The 1991 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 25th season in the National Football League. The Saints won their first-ever division title, and reached the postseason for the second consecutive year. However, they lost their playoff opener at home in the wild card round to their bitter division rival, the Atlanta Falcons, and would have to wait another nine years before winning their first playoff game in franchise history.
The 1991 Saints had 48 defensive takeaways, tied for the most for any team in a single season in the 1990s.Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1990 to 1999, in the regular season, sorted by descending Takeaways, tied with the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles. Statistics site Football Outsiders calculates that the 1991 Saints had the second-best defense in the NFL (behind the Philadelphia Eagles), and one of the top-ten defenses of all time, in terms of efficiency.Football Outsiders: 1991 DVOA Ratings and Commentary This was also the first season where four linebackers from the same team made the pro bowl, which the Saints would do again the next season. Says Football Outsiders, The Saints were led by their linebackers, with Sam Mills, Vaughan Johnson, and Pat Swilling all making the Pro Bowl and Rickey Jackson being awesome without getting a trip to Hawaii. It wasn't really the easiest year to find space on the NFC Pro Bowl defense, was it?
The season saw the adoption of the Cha-Ching slogan from a Rally's advertising campaign.
After the season, Brian Forde and Kevin Haverdink retired.
Offseason
NFL draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 Minnesota Vikings W 18–3 1–0 Louisiana Superdome 58,593 2 Green Bay Packers W 31–20 2–0 Louisiana Superdome 55,730 3 at Indianapolis Colts L 28–34 2–1 Hoosier Dome 45,963 4 at Miami Dolphins L 24–28 2–2 Joe Robbie Stadium 44,099
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 1 Seattle Seahawks W 27–24 1–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,492 2 September 8 at Kansas City Chiefs W 17–10 2–0 Arrowhead Stadium 74,816 3 September 15 Los Angeles Rams W 24–7 3–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,583 4 September 22 Minnesota Vikings W 26–0 4–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,591 5 September 29 at Atlanta Falcons W 27–6 5–0 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 56,556 6 Bye 7 October 13 at Philadelphia Eagles W 13–6 6–0 Veterans Stadium 64,224 8 October 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–7 7–0 Louisiana Superdome 68,591 9 October 27 Chicago Bears L 17–20 7–1 Louisiana Superdome 68,591 10 November 3 at Los Angeles Rams W 24–17 8–1 Anaheim Stadium 58,713 11 November 10 San Francisco 49ers W 10–3 9–1 Louisiana Superdome 68,591 12 November 17 at San Diego Chargers L 21–24 9–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 48,420 13 November 24 Atlanta Falcons L 20–23 (OT) 9–3 Louisiana Superdome 68,591 14 December 1 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–38 9–4 Candlestick Park 62,092 15 December 8 at Dallas Cowboys L 14–23 9–5 Texas Stadium 64,530 16 Los Angeles Raiders W 27–0 10–5 Louisiana Superdome 68,625 17 December 22 at Phoenix Cardinals W 27–3 11–5 Sun Devil Stadium 30,928 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: vs Seattle Seahawks
Week 2: at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 3
Rams Jim Everett completed only 6 passes against the Saints defense, while Craig Heyward scored 2 touchdowns to send the Saints to a 3–0 record.
Week 12: at San Diego Chargers
Playoffs
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Wildcard December 28 Atlanta Falcons (6) L 20–27 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 68,794
Standings
Playoffs
NFC Wild Card Game
Falcons quarterback Chris Miller completed the game-winning 61-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Haynes with 2:41 left in the contest. Miller completed 18 out of 30 passes for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Saints went to the playoffs in the following 1992 season, but lost in the NFC Wild Card to the Eagles 36-20.
Awards and records Pat Swilling, NFL Defensive Player of the Year Led NFL, Fewest Points Allowed, 211 points
References
External links Saints on Pro Football Reference Saints on jt-sw.com