jim Mora |
| General manager | Jim Finks |
| Home field | Louisiana Superdome |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–5 |
| Division place | 1st NFC West |
| Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Falcons) 20–27 |
| Pro Bowlers | LB Pat Swilling LB Sam Mills LB Rickey Jackson LB Vaughan Johnson ST Bennie Thompson |
The 1991 Saints had 48 defensive takeaways, tied for the most for any team in a single season in the 1990s.[1] Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 1991 Saints had the second-best defense in the NFL (behind the Philadelphia Eagles), and one of the top-ten defenses of all time, in terms of efficiency.[2] Says Football Outsiders,
The Saints were led by their linebackers, with Sam Mills, Vaughan Johnson, and Pat Swilling all making the Pro Bowl and Rickey Jackson being awesome without getting a trip to Hawaii. It wasn't really the easiest year to find space on the NFC Pro Bowl defense, was it?
The season saw the adoption of Cha-Ching slogan, it was used from a Rally's advertising campaign.[3]
Offseason
NFL Draft
| 1991 New Orleans Saints draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 42 | Wesley Carroll | Wide receiver | Miami (FL) | |
| 5 | 126 | Reggie Jones | Cornerback | Memphis | |
| 6 | 154 | Fred McAfee | Running back | Mississippi College | |
| 7 | 182 | Hayward Haynes | Guard | Florida State | |
| 8 | 210 | Frank Wainright | Tight end | Northern Colorado | |
| 9 | 237 | Anthony Wallace | Running back | California | |
| 11 | 293 | Scott Ross | Linebacker | USC | |
| 12 | 321 | Mark Drabczak | Guard | Minnesota | |
| Made roster | |||||
Personnel
Staff
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Roster
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 1, 1991 | Seattle Seahawks | W 27–24 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | September 8, 1991 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 17–10 | 2–0 | |
| 3 | September 15, 1991 | Los Angeles Rams | W 24–7 | 3–0 | |
| 4 | September 22, 1991 | Minnesota Vikings | W 26–0 | 4–0 | |
| 5 | September 29, 1991 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 27–6 | 5–0 | |
| 6 | Bye | ||||
| 7 | October 13, 1991 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 13–6 | 6–0 | |
| 8 | October 20, 1991 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 23–7 | 7–0 | |
| 9 | October 27, 1991 | Chicago Bears | L 20–17 | 7–1 | |
| 10 | November 3, 1991 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 24–17 | 8–1 | |
| 11 | November 10, 1991 | San Francisco 49ers | W 10–3 | 9–1 | |
| 12 | November 17, 1991 | at San Diego Chargers | L 24–21 | 9–2 | |
| 13 | November 24, 1991 | Atlanta Falcons | L 23–20 | 9–3 | |
| 14 | December 1, 1991 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 38–24 | 9–4 | |
| 15 | December 8, 1991 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 23–14 | 9–5 | |
| 16 | December 16, 1991 | Los Angeles Raiders | W 27–0 | 10–5 | |
| 17 | December 22, 1991 | at Phoenix Cardinals | W 27–3 | 11–5 | |
Playoffs
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 28, 1991 | Atlanta Falcons | L 27–20 |
Standings
| NFC West | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| (3) New Orleans Saints | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 341 | 211 | W2 |
| (6) Atlanta Falcons | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 5–1 | 7–5 | 361 | 338 | L1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 393 | 239 | W6 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 0–6 | 2–10 | 234 | 390 | L10 |
Regular season
Week 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rams | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Saints | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
Rams Jim Everett completed only 6 passes against the Saints defense, while Craig Heyward scored 2 touchdowns to send the Saints to a 3-0 record.
Playoffs
NFC Wild Card Game
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcons | 0 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| Saints | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Played indoors, domed stadium
- Game attendance: 68,794
- Referee: Howard Roe
- TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
Falcons quarterback Chris Miller completed the game-winning 61-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Haynes with 2:41 left in the contest. Miller completed 18 out of 30 passes for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Awards and records
- Pat Swilling, NFL Defensive Player of the Year
- Led NFL, Fewest Points Allowed, 211 points [7]
References
- Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1990 to 1999, in the regular season, sorted by descending Takeaways, tied with the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles.
- Football Outsiders: 1991 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
- Scott, Mike (July 21, 2016). "The 1991 New Orleans Saints, and the season of 'cha-ching'". NOLA.com. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
- "1991 New Orleans Saints Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- "1991 New Orleans Saints starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. Workman Publishing Company. p. 457. ISBN 0-7611-2480-2.