1986 New Orleans Saints Season Schedule
| Regular Season | ||
| Sept 7 | Falcons | L 10-31 |
| Sep 14 | Packers | W 24-10 |
| Sep 21 | 49ers | L 17-26 |
| Sep 28 | Giants | L 17-20 |
| Oct 5 | Redskins | L 6-14 |
| Oct 12 | Colts | W 17-14 |
| Oct 19 | Buccaneers | W 38-7 |
| Oct 26 | Jets | L 23-28 |
| Nov 2 | 49ers | W 23-10 |
| Nov 9 | Rams | W 6-0 |
| Nov16 | Cardinals | W 16-7 |
| Nov 23 | Rams | L 13-16 |
| Nov 30 | Patriots | L 20-21 |
| Dec 7 | Dolphins | L 27-31 |
| Dec 14 | Falcons | W 14-9 |
| Dec 21 | Vikings | L 17-33 |
Rickey Jackson made his fourth Pro Bowl. He had 9 sacks and 114 tackles
7 Wins 9 Loses
Coach: Jim Mora
First Round Draft Pick: Jim Dombrowski Offensive Lineman, Virginia
The Mora Era Begins
Disciplinarian Jim Mora takes over the New Orleans Saints and along with new general manager Jim Finks finally brings a little respect to the Crescent City. Mora had coached the Philadelphia Stars to 2 USFL championships and Jim Finks had managed winners in Minnesota and Chicago. With standouts from the defunct USFL, Mora and Finks began to put together a team that finally started to show some promise. With linebacker Rickey Jackson and defensive end Bruce Clark, the Saints already had a defense in place, so much of the off-season was spent in getting the offense together. Jim Dombrowski was drafted in the first round and became an instant starter at offensive tackle. Running backs Dalton Hilliard of LSU and Rueben Mayes of Washington State were drafted second and third. Linebacker Pat Swilling and running back Barry Word were also brought on in the 1986 draft. Future Hall of Famer Earl Campbell decided to call it quits before the season started. Campbell had been brought in a couple of years earlier by Bum Phillips, but couldn’t return to the form that had got him 5 Pro-Bowl appearances.
The season started slowly, losing 3 of the first 4 games. In the win against Green Bay, receiver Eric Martin had 3 catches for 164 yards. Against San Francisco, kick returner Mel Gray set a new team record with a 101-yard kick return. It was the first kick returned for a score since 1977.
In the 6-0 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, the defense had only the fifth shutout in team history. Eric Dickerson could only managed 57 yards on the ground.
In route to 1353 yards and Rookie of the year honors, Rueben Mayes had big games against Tampa Bay (172 yards), New England (157 yards) and Miami (203 yards- 3 yards shy of the team record). He also became only the third Saint to rush for 1000 yards. Former Viking receiver Mike Jones was the leading pass catcher with 48 catches for 625 yards and 3 TDs. And despite pressure from hometown favorite Bobby Hebert, Dave Wilson’s remained the starting quarterback. His numbers were 342 attempts, 189 completions, 55% completed, 2353 yards and 10 TDs.
The Dome Patrol racked up 47 sacks on the year as Rickey Jackson and Jumpy Geathers each lead with 9 apiece. In the secondary, Dave Waymer nabbed 9 interceptions.
Rickey Jackson, Morten Andersen and Rueben Mayes where all selected to the Pro Bowl.
1986 Saints Offensive Stats
1986 Saints Defensive Stats
1986 New Orleans Saints Roster
