1991 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerTom Benson
General managerJim Finks
Head coachJim Mora
Home fieldLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st NFC West
Playoff finishLost Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Falcons) 20–27
Pro BowlersLB Pat Swilling
LB Sam Mills
LB Rickey Jackson
LB Vaughan Johnson
ST Bennie Thompson

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.

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] This was also the first season where four linebackers from the same team made the pro bowl, which the Saints would do again the next season. 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 the Cha-Ching slogan 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  

[4]

Personnel

Staff

1991 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

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Russell Paternostro

[5]

Roster

1991 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad

47 active, 10 inactive, 3 practice squad


Rookies in italics

[6]

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 3 Minnesota Vikings W 18–3 1–0 Louisiana Superdome 58,593
2 August 10 Green Bay Packers W 31–20 2–0 Louisiana Superdome 55,730
3 August 17 at Indianapolis Colts L 28–34 2–1 Hoosier Dome 45,963
4 August 24 at Miami Dolphins L 24–28 2–2 Joe Robbie Stadium 44,099

[7]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 1 Seattle Seahawks W 27–24 1–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,492
2 September 8 at Kansas City Chiefs W 17–10 2–0 Arrowhead Stadium 74,816
3 September 15 Los Angeles Rams W 24–7 3–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,583
4 September 22 Minnesota Vikings W 26–0 4–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,591
5 September 29 at Atlanta Falcons W 27–6 5–0 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 56,556
6 Bye
7 October 13 at Philadelphia Eagles W 13–6 6–0 Veterans Stadium 64,224
8 October 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–7 7–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,591
9 October 27 Chicago Bears L 17–20 7–1 Louisiana Superdome 68,591
10 November 3 at Los Angeles Rams W 24–17 8–1 Anaheim Stadium 58,713
11 November 10 San Francisco 49ers W 10–3 9–1 Louisiana Superdome 68,591
12 November 17 at San Diego Chargers L 21–24 9–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 48,420
13 November 24 Atlanta Falcons L 20–23 (OT) 9–3 Louisiana Superdome 68,591
14 December 1 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–38 9–4 Candlestick Park 62,092
15 December 8 at Dallas Cowboys L 14–23 9–5 Texas Stadium 64,530
16 December 16 Los Angeles Raiders W 27–0 10–5 Louisiana Superdome 68,625
17 December 22 at Phoenix Cardinals W 27–3 11–5 Sun Devil Stadium 30,928
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance
Wildcard December 28 Atlanta Falcons (6) L 20–27 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 68,794

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

New Orleans Saints 24, Los Angeles Rams 7
Period 1 2 34Total
Rams 0 0 707
Saints 7 0 71024

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Game time: 8:04 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Played indoors, domed stadium
  • Game attendance: 68,583
  • Referee: Tom Dooley
  • TV: TNT

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

Atlanta Falcons 27, New Orleans Saints 20
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 0 10 71027
Saints 7 6 0720

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

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 [8]

Milestones

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Football Outsiders: 1991 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
  3. ↑ Scott, Mike (July 21, 2016). "The 1991 New Orleans Saints, and the season of 'cha-ching'". NOLA.com. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  4. ↑ "1991 New Orleans Saints Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  5. ↑ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  6. ↑ "1991 New Orleans Saints starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  7. ↑ "1991 New Orleans Saints season". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. Workman Publishing Company. 2001. p. 457. ISBN 0-7611-2480-2.


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