NFL Old School Game of the Week: Rams' Last-Second FG Denies Saints First Playoff Berth

Mike Lansford(1) jumps into the air after his 42-yard field goal sailed through the uprights to send the Rams to the 1983 NFL Playoffs.

For the first two decade of their existence, the New Orleans Saints were perhaps the most perennial loser in the NFL.
From 1967-1977, the team never won more than five games in a season and would hit rock bottom in 1980 when they went 1-15, gaining notoriety as the "Ain'ts".
Following the 1980 season, the Saints hired former Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips who in 1983 had the Saints on the cusp of not their first winning season, but also on the verge of their first playoff berth as they hosted the Los Angeles Rams on the final Sunday of the regular season.
The Saints entered the game with a 8-7 record thanks to an offense directed by former Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler and running back George Rogers, who rushed for over 1,000 yards during the '83 season.
The Saints also had a stingy defense which was the toughest to throw against in the NFL and allowed the second fewest total yards in the league that year.
The Saints hoped to ride Rogers, their defense and their fans as over 70,000 fans packed the Louisiana Superdome to see New Orleans to take on the 8-7 Rams.
The Rams were trying to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1980 under first year head coach John Robinson and rookie running back Eric Dickerson, who would set the NFL record for most rushing yards by a running back in their rookie season as he would finish with 1,808 yards and scored 18 touchdowns.
The Rams also had Vince Ferragamo at quarterback, who had led the Rams to the Super Bowl during the 1979 season.
Los Angeles appeared on the verge of a playoff berth as they stood with a 8-5 record before losing back-to-back games to the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots, where the team had scored a combined 16 points in both games.
While the Rams had the same 8-7 record as the Saints, the Rams would need help to get into the playoffs as they needed a win over the Saints and either a loss by the Green Bay Packers(which would give them the second Wild Card spot) or a loss by the San Francisco 49ers(which would give them the NFC West division title).
So essentially, the Rams-Saints game was a do-or-die game for both teams with the winner going to the playoffs and the loser left heartbroken.
 After forcing the Rams to punt on the opening possession of the game, the Saints would drive 80 yards in 11 plays as Stabler completed five of six passes for 64 yards on the drive which culminated with a 11-yard touchdown pass from the "Snake" to Jeff Groth to give New Orelans a 7-0 lead with 5:42 left in the first quarter.
The Rams would respond to the touchdown by driving to the Saints' eight-yard-line as Ferragamo connected with George Farmer on passes of 25 and 31 yards, only to have LA turn it over when Dickerson was hit by Saints free safety Frank Wattelet, forcing a fumble that was recovered by cornerback Dave Waymer at the Saints' five-yard-line.
But on the first play following the fumble, Stabler was sacked by Rams defensive end Jack Youngblood in the end zone for a safety to put the Rams on the board with two points as the score was now 7-2 with 3:18 left in the first quarter.
The rest of the first half turned into a defensive stalemate as neither team could mount a drive with the only points of the second quarter coming courtesy of the Rams special teams unit.
Saints punter Russell Erxelben, hampered by a pulled groin muscle that he suffered during warmups, kicked a low line drive punt that only went 38 yards that was caught by Rams returner Henry Ellard at his 28-yard-line.
With his six blockers in front of him, Ellard was able to run down the left sideline basically untouched a 72-yard touchdown to give the Rams a 9-7 lead with 1:39 left in the first half.
Erxelben would leave the game after Ellard's touchdown and not return, but it would not be the last significant injury for the Saints as the Rams took their 9-7 lead into the locker room as the first half came to a close.
The Saints got the ball to start the second half, but on the third play of the drive, Stabler was pressured by Youngblood and fellow linebacker Jim Collins, lofting a pass intended for Groth that was picked off by free safety Johnnie Johnson, who returned the interception for a 31-yard touchdown to increase the Rams' lead to 16-7 just 91 seconds into the second half.
To add injury into insult, Stabler was knocked out of the game as Youngblood fell on the "Snake"'s right leg, spraining his knee.
Stabler would be replaced by Dave Wilson, who had started two games earlier in the season, going 1-1.

Saints quarterback Ken Stabler sits on the bench with a ice pack on his right knee after being knocked out of the game on the third play of the second half.

Following an exchange of punts, Wilson would lead the Saints on a seven-play, 44-yard drive that ended with Wilson sneaking in for a one-yard touchdown to cut LA's lead to 16-14 with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
The Rams tried to respond on their next possession, only to have Dickerson fumble the football for the second time in the game, following a hit by strong safety Russell Gary, that was recovered by Wattelet at the LA 45-yard-line.
That is when the Saints decided to ride Rogers as he carried the ball eight straight times for 42 yards to set up Morten Andersen's 20-yard field goal to give New Orleans a 17-16 lead with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter.
The Saints defense had the Rams offense stifled as they forced another LA punt on the Rams' ensuing possession only to have disaster struck for New Orleans when Wilson was picked off by strong safety Nolan Cromwell on a pass intended for Eugene Goodlow and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown, the third non-offensive touchdown of the game by the Rams, to give LA a 23-17 lead with 10:10 to go in the game.
The Rams would force the Saints to punt on their ensuing possession to get the ball back, only to turn it over again when Ferragamo overthrew a pass intended for tight end Mike Barber, which ended up in the hands of New Orelans defensive back Greg Stemrick, who returned it 26 yards before he went out of bounds at the LA 44-yard-line, when he was hit after the whistle by Rams left tackle Bill Bain, drawing a 15-yard penalty that put the Saints offense at the Rams' 29-yard-line with 8:14 remaining.
The Saints used up as much of the clock as possible while driving to the Rams' goal line as they were faced with a 3rd & goal from the two-yard-line.
That is when Wilson handed the ball off to Rogers, who lost the football before he crossed the goal line, only to have guard Steve Korte recover the fumble in the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.
Andersen come on to kick the go-ahead extra point to give the Saints a 24-23 lead with 3:47 left in the game.
The Rams got the ball at their 20-yard-line as they look to put together a drive to get into field goal range, but after two incomplete passes and a 10-yard-loss on a sack by Saints linebacker Whitney Paul, the Rams punted the ball back to the Saints as Groth return the punt to the New Orelans 46-yard-line, only to have Otis Grant hit Groth late, drawing a 15-yard penalty to put the Saints at the LA 39-yard-line with 2:48 to play.
All the Saints needed was a 1st down to secure their first ever winning season and playoff berth, but the Saints were unable to pick up the 1st down, even with an offsides penalty on the Rams, as New Orleans picked up only two yards on three straight running plays.

George Rogers(38) would finish the day with 124 yards on 32 carries.

This left Phillips with an interesting decision as the Saints faced 4th & 3 at the Rams' 32-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.
The seemingly logical decision was to call on Andersen and attempt a 49-yard field goal to increase the New Orleans lead to 27-23 and force the Rams to drive for a touchdown.
But it looked Phillips was going to gamble and go for the 1st down as Wilson lined up behind the center following the two-minute warning, only to take a delay of game penalty pushing the Saints five yards back when Phillips sent in the punting unit.
Guido Merkens, taking over for the injured Erxelben, was unable to kick a coffin corner punt as his punt went into the end zone for a touchback, giving the Rams the ball at their 20-yard-line with 1:51 left and one timeout left.
Phillips' decision to punt was predicated on the fact that the Rams had not scored a touchdown on offense the entire game, Dickerson had been held to 80 yards, and Ferragamo had not completed a pass in the second half.
Phillips was putting the game and the season in his defense's hands, hoping for one more stop which would send New Orleans to the playoffs.
The drive began with Ferragamo's first completion of the second half as hit fullback Mike Guman for six yards, then hit Guman again for seven yards and a 1st down at the LA 33-yard-line.
Ferragamo would connect with Guman for the third straight time as the fullback picked up 14 yards and another 1st down at the Rams' 47-yard-line.
The Rams then got into Saints territory on the next play as Ferragamo found Barber for 11 yards, giving LA a 1st down at the New Orleans 42-yard-line as the Rams spend called timeout with 51 seconds left.
However, the timeout seemed to stop the Rams' momentum as Ferragamo would throw an incomplete pass on 1st & 10, which became 1st & 25 when Farmer was called for a 15-yard penalty pushing the Rams back to their 43-yard-line.
Ferragamo would almost be intercepted by Waymer on the next play, setting up a 2nd & 25 with 30 seconds to go.
That is when Ferragamo found Preston Dennard on a post pattern for 26 yards that not gave the Rams a 1st down at the Saints' 31-yard-line, but also put them in field goal range.
Ferragamo and the Rams' offense ran up to the line, presumably to spike the ball, only to have Ferragamo fire a quick pass to Dennard, who picked up six yards before going out of bounds at the New Orleans 25-yard-line with six seconds left.
Robinson sent the field goal team out as kicker Mike Lansford would come on to attempt a 42-yard field goal that if successful would send the  Rams to the playoffs.
The snap from center Doug Smith was a little high but the holder, Cromwell, was able to catch and get a hold for Lansford to kick it.
The kick hooks from right to left but is able to sneak past the left upright and good to give the Rams a 26-24 win,  denying the Saints their first winning season in their 17-year team history and sending the Rams to the playoffs as the Packers lost to the Bears 23-21.
Los Angeles would enter the playoffs as a Wild Card and would travel to Dallas to take on the 12-4 Cowboys where Ferragamo threw three touchdown passes and Dickerson ran for 99 yards as LA knocked off the Cowboys 24-17 to move onto the Divisional Playoffs where they would be destroyed by the Washington Redskins 51-7.

Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo would complete six of seven passes for 55 yards on LA's final drive.

However, the 1983 playoff berth would be the first of four straight postseason appearances and six in seven years, which included two trips to the NFC Championship Game, under head coach Robinson.
As for the Saints, the 1983 season would not be the only season in Phillips' tenure that would end in heartbreaking fashion as in 1984, New Orleans was on the cusp of a winning season, only to lose their final three games to finish 7-9.
Phillips would resign the following season after the Saints finished with a 5-11 record.
This would lead to the hiring of Jim Mora as head coach, who in 1987, lead the Saints to not only their first ever winning season, but their first ever playoff berth as they finished with a 12-3 record.
Since then, the Saints have added 13 winning seasons, been to the playoffs 11 times, and won a Super Bowl in 2010.

NFL Old School Game of the Week: Flipper Anderson Sets Receiving Yards Record in Rams Win

Flipper Anderson would set the single-game record for most receiving yards in a NFL game with his performance against the Saints in 1989.

When the Los Angeles Rams traveled to New Orleans to take on their NFC West rivals the Saints in a Week 12 showdown during the 1989 season, little did anyone know that history was going to be made that Sunday night as Willie "Flipper" Anderson put together a performance for the ages.
The Rams started off the 1989 season on fire as they jumped out to a 5-0 record thanks to the dynamic passing combination of quarterback Jim Everett and wide receiver Henry Ellard.
However, the Rams were be brought down to earth as they lost their next four games, including losing on a safety in overtime to the Minnesota Vikings, bringing their record to 5-4, only to rebound with back-to-back wins to bring their record back to 7-4.
While the Rams were on this roller coaster, second-year receiver Anderson had become LA's deep threat as he averaged nearly 31 yards per catch as he made only 19 catches over the first 11 games of the season, but for 584 yards and three touchdowns.
But as the Rams prepared for their huge game in the Crescent City, Anderson was going to have to take on a larger role as Ellard went down that week in practice with a pulled hamstring.
While the Rams had started the season hot, the Saints started out the season cold as they limped to a 1-4 start.
But following a win over the New York Jets in Week 6, the Saints traveled to California to take on the Rams where the team's linebacking corps known as the "Dome Patrol"(Pat Swilling, Sam Mills, Vaughn Johnson, and Rickey Jackson) helped lead the Saints to a 40-21 win as the Saints defense sacked Everett six times in the game.
By the time the Rams came to the Superdome for their rematch, the Saints stood at 6-5 needing another win over the Rams to stay in the hunt for a Wild Card spot as the 49ers had pulled away with the lead in the NFC West.
The Rams got the ball to start the game at their 20-yard-line and Anderson made his presence felt on the first play of the game as he made a 14-yard reception for a LA 1st down, which was immediately followed by a 11-yard catch on the next play.
The Rams eventually drove to the Saints' 29-yard-line until a holding penalty on fullback Buford McGee pushed them out of field goal range and forced LA to punt the ball to the Saints, who took over at their nine-yard-line.
From there, the Saints drove 91 yards in 13 plays with quarterback Bobby Hebert completing four of five passes on the drive with the last one being a 15-yard touchdown to Eric Martin to give New Orleans a 7-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter.
After forcing another Rams punt, the Saints took over at the Los Angeles 44-yard-line and proceeded to drive into field goal range, thanks in large part to a 17-yard pass from Hebert to tight end Greg Scales.
Morten Andersen came on and kicked a 36-yard field goal to increase the Saints' lead to 10-0 with 10:31 to go in the second quarter.

Saints running back Dalton Hilliard would run for 112 yards on 24 carries and threw a 35-yard touchdown pass.

The Rams begin their ensuing possession at their 20-yard-line but it seemed they were set for a three-and-out as they faced a 3rd & 13 at the 17-yard-line.
That is when Everett fired a pass for Anderson, just a split second before he was hit by Swilling, that was caught by Anderson at the Rams' 22-yard-line.
Flipper then proceeded to run down the left side of the field for a 43-yard gain that gave the Rams a 1st down at the Saints' 40-yard-line.
Two plays later on 3rd & 8 from the 38-yard-line, Everett found Anderson again, this time for 17 yards for another Rams 1st down at the Saints' 21-yard-line.
Two plays later, the Rams were faced with another 3rd down situation, but this time they decided to keep it on the ground as Everett handed the ball off to running back Greg Bell on 3rd & 2 at the New Orleans 13-yard-line.
But Bell was dropped for a two-yard-loss by Saints free safety Dave Waymer, forcing Los Angeles to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Mike Lansford that cut the Saints' lead to 10-3 with 6:23 left in the first half.
Late in the second quarter, the Saints had a chance to increase the lead as cornerback Robert Massey intercepted an Everett pass to give New Orleans the ball at the Rams' 44-yard-line.
But Hebert threw three straight incomplete passes forcing the Saints to punt as neither team would mount a scoring threat for the rest of the first half as the Saints went into the locker room with a 10-3 lead.
The Saints got the ball to start the second half but quickly gave it right back to the Rams as defensive end Shawn Miller intercepted Hebert's first pass of the half to give LA the ball at the Saints' 16-yard-line.
The Rams made it to the one-yard-line where they had a 3rd & goal when Everett fell down while trying to find an open receiver only to be touched by Sam Mills for a four-yard loss.
It appeared the Rams would get three points as Lansford came on to attempt a 22-yard chip shot field goal.
But the kick was partially blocked by Saints nose tackle Jim Wilks, sending the kick wide left of the goal post and no good, keeping it a 10-3 game.
Later in the quarter, the Saints had the ball at their nine-yard-line when Dalton Hilliard made his presence felt.
First, Hilliard exploded for a 40-yard run that put the Saints in Rams territory at the LA 47-yard-line.
Then a few plays later, Hilliard took a handoff from Hebert, ran right, then stopped and fired a 35-yard touchdown pass to Martin to increase the New Orleans lead to 17-3 with just over three minutes to go in the third quarter.
After Hilliard's shocking touchdown pass, the Rams got the ball back at their 20-yard-line when Everett hit Anderson for a 50-yard bomb that put Flipper over the 100-yard receiving mark with 141 yards on 6 catches up to this point and LA in Saints territory at the 30-yard-line.

Rams quarterback Jim Everett would throw for 454 yards on 29-of-51 passing and one touchdown despite throwing two interceptions. 

However the drive stalled when Vaughn Johnson sacked Everett on the first play of the 4th quarter,  pushing the Rams out of field goal range and forcing them to punt the ball back to the Saints.
Later in the 4th quarter, the Rams would be given a golden opportunity to cut into the Saints' lead when Saints returner Rod Harris muffed a punt that was recovered by the Rams' Shawn Miller, giving Los Angeles a 1st & goal at the Saints' eight-yard-line.
But the Saints defense, more specifically "The Dome Patrol" kept the Rams out of the end zone as Swilling sacked Everett on 4th down to end the LA scoring threat.
The Rams drove into the red zone again on their next possession, thanks to two catches by Anderson for 30 yards, only to have Bell fumble the ball on a 3rd & 4 from the Saints' 20-yard-line which was recovered by New Orleans defensive end Jumpy Geathers to stop another potential scoring drive by the Rams.
Even though their offense wasted two golden opportunities for touchdowns in the 4th quarter, the Rams defense remained stiff as they would not permit a Saints 1st down and forced them to punt the ball back to LA who took over at their 39-yard-line with 4:40 left in the 4th quarter.
The drive began with a 11-yard run by McGee, which was followed by a 46-yard bomb from Everett to Anderson, that not put Anderson over 200 receiving yards(217 on nine catches) it gave the Rams a 1st & goal at the Saints' four-yard-line.
But it seemed once again the Rams were going to come away with no points as two penalties pushed them back to the Saints' 19-yard-line.
However, the Rams would not be kept out of the end zone as Everett hit Aaron Cox for 14 yards to put the Rams at the five-yard-line, which was followed by a five-yard touchdown run by McGee that brought Los Angeles to within a touchdown at 17-10 with 2:46 to go in regulation.
Then after forcing another three-and-out from the Saints' offense, the Rams got the ball in Saints territory at the New Orleans 40-yard-line with 2:04 left in regulation.
But penalties pushed the Rams all the way back to their own 38-yard-line setting up a 2nd & 32 with 1:54 to go.
That is when Everett hit Anderson for a 26-yard completion to make the upcoming 3rd down more makeable as they needed only six yards to pick up the 1st down.
The Rams ended up getting seven as Everett found tight end Pete Holohan for a LA 1st down at the Saints' 29-yard-line.
On the next play, Everett went back to Anderson, who made the catch at the 15-yard-line before going out of bounds.
Then on the very next play, Everett lofted a pass for Anderson toward the right corner of the end zone.
Anderson made the catch, his 12th of the game, a 14-yard touchdown that with Lansford's extra point tied the game at 17 with 1:02 to go in regulation.
After giving up two touchdowns in a span of 1 minute and 44 seconds, the Saints tried to put together a drive to get into field goal range and give Morton Andersen a chance to win the game on a field goal.
But on 3rd & 1 from the Saints' 30-yard-line, Hebert overthrew a wide open Floyd Turner, forcing the Saints to punt the ball back to the Rams, who took over at their 41-yard-line after a 29-yard punt by Tommy Barnhardt.
With 22 seconds left on the clock, Everett found Anderson over the middle for a 24-yard reception, then hustled the team up to the line and spiked the ball, giving Lansford a chance to win the game with a 52-yard field goal and completing a remarkable comeback.
Lansford's kick was long enough, but it sailed wide left as time expired, sending the game into overtime with the game tied at 17.

In the 4th quarter and overtime alone, Anderson would catch nine passes for 195 yards and a touchdown.

The Saints won the coin toss and elected to receive as they appear to be on their way to be driving into range for an Andersen field goal as they had a 3rd & 1 at their own 45-yard-line when Rams linebacker Kevin Greene tackled Hilliard for a two-yard-loss, forcing  Barnhardt to punt back to LA, who took over at their 15-yard-line with a chance to win the game.
A holding penalty pushed the Rams back to their eight-yard-line to make it 1st & 17 when Everett went deep again for Anderson.
Not having been stopped all night, Anderson was bumped into by the Saints' Massey, drawing a 35-yard pass interference penalty and giving the Rams a 1st down at their 43-yard-line.
Then on 3rd & 6 from the Rams' 47-yard-line, Everett hit Anderson for a 14-yard gain, to give Anderson 310 receiving yards, breaking the NFL record for most receiving yards in one game that had by set by Stephone Paige back in 1985 as the Chiefs receiver had 309 yards on eight catches.
But Anderson would have to extend that record if the Rams were to get into field goal range and when he made an over-the-shoulder catch on 3rd & 11 for a 26-yard reception, LA was at the Saints' 14-yard-line, clearly in Lansford's range to make the game-winning field goal.
Lansford would come on and make the 31-yard field goal to give the Rams a 20-17 win, pushing their record to 8-4 while dropping the Saints to 6-6.
While Lansford got the last laugh, it was Anderson that was all the talk after this game.
In total, he caught 15 passes for 336 yards, averaging 22.5 yards per catch, to lead the Rams to the win.
The Saints would go on to win three out of their last four games to finish with a 9-7 record, their third straight winning season, but it wasn't good enough to make the playoffs as the Rams would earn one of the two Wild Card spots in the NFC with a 11-5 record.
In the playoffs, the Rams would upset the Philadelphia Eagles 21-7 in their Wild Card Game, then go to the Meadowlands where Anderson caught the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime to give LA a 19-13 win over the New York Giants.
However, the Rams' Cinderella run would came to a screeching halt the following week as they were blown out by the San Francisco 49ers 30-3 in the NFC Championship Game.
As for Anderson, he would remain with the Rams for five more years, before bouncing around the league for the next three years playing for three different teams(Indianapolis, Washington, and Denver) until he hung up his cleats after the 1997 season.
Anderson finished his career with 267 receptions for 5,357 yards and 28 touchdowns, though all but eight of those catches and 111 of those yards came with the Rams.
And even though the NFL is more of a passing league than it was back in 1989, Anderson's mark of most receiving yards in one game still stands as only two players(Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones) have recorded 300-yard receiving games.
While it may be a matter of time before Anderson's record is broken, his performance against the Saints in 1989 will remain as one of the best in NFL history.