NFL Old School Game of the Week: Saints Prevail Over 49ers in "Coulda Woulda Shoulda" Rematch

In week 6 of the 1987 NFL regular season, which was also the first week where all the regular NFL players played following three games featuring replacement players because of the NFL strike, the New Orleans Saints lost at home to the San Francisco 49ers 24-22 as Morten Andersen's 52-yard field goal in the final seconds sailed wide left.
In the locker room following the game, second-year Saints head coach Jim Mora went one of his legendary rants saying the Saints weren't good enough to beat the 49ers:

The "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda" rant as it became to be known would be seen as the turning point in the Saints' 1987 season as it helped sparked the team toward their first winning season in team history.
Since their inception in 1967, the Saints had never finished beyond .500 and had never made the playoffs.
In 1986, the team hired Mora after he had spent three years in the USFL, leading the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars to a 48-13-1 record and two league championships.
Mora wasn't the only USFL refugee to land in New Orleans as quarterback Bobby Hebert, as well as linebackers Sam Mills and Vaughn Johnson joined Mora to help the Saints to a 7-9 season in 1986.
But after their loss to the 49ers in week 6, the Saints stood at 3-3 and most New Orleans fans were expecting another mediocre season at best.
The Saints would easily dispatch of the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams the next two weeks, beating them by a combined score of 69-14 to improve their record to 5-3 as they traveled to San Francisco for a rematch with the 49ers in week 9.
By 1987, the 49ers had established themselves as the rulers of the NFC West, winning the division in four of the previous six years as well as two Super Bowl titles.
The 49ers were led by head coach Bill Walsh and his famous "West Coast" Offense with Joe Montana at quarterback, running back Roger Craig who had had 1,000 yards receiving and running in 1985, plus third-year wide receiver Jerry Rice who was just coming into his prime.
To go along with this high-powered offense, the 49ers had a stingy defense led by safety Ronnie Lott which had led San Francisco to a 7-1 record as they prepared to host the Saints at Candlestick Park for the anticipated rematch.
However, Montana would not be starting as a sprained index finger on his right hand allowed for Steve Young to get the start in this important game, though Montana would be available if Young were to be injured or ineffective.
The 49ers got the ball to start the game at their 28-yard-line as a 17-yard run by Rice off a reverse on the first play of the game and a 21-yard pass from Young to fullback Tom Rathman help set up a 46-yard field goal attempt by Ray Wersching, with Montana as the holder despite his injured finger.
Wersching's kick would be short and no good to give the Saints the ball at their 29-yard-line where they were able to put together a nine-play, 48-yard drive that was capped off with a 40-yard field goal by Andersen to give New Orelans a 3-0 lead with 6:05 left in the first quarter.
The 49ers would get the ball back at their 24-yard-line but were pushed back 10 yards after an ineligible man downfield penalty wiped out a 12-yard pass from Young to Craig on 1st down.
Nevertheless, Young would lead the 49ers to the New Orleans 46-yard-line where Young connected with Rice on a 46-yard touchdown to give the 49ers a 7-3 lead with 67 seconds left in the opening quarter.
But for Young, his touchdown to Rice would be the final play of the game for him as coaches noted he was woozy believing he had suffered a concussion on one of his two quarterback runs during the touchdown drive.
As Montana was getting warmed up to enter the game, the Saints took over at their 36-yard-line but could not make a 1st down and were forced to punt the ball back to the 49ers.
However, the Saints would catch a break on the punt as 49ers linebacker Keena Turner was called for roughing the kicker, drawing a 15-yard penalty and giving New Orleans an 1st down at their 46-yard-line.
The Saints would hold the ball into the second quarter as they drove down to the 49ers' 24-yard-line before calling on Andersen to attempt a 41-yard field goal which sailed wide right and no good to keep it 7-3 in favor of the 49ers.
When the San Francisco offense come onto the field, Montana came in with them as they took possession at their 24-yard-line as they drove to the Saints' 40-yard-line in just three plays as Craig ran for 27 yards on two carries and Montana connected with tight end John Frank for nine yards.
But on 1st & 10 at the New Orleans 40-yard-line, Montana's pass intended for Ron Heller was tipped and intercepted by Saints linebacker Rickey Jackson to give the Saints the ball at their 28-yard-line.
From there, the Saints would drive 63 yards in 14 plays, primarily on the ground with running backs Dalton Hilliard and Reuben Mayes to set up a 27-yard field goal by Andersen which he made to cut the 49ers' lead to 7-6 with 1:52 left in the first half.

Despite not starting the game, 49ers quarterback Joe Montana would complete 16 of 29 passes for 144 yards.

Montana and the 49ers would get the ball at their 20-yard-line where they hoped to put their two-minute offense to good use to drive down and pick up some more points before halftime.
However, Montana would throw his second interception of the half as Saints cornerback Dave Waymer picked off a pass intended for Heller again and ran it back 17 yards to the San Francisco 23-yard-line to give the New Orleans offense the ball with 1:24 left in the half.
But the Saints ended up going backwards as they lost 12 yards, thanks in large part to a 10-yard-loss on a quarterback sack by 49ers defensive tackle Clyde Glover, forcing Mora to call on Andersen for the fourth time in the first half, this time to attempt a 51-yard field goal.
Andersen's kick was true and the Saints would go into the halftime break with a 9-7 lead and would get the ball to start the second half.
Starting at their own 35-yard-line, the Saints would drive to the 49ers' 43-yard-line when they were faced with a 3rd & 3 situation.
That is when Hebert threw a short pass to wide receiver Mike Jones, who made the catch at the San Francisco 38-yard-line, then spun away to break the tackle attempt made by 49ers cornerback Tim McKyer, and outraced the rest of the 49ers defense for a 43-yard touchdown to extend the Saints' lead to 16-7 with 11:26 left in the third quarter.
Following an exchange of punts, the 49ers had the ball at exactly the 50-yard-line when Walsh decided to go into his bag of tricks as Montana threw to seldom-used running back Harry Sydney, who then fired a perfect pass for Rice who made the catch for a 50-yard touchdown to bring the 49ers to within two points at 16-14 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.

Jerry Rice caught his seventh and eighth touchdown receptions of his 22-touchdown catch season in the 49ers' Week 9 game.

After another exchange of punts, the Saints had the ball at the 49ers' 43-yard-line when Hebert was intercepted by Lott, whose 34-yard return set up shop for the 49ers offense at the New Orleans 31-yard-line.
Three plays netted only two yards, forcing Walsh to send in Wersching to attempt a 46-yard field goal that would give the lead back to the 49ers.
But Saints defensive back Reggie Sutton would break through the right side of the 49ers' offensive line to block the kick, which bounced into the hands of teammate Johnnie Poe, who returned it 61 yards for a touchdown to increase the New Orleans lead to 23-14 with just three seconds left in the third quarter.
Instead of having a one-point lead, San Francisco now needed two scores to retake the lead as the fourth quarter began with the 49ers holding the ball at their 35-yard-line.
After two plays gained four yards, Montana would hit Russ Francis for 16 yards and a 1st down, which was followed by a 22-yard pass to Frank, giving the 49ers a 1st down at the Saints' 23-yard-line.
However, the Saints' defense would stiffen once again as they allowed only three more yards on the next three plays, leading to a 35-yard field goal by Wersching, which he made to cut the New Orleans lead to 23-17 with 10:44 left in the fourth quarter.
The Saints would get the ball back at their 14-yard-line but couldn't it make it past their own 42-yard-line before punting the ball back to the 49ers who took over at their 37-yard-line with 6:46 to go in the game.
The drive began with four straight running plays which picked up 18 yards before Montana threw his first pass of the drive which fell incomplete leading to a 3rd & 7 situation at the Saints' 46-yard-line.
Montana would connect with Craig for six yards setting up 4th & 1 as Walsh decided to go for the 1st down.
The 49ers would get it as Craig took a pitch from Montana and ran around the left side for eight yards and a 1st down at the New Orleans 32-yard-line.
But three plays later, the 49ers would be faced with another 4th down situation, this time needing seven yards to pick up the 1st down.
That is when Montana faked a draw to Craig and fired a pass for Heller for the 29-yard touchdown that with Wersching's extra point gave the 49ers a 24-23 lead with 2:54 remaining.
The Saints would get the ball back at their 22-yard-line with two timeouts in their pocket and needing just a field goal.
But up to this point in the game, Hebert had only completed eight of 24 passes for 127 yards.
If the Saints were to drive down and kick the winning field goal, they would need Hebert to step up.
Hebert would answer the call on the first two plays of the drive as he hit Lonzell Hill for 23 yards, then Eric Martin for 31 yards, driving the Saints 54 yards in just two plays as they had a 1st down at the 49ers' 24-yard-line.
Two runs by Hilliard only picked up one yard before Hebert put the ball back in the air only to have it fall incomplete and forcing 4th down as Mora sent in Andersen to attempt a 40-yard field goal to give the Saints the lead.
With a chance to redeem himself for his miss from three weeks prior, Andersen made the 40-yard kick to give New Orleans a 26-24 lead with 1:06 remaining.
But that was still plenty of time for Montana to drive the 49ers down the field and give Wersching a chance to win the game with a field goal of his own.
Taking over at his 26-yard-line, Montana would complete three passes in a row to Craig, gaining 19 yards before spending the 49ers' last timeout with 41 seconds to go.
After the timeout, Montana would connect with John Taylor for 15 yards and a 1st down at the Saints' 40-yard-line.
Back-to-back incomplete passes lead to a 3rd down with 18 seconds left when Montana dropped back to pass only to find no one open.
This lead him to scramble and try to pick up the 1st down, but he was tackled one yard short at the Saints' 31-yard-line with 10 seconds to go.
Montana tried to get the 49ers lined up for one last play only to have the clock run out with the Saints victors by the score of 26-24.

Morten Andersen celebrates after making the game-winning field goal.

In the locker room after the game, Mora was asked if his team was contenders to which the coach replied "Yes, we're contenders".
Mora and the Saints were not lose a game for the rest of the regular season as they finished with a then franchise best 12-3 record to earn their first ever winning season and playoff berth in franchise history.
But the 49ers would not lose for the rest of the regular season as well as they finished one game ahead of the Saints with a league best 13-2 record as Rice would catch fire as he caught 14 touchdown passes in the 49ers' final six regular season games to set the NFL record for most touchdown receptions in a season with 22, which stood for 20 years until Randy Moss broke it in 2007.
However, both teams' seasons would end at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings as the 8-7 Vikings destroyed the Saints 44-10 in the NFC Wild Card Game, then shocked the 49ers 36-24 in the Divisional Round, before being eliminated by the Washington Redskins 17-10 in the NFC Championship Game.