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| Saints kicker Morten Andersen raises his arms in celebration after his game-winning field goal in the Saints' 1990 regular season finale with the Rams. |
New Orleans, Louisiana is often one of the places to be on New Year's Eve as thousands of partiers go to Bourbon Street or the French Quarter to ring in the new year.
But the New Year's Eve in 1990 in New Orleans might be considered the greatest New Year's Eve in the history of the city as the Saints secured a spot in the NFL postseason for only the second time in team history.
The Saints came into the game with a 7-8 record in what had been a disappointing season up to this point after three straight winning seasons under head coach Jim Mora, who had become the team's head coach prior to the 1986 season and led the Saints to their first ever playoff spot in 1987.
Things got off to a rocky start during the offseason as the team was engaged in a contract dispute with starting quarterback Bobby Hebert that resulted in the "Cajun Cannon" sitting out the entire 1990 season.
The team would go back-and-forth at quarterback between veteran John Fourcade and second-year man Steve Walsh, who the Saints acquired in a trade early in the season from the Dallas Cowboys, as the offense struggled while the defense led by the "Dome Patrol" linebacker corps of Ricky Jackson, Vaughn Johnson, Sam Mills, and Pat Swilling kept New Orleans in the playoff race as they held offenses to 10 points or fewer six times during the 1990 season.
After a 2-5 start to the season, the Saints entered the regular season finale with a chance to clinch a Wild Card berth in the NFC if they could defeat the 5-10 Los Angeles Rams or if the game ended in a tie.
If the Rams won, then the 7-9 Cowboys would become the first team to make the NFL playoffs with a losing record.
The Rams would get the ball to start the game as they began their first possession at their 20-yard-line with a three-yard run by Marcus Dupree followed by an incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 7 when quarterback Jim Everett went deep and hit Ellard, who made a diving catch, for a 32-yard completion and a 1st down at the Saints' 45-yard-line.
After the next three plays netted eight yards, the Rams were faced with a 4th & 2 at the New Orleans 37-yard-line when head coach John Robinson kept the offense on the field as they would go for the 1st down which they got when Everett completed a three-yard pass to tight end Pete Holohan.
On the next play from scrimmage, Everett would find Ellard again, this time for 25 yards to give Los Angeles a 1st & goal at the Saints' nine-yard-line as the drive would stall thanks in large part to a holding penalty on tight end Pat Carter which pushed the Rams back 10 yards.
Mike Lansford would come on to attempt a 30-yard field goal but his kick would sail wide left of the uprights to keep the game scoreless as the Saints would take over at their 20-yard-line.
The first two plays of the drive would gain seven yards to set up 3rd & 3 when Walsh completed a short pass to wide receiver Eric Martin, who took the pass and ran it down to the Rams' 39-yard-line after a 34-yard gain.
The Saints would pick up six more yards before calling on Morten Andersen to attempt a 51-yard field goal which was long enough but sailed wide left to keep it a 0-0 game as the Rams would take over at their 33-yard-line.
The Saints defense would force the Rams to go three-and-out as returner Vince Buck received the ensuing punt and returned it 33 yards to the Los Angeles 36-yard-line for the longest punt return of the season for New Orleans.
Following two runs for 10 yards, Walsh would find wide receiver Floyd Turner over the middle for a 26-yard touchdown for the first points of the game as the Saints took a 7-0 lead with 2:13 remaining in the first quarter.
The Rams would begin their next possession at their 20-yard-line as a 43-yard pass from Everett to Ellard would help led to a 26-yard field goal by Lansford which put Los Angeles on the scoreboard and cut the New Orleans lead to 7-3 early in the second quarter.
The Saints would get great field position for the second drive in a row as Gene Atkins returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to the Los Angeles 47-yard-line.
From there, the Saints would run the ball on 10 straight plays with running back Craig "Ironhead" Heyward getting the bulk of the work as he carried the ball seven times for 27 yards on the drive with his last carry being an one-yard touchdown to extend New Orleans' lead to 14-3 with 4:27 left in the second quarter.
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| Saints quarterback Steve Walsh completed 11 of 26 passes for 174 yards and threw one touchdown and zero interceptions. |
The two teams would trade punts until 25 seconds remained in the second quarter when the Saints took over at the Rams' 41-yard-line after a poor punt LA punter Keith English as a nine-yard pass from Walsh to running back Gill Fenerty would give Andersen another chance at a field goal.
But once again Andersen could not connect as his 48-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right as the score remained at 14-3 in favor of the Saints as the first 30 minutes of play.
The third quarter would be a stalemate as both teams exchanged punts for the majority of the quarter with the exception of Rams possession midway through the quarter.
Starting at their 36-yard-line, the Rams would advance into Saints territory, thanks in large part to a 25-yard pass from Everett to Flipper Anderson, who had caught 15 passes for 336 yards in the Rams' last game in the Superdome(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here:https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2018/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-flipper.html)as Los Angeles had a 1st down at the New Orleans 25-yard-line when Everett found over Ellard over the middle for a big gain.
Ellard appeared on his way to a touchdown until he was met by Atkins at the five-yard-line as the free safety would knock the ball loose as Mills would end up making the recovery at the Saints' nine-yard-line as the game would go into the fourth quarter with New Orleans holding on to a 14-3 lead.
The Rams would begin their first possession of the final quarter at their 33-yard-line as a 14-yard pass from Everett to Ellard followed by a six-yard run by Dupree would set up 2nd & 4 when Everett was able to hit Anderson in stride for a 47-yard touchdown to cut the Saints' lead to 14-10 with 13:31 to go in the fourth quarter.
Following an exchange of punts, the Saints would get the ball back at the Rams' 38-yard-line as three runs by Fenerty for 14 yards would set up a 41-yard field goal attempt by Andersen, which this time he made to increase the Saints' lead back to a touchdown at 17-10 with 5:59 to go in the final period.
The Rams would get the ball back at their 19-yard-line as Everett would complete a seven-yard pass to Holohan to begin the drive which was followed by a two-yard run by running back Robert Delpino and then a pass to Delpino that went for no gain to set up 4th & 1.
Once again, Robinson gambled and went for the 1st down which he got as Everett completed a two-yard pass to Holohan to move the sticks as the Rams had a fresh set of downs at their 30-yard-line.
Two plays later on 3rd & 9, Everett would find wide receiver Aaron Cox for a 32-yard completion to give Los Angeles a 1st down at the Saints' 37-yard-line which was followed up with an incomplete pass to bring up 2nd & 10 when running back Cleveland Gary bursted through the middle for a 26-yard run to give the Rams a 1st down at the New Orleans 11-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.
After the timeout, Everett would hit Holohan for a 10-yard pass to give the Rams a 1st & goal when Everett found Delpino in the right corner of the end zone for the one-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 17 with 1:19 to go in regulation.
The game seemed destined for overtime especially since the Saints offense had gone quiet in the second half compiling only 70 yards of total offense over six possessions.
However, they would get good field position to start their attempt at a game-winning drive as Atkins returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to the New Orleans 44-yard-line.
Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Walsh would hit wide receiver Brett Perriman for 11 yards and a New Orleans 1st down at the Los Angeles 45-yard-line where the threw another incomplete pass to bring up 2nd & 10.
That is when Walsh connected with Martin for a 34-yard completion to give the Saints a 1st down at the Rams' 11-yard-line as Walsh would take one knee before Andersen would come on to the field to attempt a 29-yard field goal that if successful would send New Orleans to the playoffs.
It looked the Rams had saved themselves when defensive tackle Alvin Wright was able to break through the Saints' line of defense to block the kick to send the game into overtime, only for Wright be called for being offsides, which negated the blocked kick, moved the Saints five yards closer but more importantly give Andersen another chance at a game-winning field goal.
This time, Andersen would make the kick from 24 yards out to give the Saints a 20-17 lead with two seconds left which meant the Rams had one more chance if they could return the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.
Gaston Green would receive the kick at his six-yard-line as he would give the Saints a scare as he returned the kick into New Orleans territory until he was tackled by Buck at the Saints' 38-yard-line which ended the game with New Orleans on top 20-17 as the Saints had secured their second ever trip to the NFL postseason.
One week after their dramatic win over the Rams, the Saints would be eliminated from the postseason as they would be held to just 193 yards of total offense in a 16-6 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Hebert would return as the team's starting quarterback for the next two seasons as the Saints won their first ever division title in 1991 with a 11-5 record then clinched a Wild Card spot in 1992 with a 12-4 record, only for New Orleans to be eliminated in the Wild Card round in both seasons, first by the Atlanta Falcons in '91 and the Philadelphia Eagles in '92.
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