Category: saints history

Dennis Allen’s Saints defense just broke one of the Dome Patrol’s best records

Dennis Allen’s Saints defense just broke one of the Dome Patrol’s most impressive records

Now this is impressive. Dennis Allen’s New Orleans Saints defense just broke one of the best records in team history, established by the famed “Dome Patrol” themselves way back in 1991 — holding opposing offenses to 20 or fewer points in 10 consecutive games. It’s the longest active streak in the NFL, too.

And the 1991 Saints team accomplished that feat in a single season, while the Saints set the pace a year ago and have kept it going. Sure, things got closer than they needed to on Monday night; the Panthers took advantage of Allen’s too-soft prevent defense in the final minutes to drive downfield and score a garbage-time touchdown pass, tightening the tally to 20-17.

Still, this is a rare achievement no matter how you slice it. Allen has built one of the league’s best defenses over the years and largely kept it together while introducing new elements and refining what worked. Hopefully he has the right pieces in place to develop an offense to compliment the defense.

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Flashback Friday: Highlights from New Orleans Saints’ past games with Carolina Panthers

Flashback Friday: New Orleans Saints highlights from past games with Carolina Panthers

The New Orleans Saints never seem to play a normal game with the Carolina Panthers — when there aren’t outpourings of points being scored and big gains made on offense, there are pivotal takeaways and stops on defense, and sometimes a clutch special teams play.

But the Panthers have given as good as they’ve got in this rivalry series in recent seasons. Check out these highlight reels from their matchups during the last three years:

Throwback Thursday: Highlights from New Orleans Saints’ past games vs. Tennessee Titans

Throwback Thursday: Highlights from New Orleans Saints’ past games vs. Tennessee Titans

The New Orleans Saints have an underrated history with the Tennessee Titans — for one thing, Tennessee owns the all-time lead in this series 9-6-1. Almost every meeting between these two teams is interesting and entertaining, whether records are being broken, big plays are being made, or defenses are taking a stand to win the day.

Check out the highlight reels from each of the last five Saints-Titans games:

Saints vs. Titans series history: Who owns the all-time record?

New Orleans Saints vs. Tennessee Titans series history: Who owns the all-time record? Once-rare meetings have developed into a fun rivalry:

We used to go through entire generations of NFL players without the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans competing against each other. The two teams met once every three years until the league expanded in the early 2000’s, at which point those games were spaced out in four-year increments.

That changed radically in 2021 with the introduction of a 17-game schedule that put more AFC-NFC matchups in the rotation. The Saints and Titans have used that opportunity to forge a fun geographic rivalry. They’ve split the last four games 2-2, with the Saints losing a close one 23-21 in 2021.

The Titans own the all-time series record at 9-6-1, going back to their early franchise history when they were still known as the Houston Oilers. Preseason games aren’t often remembered but the Saints have played more of them with the Titans franchise (30) than many other teams.

It’s interesting to see a rivalry kind of organically develop here. Nashville is easier for Saints fans to visit than most NFL cities, being a seven-and-a-half hour drive from New Orleans (with some flights clocking in at just a few hours). And when they haven’t been competing on the field the two teams have been often targeting the same players in the offseason, like cornerback Caleb Farley in the 2021 NFL draft or free agent wide receiver Adam Humphries in 2019. Janoris Jenkins landed with the Titans after leaving the Saints. So did Kenny Vaccaro.

And so did their longtime nemesis Julio Jones. The Saints weren’t able to cut a trade for Malcolm Butler back in the day and he wound up signing with the Titans. Former Saints head coach Jim Haslett was on Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff for a few years before he took over the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons. You see all these connections? That’s history.

Hopefully the Saints can get a win on Sunday to tip that all-time record a little closer in their favor. It’ll take some time to even things out completely, but a victory at the Caesars Superdome this week would go a long way.

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Saints have a history of last-minute trades at roster cuts deadline

The Saints have agreed to at least one trade (and sometimes two) at the annual NFL roster cuts deadline in six of the last seven years. Will 2023 follow that same pattern?

Trade talks are picking up around the NFL with the annual roster cuts deadline approaching on Tuesday and the start of the regular season looming not far behind, and it’s a good bet that the New Orleans Saints could make a deal with another team.

Whether it’s swapping a player for draft picks or exchanging one player for another, the Saints have a history of being both sellers and buyers at this deadline. They’re always active. New Orleans has made at least one trade  (and sometimes two) near the late-summer deadline in six of the last seven years:

After nearly landing with the Saints in 2014 NFL draft, Trai Turner finally came home

After nearly landing with the New Orleans Saints in the 2014 NFL draft, Pro Bowl guard and LSU Tiger Trai Turner finally came home in 2023:

Everyone knows the story about the New Orleans Saints nearly drafting Patrick Mahomes, but he’s hardly the only player the Saints have just missed out on. One you might not know about is Trai Turnere — the New Orleans native joined his hometown team for their 2023 training camp, but he was nearly picked by them back in 2014. Things finally came full circle for the St. Augustine graduate and former LSU Tiger.

Former Saints head coach Sean Payton shared the story in an interview with NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill and Mike Triplett last offseason when he was in-between jobs, weighing his options in the media and considering future NFL gigs.

“We were close to drafting the guard from LSU that went to Carolina,” Payton reflected, agreeing the player was Turner when prompted. “We really liked him. I’m just going back through the drafts, obviously I can remember picks, and the selections, sometimes it’s hard to remember who else’s on the board. I remember when we selected Terron Armstead (in 2013), the cloud that year, one of the players in that cloud was the tall quarterback who went to Tampa (Mike Glennon).”

So it’s safe to say Turner is a player the Saints have valued for quite a while, which makes the fact he was picked by Carolina at No. 92 overall — just one slot after the Saints were scheduled to go on the clock at No. 91 — a little more bitter. New Orleans had already traded that selection during the first round so they could move up for Oregon State wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Had they stood pat in Round 1, Turner could have been theirs for the taking in Round 3.

Instead, Turner enjoyed near-immediate success with the Panthers, being selected for five consecutive Pro Bowls from 2015 to 2019. Turner was traded to the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020 and bounced around the league in the years that followed, starting for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Commanders before the Saints came calling.

Now he’s home, and he’s landed in a great spot to compete for a role on New Orleans’ roster. The Saints’ starting guards (Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz) are  both returning from season-ending injuries and their backups don’t have a ton of pro experience to lean on: third-year pro Calvin Throckmorton, second-year reserve Lewis Kidd, plus rookies Nick Saldiveri and Mark Evans II. Turner has a real shot at elbowing his way onto the 53-man roster when cuts are completed in August.

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Who was the best Saints player to wear No. 43 for New Orleans?

Darren Sproles had one historic year, but Marcus Williams had durability. Who was the better Saints player to wear No. 43 for New Orleans? Our staff writers made their picks:

This was a fun debate: who wore No. 43 better for the New Orleans Saints out of running back Darren Sproles and free safety Marcus Williams? Both standouts left their mark on Saints history, and they each have a strong case to be called the best to ever wear their shared jersey number.

Our staff writers made their picks, but you can share yours in the poll below:

Jonathan Vilma shares his painful take on the best-ever Saints team

Jonathan Vilma shared his take on the best-ever Saints team, acknowledging that ‘I don’t think about that season as a success’ in an interview with his old teammate Lance Moore

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Here’s a great interview from former New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who recently talked shop with his former teammate Lance Moore for Boot Krewe Media. When asked to share his take on the best-ever Saints team regardless of the season’s result, Vilma took a painful trip down memory lane.

“2011, it’s 2011,” Vilma said. “Bro, to be very frank for everyone that’s watching us, we felt like that season was a disappointment when we lost — especially the way we lost — to San Francisco. Like we were supposed to run all the way back to the Super Bowl. It still hurts to this day when I think about that season. I don’t think about that season as a success. All the records you guys broke offensively, we were humming on defense. And then we literally just s— the bed with a minute left in the damn game.”

Vilma grimaced, adding, “God knows how we let Alex Smith score a touchdown on us.”

That 2011 Saints team is the stuff of legend, rebounding from a stunning upset loss to the winless Rams in Week 8 to claim victory in each of the eight games left on their regular season schedule — including a 49-24 dismantling of the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Drew Brees broke Dan Marino’s single-season passing yards record, and four different players racked up 900 or more scrimmage yards while scoring six or more touchdowns:

  • Darren Sproles: 1,313 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns (7 receiving, 2 rushing, 1 punt return)
  • Jimmy Graham: 1,310 scrimmage yards, 11 touchdown catches
  • Marques Colston: 1,143 scrimmage yards, 8 touchdown catches
  • Pierre Thomas: 987 scrimmage yards, 6 touchdowns (5 rushing, 1 receiving)

But as Vilma said, it all came undone when Smith led a miraculous comeback in the playoffs. That Saints-49ers divisional-round matchup is widely considered one of the best playoff games of all time. The game featured four lead changes in the final four minutes, including touchdown catches of 44 yards and 66 yards by Sproles and Graham, respectively. But it came down to a 28-yard touchdown by Smith and a 14-yard scoring pass to Vernon Davis in the closing seconds to wipe that all away.

It’s a shame. If the Saints had won that game, they’d have hosted the same Giants team they ran off the field at midseason, and then all that stood in their way was a vulnerable New England Patriots squad. As Vilma said, it’s the one that got away.

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The best Saints player to wear each jersey number

Some picks were easy, and some were challenging. Here are the best New Orleans Saints players to ever wear each jersey number:

It’s been tough for the New Orleans Saints to find consistent success throughout the team’s history, but they’ve never lacked for fan-favorite talent. Individual standouts have always given fans someone to cheer for, and in many cases it’s easy to sort out the best player to wear each jersey number.

Some decisions (Drew Brees and Archie Manning are the last players to have worn Nos. 8 and 9, which are unofficially retired) were easier than others (Fan-favorite running back Pierre Thomas or Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore for No. 23? Which jersey number should we pick for Mark Ingram II?), but that’s the nature of the beast.

From No. 1 to 99, here’s a look at the best Saints to wear each number for New Orleans:

4 Saints picks ranked among best NFL draft steals of the decade

ESPN ranked four Saints picks among the best NFL draft steals of the decade, but only two of them are still in New Orleans | @DillySanders

There has been a lot of talk about the New Orleans Saints missing on first round draft picks or trading up too much, but while that has been happening they have been dominating the middle of the draft.

Matt Miller and Jordan Reid of ESPN recently put together a list of the 50 biggest NFL draft steals of the past decade, and the Saints made the list four different times.

Here are all of the Saints steals that made the list, in order that they appear and then some current Saints that weren’t drafted in New Orleans but still came into the league as steals: