1985 New Orleans Saints season

1985 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Bum Phillips (weeks 1-12) (5th season) Wade Phillips (interim, weeks 13-16)
General manager	Bum Phillips (Since 1981)
Owner	Tom Benson (Since 1985)
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

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 19th time in 19 seasons, going 5–11. Benson promised big changes following the campaign, which he delivered upon.

Offseason

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

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Personnel

Staff

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

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 8, 1985	Kansas City Chiefs	L 47–27	57,760
2	September 15, 1985	at Denver Broncos	L 34–23	74,488
3	September 22, 1985	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 20–13	45,320
4	September 29, 1985	at San Francisco 49ers	W 20–17	58,053
5	October 6, 1985	Philadelphia Eagles	W 23–21	56,364
6	October 13, 1985	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 23–13	48,152
7	October 20, 1985	at Atlanta Falcons	L 31–24	44,784
8	October 27, 1985	New York Giants	L 21–13	54,082
9	November 3, 1985	at Los Angeles Rams	L 28–10	49,030
10	November 10, 1985	Seattle Seahawks	L 27–3	47,365
11	November 17, 1985	at Green Bay Packers	L 38–14	52,104
12	November 24, 1985	at Minnesota Vikings	W 30–23	54,117
13	December 1, 1985	Los Angeles Rams	W 29–3	44,122
14	December 8, 1985	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 28–16	29,527
15	December 15, 1985	San Francisco 49ers	L 31–19	46,065
16	December 22, 1985	Atlanta Falcons	L 16–10	37,717

Game summaries

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total • 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)

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

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Standings

NFC West
	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

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

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

External links

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