The 1991 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 25th season in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
. 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. 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. 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
Samuel Davis Mills Jr. (June 3, 1959 – April 18, 2005) was an American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. He also played for three seasons for ...
, Vaughan Johnson, and Pat Swilling
Patrick Travis Swilling (born October 25, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. He had ...
all making the Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
and Rickey Jackson
Rickey Anderson Jackson (born March 20, 1958) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints (1981–1993) and the San Francisco 49ers (1994–1995). He led the team's Dome P ...
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.
Offseason
NFL Draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule
Playoffs
Standings
Regular season
Week 3
Rams
Jim Everett
James Samuel Everett III (born January 3, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Purdue Boilerm ...
completed only 6 passes against the Saints defense, while
Craig Heyward
Craig William "Ironhead" Heyward (September 26, 1966 – May 27, 2006) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers. He then play ...
scored 2 touchdowns to send the Saints to a 3-0 record.
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.
Awards and records
*
Pat Swilling
Patrick Travis Swilling (born October 25, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. He had ...
, NFL Defensive Player of the Year
*Led NFL, Fewest Points Allowed, 211 points
Milestones
References
External links
Saints on Pro Football ReferenceSaints on jt-sw.com
New Orleans Saints seasons
NFC West championship seasons
New
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
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