New Orleans Shuts Out Atlanta 38-0
So, for Falcons Hate Week New Orleans Saints History brings you some blasts from the Who Dat past of classic Saint-Falcons games. Here are a couple of pics from the 1987 NFL season. That was the year of the NFL strike where the team’s regulars sat out for almost a month while replacement players or “scabs” played for 3 games. It was also the second year of Jim Mora as head coach. Mora brought a degree of discipline the Who Dat Nations wasn’t use to and the result was a never-before playoff appearance for the Saints that season.
By now I’m sure most Saints fans are familiar with Mora’s famous “Coulda Woulda Shoulda” speech after a close loss to the 49ers. Well, it was the poor Falcons who would receive the repercussions of a chastised Saints team the following week. The results – a 38 to zip shutout of Atlanta. It was the only game against the Falcons during the 15-game strike-shorten season and the first shutout for the Saints defense since 1982.
The scoring started with a 7-yard Bobby Hebert to Mike Jones touchdown pass. That was followed up with 4 rushing touchdowns as Barry Word, Dalton Hilliard and Mel Gray combined for scores on the day. Rueben Mayes led all Saints runners as he rushed for 112 yards. The Defense, led by Ricky Jackson and Frank Warren (2 sacks each that day) had a total of 5 interceptions.
The fire now lit under the Saints from Mora’s speech had just started. They would go on to win 9 straight games and end the regular season with a unprecedented 12 wins. It was the first time in franchise history that a New Orleans Saints team would have a winning record and go to the playoffs.
