The 1997 New Orleans Saints season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League (NFL), and 24th at the Louisiana Superdome. The team improved upon its 1996 record of 3–13, winning six games, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
This was the Saints’ first season with Mike Ditka as head coach. New Orleans hired the former Chicago Bears head coach after Ditka had spent the previous four seasons as a studio analyst for NBC Sports.
Offseason
NFL draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 31 at St. Louis Rams L 24–38 0–1 TWA Dome 64,575 2 September 7 San Diego Chargers L 6–20 0–2 Louisiana Superdome 65,760 3 September 14 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–33 0–3 3Com Park 61,838 4 September 21 Detroit Lions W 35–17 1–3 Louisiana Superdome 50,016 5 September 28 at New York Giants L 9–14 1–4 Giants Stadium 68,891 6 October 5 at Chicago Bears W 20–17 2–4 Soldier Field 58,865 7 October 12 Atlanta Falcons L 17–23 2–5 Louisiana Superdome 65,619 8 October 19 Carolina Panthers L 0–13 2–6 Louisiana Superdome 50,963 9 October 26 San Francisco 49ers L 0–23 2–7 Louisiana Superdome 60,443 10 Bye 11 November 9 at Oakland Raiders W 13–10 3–7 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 40,091 12 November 16 Seattle Seahawks W 20–17 4–7 Louisiana Superdome 50,493 13 November 23 at Atlanta Falcons L 3–20 4–8 Georgia Dome 48,620 14 November 30 at Carolina Panthers W 16–13 5–8 Ericcson Stadium 57,957 15 December 7 St. Louis Rams L 27–34 5–9 Louisiana Superdome 54,803 16 December 14 Arizona Cardinals W 27–10 6–9 Louisiana Superdome 45,517 17 December 21 at Kansas City Chiefs L 13–25 6–10 Arrowhead Stadium 66,772 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
References
Saints on Pro Football Reference Saints on jt-sw.com