The 2006 season was the New Orleans Saints' 40th in the National Football League (NFL).

The season began with the team returning to New Orleans after a year in exile from the city, and trying to improve on their 3–13 record in 2005. All of the team's 2006 regular season home games were played in the Louisiana Superdome, which had been unplayable for the entire 2005 season after being damaged during Hurricane Katrina. Led by a new coach, Sean Payton, and a new quarterback, Drew Brees, the Saints enjoyed their most successful season up to that time, reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2000 and the NFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history.

After a poor season for Aaron Brooks, he was released and eventually signed with the Oakland Raiders. This called for Brees to take his place, and he would play for the Saints until his retirement after the 2020 season.

Offseason On January 17, the Saints made their first step in the 2006 offseason by hiring Sean Payton, the former assistant head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, as their new head coach.

On March 14, 2006, the Saints signed former Chargers quarterback Drew Brees, a free agent, to a six-year deal. Return to New Orleans The NFL announced on February 5, 2006, that the Superdome would reopen on September 24 when the Saints hosted the Atlanta Falcons.New Orleans Saints – 404

Sites for the team's 2006 preseason games were announced on March 23. They were Shreveport, Louisiana, for an August 21 game against the Dallas Cowboys, and Jackson, Mississippi, for an August 26 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

On April 6 the Saints released their 2006 schedule. All home games were scheduled to be played at the Superdome. The home opener against the Atlanta Falcons was moved from September 24 to September 25 and was shown on ESPN's Monday Night Football.

NFL draft

In the 2006 NFL Draft, the Saints used their first, and the second overall, pick on USC running back Reggie Bush, who had won the 2005 Heisman Trophy. Bush was passed over by the Houston Texans, who instead selected North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams with the first overall pick.

Personnel Staff

Roster

2006 Unofficial active depth chart Offense WRMarques Colston 12Devery Henderson 19Terrance Copper 18LTJammal Brown 70Rob Petitti 79LGJamar Nesbit 67Montrae Holland 61CJeff Faine 52Jonathan Goodwin 76RGJahri Evans 73Montrae Holland 61RTJon Stinchcomb 78Zach Strief 64TEErnie Conwell 85Mark Campbell 80Nate Lawrie 82WRJoe Horn 87Jamal Jones 89Lance Moore 16QBDrew Brees 9Jamie Martin 10Jason Fife 11RBDeuce McAllister 26Reggie Bush 25Aaron Stecker 27FBMike Karney 44Corey McIntyre 36

Defense LDECharles Grant 94Eric Moore 95NTHollis Thomas 99Antwan Lake 96Rodney Leisle 77DTBrian Young 66Willie Whitehead 98RDEWill Smith 91Eric Moore 95SLBScott Fujita 55Alfred Fincher 56MLBMark Simoneau 53Danny Clark 54WLBScott Shanle 58Terrence Melton 51LCBMike McKenzie 34DeJuan Groce 28Curtis Deloatch 39SSOmar Stoutmire 23Steve Gleason 37Jay Bellamy 20FSJosh Bullocks 29Bryan Scott 24Jay Bellamy 20RCBFred Thomas 22Jason Craft 21

Special teams LSKevin Houser 47PSteve Weatherford 7HJamie Martin 10KJohn Carney 3KOBilly CundiffPRMichael Lewis 84Reggie Bush 25KRMichael Lewis 84Terrance Copper 18Aaron Stecker 27

Preseason Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Tennessee Titans W 19–16 1–0 LP Field Recap 2 Dallas Cowboys L 7–30 1–1 Independence Stadium Recap 3 Indianapolis Colts L 14–27 1–2 Mississippi Veterans Memorial StadiumRecap 4 at Kansas City Chiefs L 9–10 1–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 10 at Cleveland Browns W 19–14 1–0 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 2 September 17 at Green Bay Packers W 34–27 2–0 Lambeau Field Recap 3 Atlanta Falcons W 23–3 3–0 Louisiana Superdome Recap 4 October 1 at Carolina Panthers L 18–21 3–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap 5 October 8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 24–21 4–1 Louisiana Superdome Recap 6 October 15 Philadelphia Eagles W 27–24 5–1 Louisiana Superdome Recap 7Bye 8 October 29 Baltimore Ravens L 22–35 5–2 Louisiana Superdome Recap 9 November 5 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 31–14 6–2 Raymond James Stadium Recap 10 November 12 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 31–38 6–3 Heinz Field Recap 11 November 19 Cincinnati Bengals L 16–31 6–4 Louisiana Superdome Recap 12 November 26 at Atlanta Falcons W 31–13 7–4 Georgia Dome Recap 13 December 3 San Francisco 49ers W 34–10 8–4 Louisiana Superdome Recap 14 December 10 at Dallas Cowboys W 42–17 9–4 Texas Stadium Recap 15 December 17 Washington Redskins L 10–16 9–5 Louisiana Superdome Recap 16 December 24 at New York Giants W 30–7 10–5 Giants Stadium Recap 17 December 31 Carolina Panthers L 21–31 10–6 Louisiana Superdome Recap

Standings

Regular season Week 1: at Cleveland Browns

The Saints opened the regular season on the road against the Cleveland Browns on September 10. In the first half, kicker John Carney provided all of the Saints' first 9 points. He put up a 43-yarder in the first, along with a 25 and a 21-yarder in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Browns offense finally got going as Cleveland quarterback Charlie Frye hooked up with TE Kellen Winslow on an 18-yard touchdown pass. The Saints responded with a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Brees to WR Marques Colston. In the fourth quarter, the Browns came close with Frye getting a 1-yard touchdown run. However, the Saints put the game away with Carney kicking a 20-yard FG to give the Saints the win.

Despite not scoring a touchdown, RB Reggie Bush had a sound NFL debut, as he ran 14 times for 61 yards, caught 8 passes for 58 yards, and returned three punts for 22 yards. In total, he piled up 141 all-purpose yards.

Week 2: at Green Bay Packers

For Week 2, the Saints traveled to take on the Packers at Green Bay's Lambeau Field, where in the preceding season they lost 52–3. The Saints trailed in the first quarter, on a 22-yard touchdown pass to opposing WR Greg Jennings and two Dave Rayner field goals – a 24-yarder and a 36-yarder. The Saints began their scoring in the second quarter, as RB Deuce McAllister got a 3-yard touchdown run and quarterback Drew Brees threw a 26-yard touchdown strike to WR Devery Henderson. In the third quarter, the punishing continued, as kicker John Carney kicked a 45 and a 47-yard field goal to further New Orleans' lead. In the fourth quarter, Green Bay tried to come back with quarterback Brett Favre throwing a 4-yard pass to WR Robert Ferguson. The Saints managed to put the game away with a 25-yard touchdown pass to WR Marques Colston and a 23-yard run by McAllister. The Packers scored once more, on a 6-yard touchdown pass to RB Noah Herron, but the damage was done.

Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Riding high from their two-straight road wins, the Saints returned home to the Louisiana Superdome for the first time since December 26, 2004 for a special Monday Night game against their fellow NFC South division rival, the Atlanta Falcons, in front of a jubilant sold-out crowd of 70,003 and ESPN's largest-ever audience, with about 10.8 million households viewing, at the time the second-largest cable audience in history.

On just the fourth overall play of the game, safety Steve Gleason blocked a punt and DB Curtis Deloatch managed to land on the ball in the end zone for the Saints first score of the game. Former Saints kicker Morten Andersen helped Atlanta get its only score of the game, from a 26-yard field goal. From there, the Saints dominated the rest of the game. For the final score of the first quarter, WR Devery Henderson ran 11 yards for a touchdown on a reverse. Kicker John Carney provided the scoring for the rest of the game, as he kicked two-second-quarter field goals (a 37-yarder and a 51-yarder), and one third-quarter field goal (a 20-yarder) to essentially wrap up the game. From there, the Saints defense continued to put pressure on Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, as they sacked him five times, while limiting the running duo of Vick and Dunn to just a combined total of 101 rushing yards. With their dominating performance, the Saints took the lead in the NFC South with a 3–0 record.

Green Day and U2 performed jointly on the field before the game, while the Goo Goo Dolls held a concert outside the Dome earlier in the evening. Former President George H. W. Bush, who won the Republican nod for the presidency in the Superdome back in 1988, was part of the coin toss ceremony.

Week 4: at Carolina Panthers

Following their dominant home game at the Louisiana Superdome, the Saints traveled to Bank of America Stadium for an NFC South battle with the Carolina Panthers. From the get-go, the Saints trailed early, as quarterback Jake Delhomme completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to WR Steve Smith for the only score of the period. In the second quarter, the Saints managed to get a field goal, as kicker John Carney nailed one from 31 yards out. After a scoreless third quarter, RB Deuce McAllister managed to help New Orleans take the lead, as he got a 3-yard touchdown run. That was the only time that the Saints saw the lead, as the Panthers slashed away, with Delhomme completing a 4-yard pass to WR Drew Carter and RB DeShaun Foster running 43 yards for a touchdown. New Orleans tried to come back, as quarterback Drew Brees completed an 86-yard touchdown pass to WR Marques Colston, but that was as close as they got, as Carolina held on to win, while the Saints got their first loss of the year dropping to 3–1.

Week 5: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The second game back in the Superdome was not marked by the media attention of the Saints' home opener, but fans in attendance were not disappointed. The sold-out crowd was treated to a dramatic contest between the Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Though Tampa Bay proved to be a formidable opponent despite their season-long losing streak, the Saints won 24–21. The win was capped off by a fourth quarter punt return by Saints rookie Reggie Bush. Prior to the play, Bush roused the notoriously raucous New Orleans audience to their feet; by the time the ball was snapped, the cheers had reached a tremendous level. The noise only increased as Bush raced past the Bucs' special teams for 65 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown, his first as an NFL player. After the game, the traditional "Who Dat?" cheer was punctuated by spontaneous chants of "Reggie, Reggie" as the Saints claimed their fourth win of the season while improving to 4–1.

Week 6: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Hoping to build on their win over Tampa Bay, the Saints stayed at home for a Week 6 fight with the Philadelphia Eagles. In the first quarter, New Orleans jumped out to an early lead with kicker John Carney kicking a 39-yard field goal and quarterback Drew Brees completing a 14-yard touchdown pass to WR Joe Horn. In the second quarter, Philadelphia got on the board with a 47-yard field goal by David Akers. The Saints managed to further themselves, as Brees completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to WR Marques Colston. However, in the third quarter, the Eagles started to get back into the game, as quarterback Donovan McNabb completed two touchdown passes – a 60-yarder to WR Reggie Brown and a 4-yard to TE L.J. Smith. In the fourth quarter, Philadelphia took the lead on a 15-yard touchdown run by Brown. After Brees completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to Horn, Carney helped give New Orleans the win as he kicked a 31-yard field goal as time ran out on the game. With the win, the Saints maintained their lead in the NFC South with a 5–1 record going into their bye week.

Week 8: vs. Baltimore Ravens