# 1986 New Orleans Saints season

The 1986 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 20th as a member of the National Football League. They improved upon their previous season's output of 5–11, winning seven games.

## Offseason
### Organizational changes

On January 14, owner Tom Benson hired Jim Finks as the franchise's general manager, and turned over the entire football operation to the veteran operative who previously built championship clubs with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. Two weeks later, Finks hired Jim Mora as the new head coach. Mora was the most successful coach in the history of the United States Football League, leading the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars to two USFL championships and a runner-up finish.

### NFL Draft

1986 New Orleans Saints draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 6 | Jim Dombrowski | Offensive tackle | Virginia |
| 2 | 31 | Dalton Hilliard * | Running back | LSU |
| 3 | 57 | Rueben Mayes * | Running back | Washington State |
| 3 | 60 | Pat Swilling * | Linebacker | Georgia Tech |
| 3 | 62 | Barry Word | Running back | Virginia |
| 4 | 88 | Kelvin Edwards | Wide receiver | Liberty |
| 5 | 115 | Reggie Sutton | Cornerback | Miami (FL) |
| 6 | 142 | Bob Thompson | Wide receiver | Youngstown State |
| 7 | 173 | Gill Fenerty | Running back | Holy Cross |
| 8 | 200 | Filipo Mokofisi | Linebacker | Utah |
| 9 | 226 | Merlon Jones | Linebacker | Florida A&M |
| 10 | 253 | Jon Dumbauld | Defensive end | Kentucky |
| 11 | 284 | Pat Swoopes | Defensive tackle | Mississippi State |
| 12 | 311 | Sebastian Brown | Wide receiver | Bethune-Cookman |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 7 | Atlanta Falcons | L 10–31 | 0–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 67,950 | Recap |
| 2 | September 14 | Green Bay Packers | W 24–10 | 1–1 | Louisiana Superdome | 46,383 | Recap |
| 3 | September 21 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 17–26 | 1–2 | Candlestick Park | 58,297 | Recap |
| 4 | September 28 | at New York Giants | L 17–20 | 1–3 | Giants Stadium | 72,769 | Recap |
| 5 | October 5 | Washington Redskins | L 6–14 | 1–4 | Louisiana Superdome | 57,378 | Recap |
| 6 | October 12 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 17–14 | 2–4 | Hoosier Dome | 53,512 | Recap |
| 7 | October 19 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 38–7 | 3–4 | Louisiana Superdome | 43,355 | Recap |
| 8 | October 26 | at New York Jets | L 23–28 | 3–5 | Giants Stadium | 44,246 | Recap |
| 9 | November 2 | San Francisco 49ers | W 23–10 | 4–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 53,234 | Recap |
| 10 | November 9 | Los Angeles Rams | W 6–0 | 5–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 62,532 | Recap |
| 11 | November 16 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 16–7 | 6–5 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 32,069 | Recap |
| 12 | November 23 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 13–26 | 6–6 | Anaheim Stadium | 58,600 | Recap |
| 13 | November 30 | New England Patriots | L 20–21 | 6–7 | Louisiana Supedome | 58,259 | Recap |
| 14 | December 7 | Miami Dolphins | L 27–31 | 6–8 | Louisiana Superdome | 64,761 | Recap |
| 15 | December 14 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 14–9 | 7–8 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 39,994 | Recap |
| 16 | December 21 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–33 | 7–9 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 51,209 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Week 1

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Falcons | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 31 |
| Saints | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
* Date: September 7
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 67,950
* Referee: Tom Dooley
* The Football Database
Game information :
Falcons
David Archer 13/16, 207 Yds, 2 TD, INT
Cliff Austin 27 Rush, 104 Yds, TD
Charlie Brown 7 Rec, 119 Yds, TD
Saints
Bobby Hebert 13/33, 115 Yds, 2 INT
Dalton Hilliard 15 Rush, 51 Yds, TD
Eugene Goodlow 4 Rec, 58 Yds :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | ATL | NO |
| 1 | 10:17 | | | | Falcons | Brown 17-yard touchdown reception from Archer, Luckhurst kick good | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | 7:43 | | | | Falcons | Austin 1-yard touchdown run, Luckhurst kick good | 14 | 0 |
| 2 | 1:01 | | | | Saints | 47-yard field goal by Andersen | 14 | 3 |
| 3 | 2:21 | | | | Falcons | Riggs 1-yard touchdown run, Luckhurst kick good | 21 | 3 |
| 4 | 10:12 | | | | Falcons | Anthony Allen 19-yard touchdown reception from Archer, Luckhurst kick good | 28 | 3 |
| 4 | 3:30 | | | | Falcons | 32-yard field goal by Luckhurst | 31 | 3 |
| 4 | 0:08 | | | | Saints | Hilliard 1-yard touchdown run, Andersen kick good | 10 | 31 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 31 | 10 |

### Week 2

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Saints | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
* Date: September 14
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 46,383
* Referee: Chuck Heberling
* The Football Database
Game information :
Packers
Randy Wright 18/44, 195 Yds, TD, 5 INT
Gary Ellerson 9 Rush, 33 Yds
James Lofton 8 Rec, 100 Yds, TD
Saints
Bobby Hebert 9/14, 200 Yds, TD, 2 INT
Dalton Hilliard 24 Rush, 59 Yds, TD
Eric Martin 3 Rec, 164 Yds, TD :
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | GB | NO |
| 1 | 13:28 | | | | Saints | Martin 72-yard touchdown reception from Hebert, Andersen kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | 6:42 | | | | Saints | 20-yard field goal by Andersen | 0 | 10 |
| 1 | 3:38 | | | | Saints | Hilliard 3-yard touchdown run, Andersen kick good | 0 | 17 |
| 2 | 14:25 | | | | Packers | 50-yard field goal by Del Greco | 3 | 17 |
| 2 | 5:00 | | | | Saints | Interception returned 17 yards for touchdown by Haynes, Andersen kick good | 3 | 24 |
| 4 | 1:17 | | | | Packers | Lofton 8-yard touchdown reception from Wright, Del Greco kick good | 10 | 24 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 10 | 24 |

## Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| San Francisco 49ers$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 5 | 1 | .656 | 3–2–1 | 6–5–1 | 374 | 247 | W3 |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(5)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 8–4 | 309 | 267 | L2 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7 | 8 | 1 | .469 | 2–3–1 | 6–5–1 | 280 | 280 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 288 | 287 | L1 |