The 2015 season was the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

' 49th 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 ...

(NFL), their 40th playing home games at the

Mercedes-Benz Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saint ...

and their ninth under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Sean Payton. On November 16, 2015, the Saints hired Dennis Allen to replace fired defensive coordinator

Rob Ryan Robert Allen Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently the senior defensive assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Ryan has served as a defensive coordinator or assistant co ...

. However, the Saints still missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The Saints set a new league record for the most passing touchdowns allowed with 45.

Draft

Notes * The Saints acquired an additional first-round selection (No. 31 overall) and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Max Unger Maxwell McCandless Unger (born April 14, 1986) is a former American football center (American football), center who played in the National Football League for 10 seasons. He played college football at Oregon Ducks football, Oregon and was draft ...

as part of a trade that sent their fourth-round selection (No. 109 overall) and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

Jimmy Graham Jimmy Graham (born November 24, 1986) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played only one year of college football at University of Miami after playing four years of basketball. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in ...

to the Seattle Seahawks. * The Saints acquired an additional third-round selection (No. 78 overall) and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Dannell Ellerbe Dannell Antonio Ellerbe (born November 29, 1985) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and has also played for the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Ea ...

as part of a trade that sent wide receiver

Kenny Stills Kenneth Lee Stills Jr. (born April 22, 1992) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years ...

to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

. * The Saints acquired an additional fifth-round selection (No. 154 overall) as part of a trade that sent

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

Ben Grubbs Benjamin Richard Grubbs (born March 10, 1984) is a former American football guard. He played college football at Auburn University, and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He has also played for the ...

to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. * The Saints acquired an additional fifth-round selection (No. 167 overall) as part of a trade that sent their sixth-round selection (No. 187 overall) and 2016 sixth-round selection to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Staff

Final roster

Schedule

Preseason

Regular season

Game summaries

Week 1: at Arizona Cardinals

With the loss, the Saints began 0-1.

Week 2: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hoping to avoid an 0-2 start the Saints met Tampa Bay, led by new quarterback

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the He ...

. The defense struggled to stop Winston as his heroics stunned New Orleans' home crowd.

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...

left the game with an injured shoulder. The Saints wound up losing the game, 26-19.

Week 3: at Carolina Panthers

This game marked the first game

missed as a Saint due to injury.

Luke McCown Lucas Patrick McCown (born July 12, 1981) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. He was drafte ...

, playing in relief of Brees, played well, throwing for 310 yards, before trying to hit

Brandin Cooks Brandin Tawan Cooks (born September 25, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon State, where he received consensus All-American honors, a ...

in the end zone with roughly a minute left in the game.

Josh Norman Joshua Ricardo Norman (born December 15, 1987) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He played college football at Coastal Carolina and was drafted by the Panthers in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and has also played f ...

made a diving interception to seal the Panthers win and the Saints 0-3 start.

Week 4: vs. Dallas Cowboys

In overtime,

, who returned from an injured shoulder, nailed an 80-yard pass to

C. J. Spiller Clifford "C. J." Spiller Jr. (born August 5, 1987) is an American football coach and former running back who is currently the running backs coach at Clemson University. He previously served as a graduate intern at Clemson in 2020. Spiller play ...

for the game-winning touchdown. Brees now has 400 career touchdown passes. It was also the fastest regular season overtime in NFL history, with only 13 seconds being played before the touchdown. This win would make the Lions the only winless team.

Week 5: at Philadelphia Eagles

The Saints returned to Philadelphia for their first meeting with the Eagles since their last second victory in the 2013 playoffs, but the Eagles would get their revenge in a blowout. With the loss, the Saints fell to 1-4. This also marked the Saints' first loss to the Eagles since the 2007 season.

Week 6: vs. Atlanta Falcons

The Saints would upset the undefeated Falcons on

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

. With the win, the Saints improved to 2-4.

Week 7: at Indianapolis Colts

In a Super Bowl rematch between the teams, the Saints would lead 27-0 at one point. Indianapolis would make it 27-21, but New Orleans would hold on for the win. With the win, the Saints improved to 3-4.

Week 8: vs. New York Giants

In a battle of passing offenses, Drew Brees threw a career-high 7 touchdown passes. The game was tied 49-49 late in the fourth quarter and the Saints returned a punt for 50 yards, good for the game-winning field goal to seal the Saints 52-49 victory.

Week 9: vs. Tennessee Titans

New Orleans would lead 28-20 with 7 minutes left, but the Titans would go down the field to tie it at 28. The Titans would then win the game after

Marcus Mariota Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota (born October 30, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted second overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 NFL Draft. Mariota pl ...

won it with a touchdown to

Anthony Fasano Anthony Joseph Fasano (born April 20, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. Fasano also played for the Kansas Cit ...

. With the loss, the Saints fell to 4-5.

Week 10: at Washington Redskins

Traveling to Washington to take on the Redskins,

and the Saints suffered a moment of embarrassment as they would go on to be blown out 47-14.

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the team then known as the Washington ...

threw a career-high four touchdowns in the blowout. A day after, the Saints fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, replacing him with Dennis Allen, who would take over for Ryan for the remainder of the season.

Week 12: at Houston Texans

The Week 12 clash against the Houston Texans would be no better than how the previous game unfolded, with the Saints offense being held to only two field goals (failing to score a touchdown for the first time since Christmas Eve 2005) and Brees failing to throw a touchdown pass the entire game, snapping his 45 game streak of doing so. With the loss, the Saints fell to 4-6.

Week 13: vs. Carolina Panthers

The Saints made history in this game, becoming the first team in NFL history to block an extra point and return it for two points under new NFL rules that took effect that season (prior to this season, NFL rules did not allow players to return a blocked extra point). Saints rookie

Stephone Anthony Stephone Anthony (born July 28, 1992) is a former American football linebacker and current coach. He played college football at Clemson. Early years A native of Polkton, North Carolina, Anthony attended Anson High School, where he was a four- ...

was the one who returned it, with Kevin Williams blocking it. The Saints, unfortunately, would eventually lose in a shootout and dropped their record to 4-8.

Week 14: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The highlight of the game was Drew Brees passing Dan Marino for 4th on the league's all-time passing touchdowns list.

Week 15: vs. Detroit Lions

With the loss, the Saints fell to 5-9.

Week 16: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

With the win, the Saints improved to 6-9.

Week 17: at Atlanta Falcons

With the win, the Saints ended their season 7-9 for the second straight season. This also marked the first sweep against the Falcons since 2013.

Standings

Division

Conference

References

External links

2015 New Orleans Saints
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

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