1985 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season

1985 New Orleans Saints season

Owner| Tom Benson
General manager| Bum Phillips
Head coach| Bum Phillips (weeks 1–12)
Wade Phillips (interim, weeks 13–16)
Home stadium| Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record| 5–11
Division place| 3rd NFC West
Playoffs| Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers| LB Rickey Jackson
K Morten Andersen

* ← 1984
* Saints seasons
* 1986 →

The 1985 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints 19th season.

The offseason began with rampant rumors the franchise was on its way out of town. Original owner John W. Mecom Jr. was anxious to sell the team, and he threatened to move to Jacksonville, Florida if no suitable owner could be found.

In May, local car magnate Tom Benson stepped up and pledged to meet Mecom's asking price of $70 million. Mecom and Benson sat down with Louisiana governor Edwin W. Edwards and hammered out a deal, which was finalized May 31. Prior to the sale to Benson, businessman Abram Nicholas Pritzker attempted to purchase the team, but he could not meet Mecom's asking price, and Edwards was unable to secure a loan from the Louisiana Legislature to assist Pritzker.

Benson moved training camp from Vero Beach, Florida to Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. The team quickly brought in local legend and United States Football League standout Bobby Hebert to compete with Richard Todd and Dave Wilson for the starting quarterback position. Hebert won the position late in the season and started the final five games.

Coach Bum Phillips offered to resign when Benson completed his purchase, but Benson declined the offer. The season got off to a disastrous start, as the Saints were routed 47–27 at home by the Kansas City Chiefs, and an angry woman poured a cup of beer on Phillips as he exited the field. The Saints won three consecutive games following a week two loss at Denver, but the season quickly turned sour, thanks to a six-game losing streak that dropped the club to 3–8.

One day after winning at Minnesota to end the skid, Phillips resigned. His son, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, took over as interim coach for the final four games. The Saints won their first game under the younger Phillips, routing the eventual NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams 29–3, but losses to the Cardinals, 49ers and Falcons ended the year on another glum note.

The Saints finished with a non-winning record for the nineteenth time in as many seasons, going 5–11. Benson promised big changes following the campaign, which he delivered upon.

## Offseason

[edit]

### NFL draft

[edit]

Main article: 1985 NFL draft

1985 New Orleans Saints draft

Round  | Pick  | Player  | Position  | College  | Notes
1  | 24  | Alvin Toles  | Linebacker | Tennessee |
2  | 38  | Daren Gilbert  | Offensive tackle | Cal State Fullerton |
3  | 68  | Jack Del Rio *  | Linebacker  | USC |
4  | 95  | Billy Allen  | Defensive back | Florida State |
7  | 179  | Eric Martin *  | Wide receiver | LSU |
8  | 206  | Joe Kohlbrand  | Linebacker  | Miami (FL) |
9  | 236  | Earl Johnson  | Defensive back  | South Carolina |
12  | 320  | Treg Songy  | Defensive back  | Tulane |
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

## Personnel

[edit]

### Staff

[edit]

1985 New Orleans Saints staff |

Front office

* Owner – Tom Benson
* President – Eddie Jones
* Director of football operations – Pat Peppler

Head coaches

* Head coach/general manager – Bum Phillips

Offensive coaches

* Offensive coordinator – King Hill
* Offensive backfield – John Levra
* Wide receivers – Harold Richardson
* Offensive line – Carl Mauck
* Quality control – Joe Spencer

|  |  | Defensive coaches

* Defensive coordinator – Wade Phillips
* Defensive line – Willie Zapalac
* Linebackers – John Paul Young
* Defensive backfield – Mark Hatley

Strength and conditioning

* Strength and conditioning – Russell Paternostro

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### Roster

[edit]

1985 New Orleans Saints roster Quarterbacks (QB)

*  3 Bobby Hebert
* 11 Richard Todd

Running backs (RB)

* 22 Tyrone Anthony
* 35 Earl Campbell
* 43 Bobby Fowler
* 30 Wayne Wilson

Wide receivers (WR)

* 88 Eugene Goodlow
* 86 Jeff Groth
* 84 Eric Martin
* 19 Guido Merkens
* 80 Mike Miller

Tight ends (TE)

* 85 Hoby Brenner
* 87 Larry Hardy
* 82 John Tice

|  | Offensive linemen (OL)

* 67 Stan Brock T
* 63 Brad Edelman G
* 77 Daren Gilbert T
* 61 Joel Hilgenberg C
* 60 Steve Korte C
* 64 Dave LaFary T
* 70 Jim Rourke T
* 65 Adam Schreiber G
* 79 Ralph Williams G

Defensive linemen (DL)

* 75 Bruce Clark DE
* 99 Tony Elliott NT
* 97 Jumpy Geathers DE
* 74 Derland Moore NT
* 73 Frank Warren DE
* 94 Jim Wilks DE

|  | Linebackers (LB)

* 50 Jack Del Rio ILB
* 92 James Haynes OLB
* 57 Rickey Jackson OLB
* 55 Joe Kohlbrand OLB
* 51 Whitney Paul OLB
* 58 Glen Redd ILB
* 54 Alvin Toles ILB

Defensive backs (DB)

* 24 Terry Hoage SS
* 21 Earl Johnson CB
* 39 Brett Maxie FS
* 25 Johnnie Poe CB
* 26 Willie Tullis CB
* 49 Frank Wattelet FS
* 44 Dave Waymer CB

Special teams (ST)

*  7 Morten Andersen K
* 10 Brian Hansen P

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Reserve

* \-- Rob Bennett TE (IR)
* 68 Kelvin Clark G (IR)
* 46 Hokie Gajan RB (IR)
* 20 Russell Gary S (IR)
* 53 Scott Pelluer LB (IR)
* 71 Petey Perot G (IR)
* 47 David Rackley CB (IR)
* 83 Carl Roaches WR (IR)
* 18 Dave Wilson QB (IR)
* 89 Tyrone Young WR (IR)

Rookies in italics

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## Regular season

[edit]

### Schedule

[edit]

A ticket for a September 15, 1985 game between the Saints and the Denver Broncos. Week  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Record  | Venue  | Attendance

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1  | September 8  | Kansas City Chiefs | L 27–47  | 0–1  | Louisiana Superdome | 57,760
2  | September 15  | at Denver Broncos | L 23–34  | 0–2  | Mile High Stadium | 74,488
3  | September 22  | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 20–13  | 1–2  | Louisiana Superdome  | 45,320
4  | September 29  | at San Francisco 49ers | W 20–17  | 2–2  | Candlestick Park | 58,053
5  | October 6  | Philadelphia Eagles | W 23–21  | 3–2  | Louisiana Superdome  | 56,364
6  | October 13  | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 13–23  | 3–3  | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 48,152
7  | October 20  | at Atlanta Falcons | L 24–31  | 3–4  | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 44,784
8  | October 27  | New York Giants | L 13–21  | 3–5  | Louisiana Superdome  | 54,082
9  | November 3  | at Los Angeles Rams | L 10–28  | 3–6  | Anaheim Stadium | 49,030
10  | November 10  | Seattle Seahawks | L 3–27  | 3–7  | Louisiana Superdome  | 47,365
11  | November 17  | at Green Bay Packers | L 14–38  | 3–8  | Milwaukee County Stadium | 52,104
12  | November 24  | at Minnesota Vikings | W 30–23  | 4–8  | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 54,117
13  | December 1  | Los Angeles Rams | W 29–3  | 5–8  | Louisiana Superdome  | 44,122
14  | December 8  | at St. Louis Cardinals | L 16–28  | 5–9  | Busch Memorial Stadium | 29,527
15  | December 15  | San Francisco 49ers | L 19–31  | 5–10  | Louisiana Superdome  | 46,065
16  | December 22  | Atlanta Falcons | L 10–16  | 5–11  | Louisiana Superdome  | 37,717
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries

[edit]

#### Week 8

[edit]

Team | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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• Giants | 0 | 7| 0| 14 | 21
Saints | 3 | 0| 0| 10 | 13

* Date: October 27
* Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
* Game start: 3:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Referee: Bob Frederic
* TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall John Madden

[2]

#### Week 12

[edit]

Team | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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• Saints | 14 | 6| 3| 7 | 30
Vikings | 7 | 3| 3| 10 | 23

* Date: November 24
* Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN
* Game start: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Referee: Fred Silva
* TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Wayne Walker

Scoring summary

Q1| | NO| Wilson 41 yard run (Andersen kick)| NO 7–0
Q1| | MIN| Anderson 54 yard pass from Kramer (Stenerud kick)| Tie 7–7
Q1| | NO| Campbell 4 yard run (Andersen kick)| NO 14–7
Q2| | NO| Andersen 26 yard field goal| NO 17–7
Q2| | NO| Andersen 47 yard field goal| NO 20–7
Q2| | MIN| Stenerud 22 yard field goal| NO 20–10
Q3| | NO| Andersen 45 yard field goal| NO 23–10
Q3| | MIN| Stenerud 22 yard field goal| NO 23–13
Q4| | MIN| Stenerud 37 yard field goal| NO 23–16
Q4| | MIN| Jones 6 yard pass from Kramer (Stenerud kick)| Tie 23–23
Q4| | NO| Tice 39 yard pass from Hebert (Andersen kick)| NO 30–23

* Earl Campbell 35 Rush, 160 Yds

[3]

#### Week 15

[edit]

Team | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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• 49ers | 0 | 7| 10| 14 | 31
Saints | 0 | 9| 7| 3 | 19

* Date: December 15
* Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
* Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game attendance: 46,065
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Referee: Ben Dreith

Scoring summary

Q2| | SF| Clark 26 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)| SF 7–0
Q2| | NO| Andersen 46 yard field goal| SF 7–3
Q2| | NO| Warren 42 yard blocked field goal return (kick failed)| NO 9–7
Q3| | SF| Wilson 52 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)| SF 14–9
Q3| | NO| Goodlow 76 yard pass from Hebert (Andersen kick)| NO 16–14
Q3| | SF| Wersching 24 yard field goal| SF 17–16
Q4| | NO| Andersen 41 yard field goal| NO 19–17
Q4| | SF| Francis 17 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)| SF 24–19
Q4| | SF| Craig 15 yard run (Wersching kick)| SF 31–19

* Joe Montana 25/38, 354 Yds

[4]

### Standings

[edit]

NFC West

* view
* talk
* edit

| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK
Los Angeles Rams(2) | 11  | 5  | 0  | .688  | 3–3  | 8–4  | 340  | 277  | L1
San Francisco 49ers(5) | 10  | 6  | 0  | .625  | 4–2  | 7–5  | 411  | 263  | W2
New Orleans Saints | 5  | 11  | 0  | .313  | 2–4  | 5–7  | 294  | 401  | L3
Atlanta Falcons | 4  | 12  | 0  | .250  | 3–3  | 4–8  | 282  | 452  | W2

## Notable events

[edit]

On opening day, quarterback Dave Wilson set the unwanted record of completing only two of twenty-two passes: the lowest pass completion percent in an NFL game for any quarterback with a double figure total of attempts.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1985 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
2. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
3. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-09.
4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-18.

## External links

[edit]

* 1985 New Orleans Saints at Pro-Football-Reference.com

* v
* t
* e

New Orleans Saints

* Founded in 1967
* Based in New Orleans, Louisiana
* Headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana

Franchise|

* Franchise
* Seasons
* History
* All-time roster
* Coaches
* Expansion draft
* First-round draft picks
* Starting quarterbacks
* Broadcasters

Stadiums|

* Tulane Stadium
* Caesars Superdome
* Temporary home venues in 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina: Alamodome
* Giants Stadium
* Tiger Stadium

Culture|

* Gumbo
* Sir Saint
* Saints Cheer Krewe
* Who dat?
* Tom Benson
* Effect of Hurricane Katrina
* Buddy D
* "When the Saints Go Marching In"
* Home Team
* Number One
* A Saintly Switch

Lore|

* "Aints" (1–15)
* Dempsey's 63-yard field goal
* Dome Patrol
* Ricky Williams trade
* River City Relay
* "Rebirth"
* Beast Quake
* Bountygate
* Minneapolis Miracle
* NOLA No-Call

Rivalries|

* Atlanta Falcons
* Carolina Panthers
* Los Angeles Rams
* Minnesota Vikings
* Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Wild card berths (5)|

* 1987
* 1990
* 1992
* 2010
* 2013

Division championships (9)|

* 1991
* 2000
* 2006
* 2009
* 2011
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020

Conference championships (1)|

* 2009

League championships (1)|

* 2009 (XLIV)

Retired numbers|

* 31
* 81

Ring of Honor|

* Andersen
* Benson
* Brees
* Jackson
* Manning
* Mills
* Roaf
* Smith

Current league affiliations|

* League: National Football League
* Conference: National Football Conference
* Division: South Division

* v
* t
* e

New Orleans Saints seasons

* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Bold indicates Super Bowl victory

* v
* t
* e

1985 NFL season

| AFC| East | Central| West| East| Central| West | NFC

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Buffalo | Cincinnati| Denver| Dallas| Chicago| Atlanta
Indianapolis | Cleveland| Kansas City| NY Giants| Detroit| LA Rams
Miami | Houston| LA Raiders| Philadelphia| Green Bay| New Orleans
New England | Pittsburgh| San Diego| St. Louis| Minnesota| San Francisco
NY Jets | | Seattle| Washington| Tampa Bay|

* 1985 NFL draft
* NFL playoffs
* Pro Bowl
* Super Bowl XX

*[T]: Ties
*[G]: Offensive guard
*[C]: Center
*[DE]: Defensive end
*[NT]: Nose tackle
*[ILB]: Inside linebacker
*[OLB]: Outside linebacker
*[SS]: Strong safety
*[CB]: Cornerback
*[FS]: Free safety
*[K]: Kicker
*[P]: Punter
*[TE]: Tight end
*[RB]: Running back
*[S]: Safety
*[LB]: Linebacker
*[WR]: Wide receiver
*[QB]: Quarterback
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[PCT]: Winning percentage
*[DIV]: Win–Loss record within their division
*[CONF]: Win–Loss record within their conference
*[PF]: Points For (Total points scored)
*[PA]: Points Against (Total points allowed)
*[STK]: Current Winning or Losing Streak
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template