NFL Old School Game of the Week: Saints Clinch First Winning Season in Team History

 

The Saints make a crucial goal line stand in their 20-16 win over the Steelers.

For the first 20 years of their existence, the New Orleans Saints would one of the worst franchises in the NFL as they not only never made the playoffs but failed to achieve one winning season with their best seasons coming in 1979 and 1983 when they finished 8-8.

But entering Week 12 of the 1987 NFL season, the Saints had a chance to secure their first winning season in team history if they could knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Saints were led by head coach Jim Mora, who was in his second season as head coach following a successful run in the USFL which he lead the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars to two championships, had brought in some of the USFL's best players to New Orleans in the form of quarterback Bobby Hebert and linebackers Sam Mills and Vaughn Johnson.

Mills and Johnson would join fellow linebackers Rickey Jackson and Pat Swilling to form the "Dome Patrol" which would be the backbone one of the NFL's best defenses.

Following a 3-3 start the season, the Saints would go on a four-game winning streak which featured a 26-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers(To read about that game click on the link that is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-saints.html).

Standing in the way were the Pittsburgh Steelers, who came into the game with a 6-4 record trying to recover from a 6-10 season the year before which was their worst season since 1971.

Despite being far removed from their Super Bowl winning days in the 1970s, the Steelers still had head coach Chuck Noll, wide receiver John Stallworth and center Mike Webster on the roster as Pittsburgh looked to spoil the Saints' dreams of a winning season for at least one week the two teams met at Three Rivers Stadium.

The game started as a punting contest as both teams traded punts until 3:32 left in the first quarter when Saints cornerback Johnnie Poe blocked a Steelers punt to give New Orleans the ball at the Pittsburgh 13-yard-line.

However, the Saints could not pick up a 1st down and were forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Morten Andersen to put New Orleans on top 3-0 with 2:42 to go in the first quarter.

Following another Pittsburgh punt, the Saints got the ball at their 21-yard-line when Hebert threw a pass intended for Lonzell Hill only to have Steelers cornerback Dwayne Woodruff pick it off and return it for a 33-yard pick-six to give the Steelers a 7-3 lead with 12:30 left in the second quarter.

After another exchange of punts, the Saints were put together their best drive of the game up to this point as they ran the ball four straight times for a total of 32 yards to drive to the Pittsburgh 13-yard-line until running back Rueben Mayes had the ball knocked loose and recovered by Steelers linebacker Mike Merriweather to give Pittsburgh the ball at its 25-yard-line with 4:29 left before halftime.

From there, the Steelers would drive 75 yards in 10 plays, culminating with a five-yard touchdown run by Walter Abercrombie to increase Pittsburgh's lead to 14-3 with 46 seconds left in the first half.

The Saints would get one last chance to put some points on the board before halftime as Hebert completed two passes for 30 yards to give Andersen a chance at a 53-yard field goal only to have it fall short and no good to keep it 14-3 in favor of the Steelers at halftime.

Steelers running back Frank Pollard would run 74 yards on 19 carries.

The Saints would get the ball to start the second half as they would drive 86 yards in 13 plays with Hebert competing all four of his passes for 51 yards on the drive to set up a five-yard touchdown run by Mayes to cut the Steelers' lead to 14-10 with less than eight minutes left in the third quarter.

The Steelers would get the ball back at their 25-yard-line and drive to the New Orleans 28-yard-line when quarterback Mark Malone was sacked by Swilling, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Mills to give the ball back to the Saints at their 40-yard-line.

The Saints would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Steelers who took over at their 28-yard-line where two running plays picked up five yards to set up 3rd & 5 when Malone was intercepted by Poe to give the Saints the ball at the Pittsburgh 37-yard-line.

But once again the Saints would go three-and-out to force another New Orleans punt as the third quarter came to an end with the Steelers still ahead 14-10.

Following another Pittsburgh punt, the Saints would drive from their 45-yard-line to the Steelers' 33-yard-line to set up a 50-yard field goal attempt by Andersen, which once again fell short and no good to keep it 14-10 in favor of Pittsburgh.

A two-yard run by Frank Pollard and a 18-yard pass from Malone to Stallworth to put the Steelers at the Saints' 47-yard-line when Abercrombie lost the football after a hit by Saints strong safety Gene Atkins, leading to a recovery by defensive end Bruce Clark at the New Orleans 42-yard-line.

The Steelers were set to get the ball back as they held the Saints to a three-and-out to force a punt that was fielded by Woodson, who was hit by Saints linebacker Jon Kohlbrand leading to another fumble that was recovered by cornerback Dave Waymer to give New Orleans the ball at the Pittsburgh 21-yard-line.

After a two-yard run by Dalton Hilliard, Hebert connected with Eric Martin for a 19-yard touchdown pass to give the Saints a 17-14 lead with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter.

The Saints were be given a golden opportunity to increase their lead after defensive back Milton Mack intercept a Malone pass to give New Orleans the ball at the Steelers' 12-yard-line.

However, the Steelers defense would allow a 1st down to force a 32-yard field goal attempt by Andersen, which he made to increase the Saints' lead to 20-14 with 5:57 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers would get the ball back at their 38-yard-line where after the first two plays picked up only three yards to set up 3rd & 7, Malone connected with Calvin Sweeney for a 34-yard completion to give the Steelers a 1st down at the Saints' 25-yard-line.

From there, a three-yard run by Frank Pollard and two passes to Sweeney for 18 yards gave the Steelers a 1st & goal at the Saints' four-yard-line.

Two running plays gained three yards to set up 3rd & goal from the one-yard-line when Malone try to hit a wide open Pollard in the end zone only to have Jackson knock down the pass to force 4th down.

Noll decided to go for the touchdown as Pollard took a pitch from Malone and tried to take it around the left side when he was met by Mill, Johnson, and defensive end Jim Wilks short of the goal line to give the ball back to the Saints with 2:13 left on the clock.

Saints running back Ruben Mayes finished with 73 yards on 22 carries and scored one touchdown.

Three runs by Hilliard would gain only five yards to bring up a 4th down when Mora instructed punter Brian Hansen to take an intentional safety instead of risking a blocked punt to make it 20-16 in favor of the Saints with 65 seconds left in the game.

The Saints would kick it off from their 20-yard-line as Woodson would return the kick 21 yards to give Pittsburgh the ball at its 44-yard-line with 53 seconds left to drive for a game-winning touchdown.

Malone would complete three consecutive passes for 47 yards that with a five-yard penalty on the Saints would give the Steelers a 1st & goal at the Saints' three-yard-line with 10 seconds to go.

That is when Swilling sacked Malone for an eight-yard-loss to force the Steelers to spend their last timeout with six seconds left and one last chance to win the game.

Malone tried to hit Sweeney on a slant pattern but the wide receiver slipped and fell paving the way for Waymer to make the interception to end the game with the Saints on top 20-16 to secure the first winning season in franchise history.

The Saints would return to New Orleans to a hero's welcome as 2,500 fans greeted them at New Orleans International Airport following the win in Pittsburgh.

While the Steelers would finish the season with a 8-7 record but failing to make the playoffs, the Saints would not only lose again in the regular season as they would finish with a 12-3 record to earn the Saints their first ever trip to the playoffs.

However, the Saints' magical season would end in the Wild Card round as they were hammered by the Minnesota Vikings 44-10 in the NFC Wild Card Game.

But the 1987 season would be a turning point in the history of the Saints as they would not have a losing season until 1994 and more winning seasons than losing seasons which included a Super Bowl championship in 2009.