# 1990 New Orleans Saints season

The 1990 New Orleans Saints season was the franchise's 24th season in the National Football League, the 15th to host games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the fifth under head coach Jim Mora. The team looked to improve on its 9–7 record from 1989 and make the playoffs for the second time in franchise history. The Saints did not improve on their 9–7 record, as they finished the season 8–8. However, the Saints would unexpectedly make the postseason as the final seed in the NFC after getting a win and the Cowboys losing in the final week of the regular season.
During the off-season, quarterback Bobby Hebert was involved in a contract dispute that ultimately resulted in Hebert sitting out the entire season; while at one point a rumor circulated that Hebert would be traded to the Los Angeles Raiders in exchange for running back Marcus Allen and a 2nd round draft pick. Instead, during the season New Orleans traded a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft pick for 1991 in exchange for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Steve Walsh.

## The season

The Saints, with a record of eight wins and eight losses, became the second team in NFL history at or below .500 to qualify for postseason play, and the first to do so as a wild card. Since no non-playoff team in the NFC had a record at or above .500, the Saints were awarded the final Wild Card seed. In the 1990 postseason, the Saints would lose to the Chicago Bears 16–6.
Others to finish 8–8 and make the playoffs were the 1985 Cleveland Browns, the 1991 New York Jets, the 1999 Detroit Lions, the 1999 Dallas Cowboys, the 2004 St. Louis Rams, the 2004 Minnesota Vikings, the 2006 New York Giants, the 2008 San Diego Chargers, the 2011 Denver Broncos and the 2020 Chicago Bears . However, the 2010 Seahawks would break this record, as they finished the 2010 season at 7–9 and clinched their division, becoming the first team in NFL history to win their division despite having a losing record, and this would be repeated by the 2014 Carolina Panthers and then repeated by the 2020 Washington Football Team and the 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coincidentally, the Saints during that 2010 season met Seattle in that season's NFC Wild Card game, in which they were upset 41–36.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1990 New Orleans Saints draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 14 | Renaldo Turnbull * | Defensive end | West Virginia |
| 2 | 44 | Vince Buck | Defensive back | Central State (OH) |
| 3 | 71 | Joel Smeenge | Defensive end | Western Michigan |
| 4 | 98 | DeMond Winston | Linebacker | Vanderbilt |
| 5 | 125 | Charles Arbuckle | Tight end | UCLA |
| 6 | 156 | Mike Buck | Quarterback | Maine |
| 6 | 158 | James Williams | Linebacker | Mississippi State |
| 7 | 183 | Scott Hough | Guard | Maine |
| 8 | 207 | Gerry Gdowski | Quarterback | Nebraska |
| 8 | 210 | Derrick Carr | Defensive end | Bowling Green |
| 9 | 233 | Broderick Graves | Running back | Winston-Salem State |
| 9 | 236 | Lonnie Brockman | Linebacker | West Virginia |
| 10 | 260 | Gary Cooper | Wide receiver | Clemson |
| 10 | 267 | Ernest Spears | Defensive back | USC |
| 11 | 287 | Webbie Burnett | Defensive tackle | Western Kentucky |
| 12 | 320 | Chris Port | Guard | Duke |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 10 | San Francisco 49ers | L 12–13 | 0–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 68,629 |
| 2 | September 16 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 3–32 | 0–2 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 56,272 |
| 3 | September 23 | Phoenix Cardinals | W 28–7 | 1–2 | Louisiana Superdome | 61,110 |
| 4 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 5 | October 7 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 27–28 | 1–3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 57,401 |
| 6 | October 14 | Cleveland Browns | W 25–20 | 2–3 | Louisiana Superdome | 68,608 |
| 7 | October 21 | at Houston Oilers | L 10–23 | 2–4 | Houston Astrodome | 57,908 |
| 8 | October 28 | Detroit Lions | L 10–27 | 2–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 64,368 |
| 9 | November 4 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 21–7 | 3–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 60,067 |
| 10 | November 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 35–7 | 4–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 67,865 |
| 11 | November 18 | at Washington Redskins | L 17–31 | 4–6 | RFK Stadium | 52,573 |
| 12 | November 25 | Atlanta Falcons | W 10–7 | 5–6 | Louisiana Superdome | 68,629 |
| 13 | December 2 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 13–17 | 5–7 | Texas Stadium | 60,087 |
| 14 | December 9 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 24–20 | 6–7 | Anaheim Stadium | 56,864 |
| 15 | December 16 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 6–9 | 6–8 | Louisiana Superdome | 68,582 |
| 16 | December 23 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 13–10 | 7–8 | Candlestick Park | 60,112 |
| 17 | December 31 | Los Angeles Rams | W 20–17 | 8–8 | Louisiana Superdome | 68,647 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ San Francisco 49ers | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 4–2 | 10–2 | 353 | 239 | W1 |
| $^{(6)}$ New Orleans Saints | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–2 | 6–6 | 274 | 275 | W2 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–4 | 3–9 | 345 | 412 | L4 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–4 | 3–9 | 348 | 365 | W2 |

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Wildcard | January 6, 1991 | at Chicago Bears (3) | L 6–16 | 0–1 | Soldier Field | 60,767 |