NEW ORLEANS SAINTS WEEKLY MEDIA INFORMATION GUIDE · 2021. 1. 5. · Coordinator Dennis Allen and...

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS WEEKLYMEDIA INFORMATION GUIDE

CHICAGO BEARS VS. NEW ORLEANS SAINTSNFC WILD CARD PLAYOFF

JANUARY 10, 2021 @ MERCEDESBENZ SUPERDOME

GAME INFORMATION • ROSTERS • DEPTH CHART STATISTICS • MINIBIOS

CHICAGO BEARS (8-8) VS.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (12-4) NFC WILD CARD PLAYOFF

SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2021 – 3:40 P.M. (CST)

MERCEDES-BENZ SUPERDOME – NEW ORLEANS, LA. TV: CBS (WWL 4 locally) – Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Tony Romo (color an-alyst) and Tracy Wolfson (sideline)

AMAZON PRIME: Hannah Storm (play-by-play) and Andrea Kremer (color analyst)

NICKELODEON (Specialized broadcast for children): Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Nate Burleson (color analyst) and Lex Lumpkin (sideline)

NATIONAL RADIO: Westwood One – Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and James Lofton (color analyst)

LOCAL RADIO: WWL (870 AM and 105.3 FM) – Zach Strief (play-by-play), Deuce McAllister (color analyst) and Steve Geller (sideline)

SPANISH LANGUAGE RADIO: KGLA (830 AM and 105.7 FM) – Mario Je-rez (play-by-play), Juan Carlos Ramos (color analyst) and Victor Quinonez (sideline)

THE MATCHUP After wrapping up the 2020regular season Sunday with a 33-7 win over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium., the New Orleans Saints (12-4) host the Chicago Bears in an NFC Wild Card Playoff matchup, squaring off with a spot in the NFC Divisional Round on the line.

The game will mark the third time that the Saints and Bears will meet in the playoffs, the first two a 1990 Chica-go Wild Card win and a 2006 Bears NFC Championship victory, both at Soldier FIeld. The Saints lead the regular season series 17-13 and captured the last meeting be-tween the clubs, a 26-23 win on November 1 at Soldier Field.

The Saints enter the 2020 playoffs coming off one of the best regular seasons in franchise history. In capturing

their fourth consecutive NFC South division title, becoming only the third team in the conference since 2002 realign-ment to win four straight division titles. With Sunday’s win over Carolina, the 2020 Saints became the first NFC South team since the division’s establishment to finish 6-0 in divi-sion play.

New Orleans enters the postseason well-positioned as a balanced team with the ability to run the ball and stop the run. The Black and Gold finished ranked sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (141.6) and finished the regular season with a franchise-record 30 rushing touchdowns, tied for the sixth-highest total in league history. Defensive-ly, New Orleans finished fourth in the league in opponent net yards per game (310.9), fourth against the run and fifth against the pass. Scoring 30.1 points, per game, the Saints ranked fifth in the league, while only surrendering 21.0 points per game, also tied for fifth. Five Saints were selected to the Pro Bowl.

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SAINTS-BEARS CONNECTIONS New Orleans Head Coach Sean Payton is a Naperville, Illinois native and played QB at Naperville Central High School. He earned a communications degree from Eastern Illinois, posting 10,665 passing yards as a three-time Asso-ciated Press All-American. Payton played in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Bruisers and briefly with the Bears in 1987. He was inducted into the Eastern Illinois Hall of Fame and has his number retired. He also tutored quarterbacks for a year at the University of Illinois Payton has a sister and niece who live in Skokie…Chicago TE Jimmy Graham was a third round draft pick of New Or-leans in 2010 and played five seasons for the team, rank-ing fifth in club record books in receiving, most at his posi-tion with 386 receptions for 5,512 yards and 32 touch-downs…Chicago General Manager Ryan Pace served in several capacities in the New Orleans front office before being tabbed to lead the Bears football operation in 2015, most recently as Director of Player Personnel from 2013-15. Bears Director of Football Administration Joey Laine, Director of Player Personnel Josh Lucas and Director of College Scouting Mark Sadowski all worked in the New Orleans front office...Saints Senior Offensive Assistant/Wide Receivers Curtis Johnson served as wide receivers coach in Chicago in 2016. Johnson and Bears Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano served on the same University of Miami staff from 1996-2000…New Orleans Pass Rush Specialist Brian Young and Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Dan Campbell played with Chicago Wide Receivers Coach Mike Furrey in St. Louis and Detroit respectively…Saints Senior Defensive Assistant Peter Giunta and Chica-go Tight Ends Coach Kevin M. Gilbride served on the same New York Giants staff from 2010-14...Bears DT Akiem Hicks was a third round draft pick of the Saints in 2012 and played for the club from 2012-15...New Orleans Defen-sive Assistant Michael Hodges served on the coaching staff at Eastern Illinois from 2014-16, coaching linebackers from 2014-15 and serving as co-defensive coordinator his final season in Charleston…New Orleans Assistant Offen-sive Line Coach Brendan Nugent served on the Bears coaching staff from 2013-14…New Orleans radio play-by-play voice Zach Strief played at Northwestern from 2002-05...Saints Offensive Line Coach Dan Roushar was a two-year letterman at quarterback at Northern Illinois and later had two stints on their coaching staff in 1984 and from 1997-2002…Saints DB Justin Hardee played at Illi-nois...New Orleans WR Austin Carr played at Northwest-ern...Bears WR Ted GInn Jr. played for New Orleans from 2017-19 and his father, Ted Ginn Sr. coached Hardee and Saints CB Marshon Lattimore at Glenville High School in Cleveland...New Orleans Combine Scout Matt Phillips is the son of Chicago President & CEO Matt Phillips...Bears Offensive Line Coach Juan Castillo served on the same coaching staff in Philadelphia with Payton from 1997-

98...Saints Secondary Coach Aaron Glenn and Bears Spe-cial Teams Coordinator Chris Tabor served on the same staff in Cleveland from 2014-15...Chicago DL Mario Ed-wards Jr. played for New Orleans in 2019...New Orle-ans Assistant General Manager/College Scouting Director Jeff Ireland is the grandson of former longtime Bears personnel executive Jim Parmer...New Orleans Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen and Bears Defensive Line Coach Jay Rodgers served on the same Denver staff in 2011. Brees and Rodgers, who made his coaching debut as a graduate assistant at LSU from 2001-02, were high school teammates at Austin (Texas) Westlake HS. Brees and Bears QB Nick Foles both prepped at Austin Westlake as they and Peyton and Eli Manning (Newman HS) are the only two duos of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks hailing from the same high school. Foles also played with CB Pat-rick Robinson and S Malcolm Jenkins in Philadelphia where they were Super Bowl winning teammates. Saints RB Latavius Murray and Bears OLB Khalil Mack were teammates in Oakland from 2004-16, where Allen served as Mack’s head coach for the start of his NFL ca-reer...Bears T Bobby Massie played at the University of Mississippi...New Orleans QB Jameis Winston played with Chicago K Cairo Santos in Tampa Bay in 2019. Santos is a former Tulane standout...Chicago LB Barkevious Mingo prepped at West Monroe HS and played for Cleveland with Saints LB Craig Robertson from 2013-15...Saints WR Eric Kumerow prepped at South Elgin (Ill.) HS and started his college career at Illinois.

NEW ORLEANS – CHICAGO STATISTICAL COMPARISON

2020 Final NFL Regular Season Rankings

Saints Bears

Record 12-4 8-8 Scoring Avg. (NFL Rank) 30.1(5) 23.3 (23) Opp. Scoring Avg. (NFL Rank) 21.1 (5) 23.1 (18) Total Off. (NFL Rank) 376.4 (9) 331.4 (20) Rushing Off. (NFL Rank) 141.6 (7) 102.9 (20) Passing Off. (NFL Rank) 234.9 (19) 228.4 (17) Total Def. (NFL Rank) 310.9 (3) 344.9 (18)Rushing Def. (NFL Rank) 93.9 (4) 113.4(16) Passing Def. (NFL Rank) 217.0 (6) 231.6 (17)Kickoff Return Avg. (NFL Rank) 25.4 (6) 24.4 (5)Punt Return Avg. (NFL Rank) 10.2 (8) 7.6 (27)Turnover Margin (NFL Rank) +9 (3t) -4 (23t) Penalties 98 88 Penalty Yards 1005 777 Opp. Penalties 64 95 Opp. Penalty Yards 517 861

Bears vs. Saints: NFC Wild Card

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THE COACHES Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has posted a 151-88 overall record (.632), including an 8-7 postseason mark after the franchise had won only one playoff game prior to his arrival in 2006. Payton holds both the club’s top victory total and winning percentage. Payton is ranked 25th all-time in NFL record books in victories, fifth among active head coaches. He continues to represent the Saints as the model of stability not only within the NFC South, as he is the longest tenured head coach within the division, but also among the most accomplished within the NFL. Only the Patriots’ Bill Belichick (2000) has been with the his team longer than Payton’s 15 seasons. Payton is also one of just nine active NFL head coaches to lead a team to a Super Bowl victory. The others are Belichick, the Seattle Sea-hawks’ Pete Carroll, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Jon Gruden (Buccaneers in 2002), the Baltimore Ravens’ John Har-baugh, the Dallas Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy (Green Bay Packers in 2010), the Philadelphia Eagles’ Doug Pederson, Kansas City’s Andy Reid and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin. The 2020 Saints are only the sixth team in National Football League history to have six-game winning streaks in four consecutive seasons and with a nine-game winning streak had won at least nine straight games in two of the past three seasons and have had double-digit victory fig-ures and consecutive playoff berths in four straight years for the first time in franchise history, also being only the third NFC team since divisional alignment to capture four straight division championships. Five Saints were selected to the Pro Bowl as the Black and Gold will enter the NFL playoffs for the ninth season in Payton’s head coaching tenure. The 2019 New Orleans Saints posted their second consecutive 13-3 record, capturing their third consecutive NFC South title and playoff berth. A franchise-record six players were selected Associated Press All-Pro and a club-best 11 were named to the Pro Bowl. New Orleans won seven games on the road for the second consecutive sea-son. The Saints set an National Football League single-season record with only eight turnovers as they ranked second in the league in turnover ratio (+15). New Orleans also ranked third in sacks (51), tied for third in scoring (28.6 ppg.) and ranked fourth in opponent rushing yards per game. Special teams captured first place in National Foot-ball League writer Rick Gosselin’s annual comprehensive rankings. Payton earned a bachelor’s degree in communi-cations at Eastern Illinois, where as a quarterback he had 10,665 passing yards, at the time the third-highest total in NCAA Division I-AA history. Payton was inducted into the Eastern Illinois Hall of Fame in 2000 and had his jersey retired in a ceremony in 2010. He received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater in 2013. Payton was born Dec. 29, 1963 in San Mateo, Calif., and raised in Naper-ville, Ill., Payton has a daughter, Meghan and a son, Con-nor.

Chicago Head Coach Matt Nagy is in his third season at the helm for the Bears after being hired on January 8, 2018 as the 16th head coach in club history. Nagy guided the Bears to their first playoff appearance since 2010 in his first season in 2018 and brought Chicago back to the playoffs in 2020, his third campaign. He joined the Bears with 10 sea-sons of coaching experience in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs (2013-17) and Phila-delphia Eagles (2008-12). Nagy was promoted to offensive coordinator in Kansas City in 2017 after spending 2016 as co-offensive coordinator with Brad Childress. He served as quarterbacks coach his first three seasons in Kansas City. In Philadelphia, Nagy served as the Eagles’ quality control coach (2011-12) and was a coaching assistant (2010), af-ter getting his start as a coaching intern with the Eagles (2008-2009). A standout quarterback at Delaware, Nagy was a quarterback in the Arena Football League for the New York Dragons (2002), Carolina Cobras (2004), Geor-gia Force (2005-06) and Columbus Destroyers (2007-08). He began coaching at the high school level, as an assistant at Manheim Central (2001), quarterbacks coach at Cedar Crest (2002-03) and offensive coordinator at Palmyra Area High School (2008-09). Born April 24, 1978 in Plainfield, New Jersey, he and his wife Stacey have four sons: Bray-den, Tate, Jaxon and Jett.

SAINTS-BEARS SERIES FAST FACTS Saints’ Largest Margin of Victory: 22 points, Saints won 28-6 on 9/13/92 at Louisiana Superdome.

Bears’ Largest Margin of Victory: 25 points, Bears won 42-17 on 12/21/75 at Louisiana Superdome.

Current Series Streak: Saints won last six contests, 9/18/11-present.

Saints’ Longest Win Streak: Six games, 9/18/11-present.

Bears’ Longest Win Streak: Three games, 12/1/68– 10/10/71.

Most Points by Saints in a Game: 42 points, Saints won 42-24 on 10/2/77 at Soldier Field

Most Points by Bears in a Game: 42 points, Bears won 42-17 on 12/21/75 at Louisiana Superdome.

Most Combined Points (Both Teams): 66 points, Saints won 42-24 on 10/2/77 at Soldier Field

Fewest Points by Saints in a Game: Three points (two times), Bears won 22-3 on 9/14/80 at Soldier Field and 24-3 on 12/20/70 at Tulane Stadium.

Fewest Points by Bears in a Game: Zero points. Saints won 10-0 on 9/19/82 at Soldier Field.

Fewest Combined Points (Both Teams): 10 points, Saints won 10-0 on 9/19/82 at Soldier Field.


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SERIES HISTORY New Orleans leads the Saints-Bears regular season series 17-13, one of ten clubs they have a winning record against. The Saints have dropped both playoff contests against Chicago, both of them played at Soldier Field. They will also be looking to extend the overall series win streak to seven games. New Orleans has taken the last six meet-ings, including a 26-23 overtime win on November 1, 2020 at Soldier Field. Of the 30 regular season contests in the all-time series, 15 have been decided by eight points or less, including seven of the last ten matchups. New Orleans has posted a 6-2 record against the Bears in contests played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome:

Date Result Site Att.

12/1/68 L, 17-23 Tulane Stadium 78,285

12/20/70 L, 3-24 Tulane Stadium 63,518

10/10/71 L, 14-35 @ Soldier Field 55,049

10/7/73 W, 21-16 Tulane Stadium 56,561

10/6/74 L, 10-24 @ Soldier Field 45,818

12/21/75 L, 17-42 Superdome 33,371

10/2/77 W, 42-24 @ Soldier Field 51,488

9/14/80 L, 3-22 @ Soldier Field 62,523

9/19/82 W, 10-0 @ Soldier Field 56,600

9/18/83 W, 34-31 ot Superdome 64,692

10/7/84 L, 7-20 @ Soldier Field 53,752

10/18/87 W, 19-17 @ Soldier Field 46,813

1/6/91* L, 6-16 @ Soldier Field 46,813

10/27/91 L, 17-20 Superdome 60,767

9/13/92 W,28-6 Superdome 68,591

10/9/94 L, 7-17 @ Soldier Field 63,822

10/13/96 W, 27-24 Superdome 43,512

10/5/97 W, 20-17 @ Soldier Field 58,865

10/3/99 L, 10-14 @ Soldier Field 66,944

10/8/00 W, 31-10 @ Soldier Field 66,944

10/12/02 W, 29-23 @ Memorial Stad.63,216

10/12/03 W, 20-13 Superdome 68,390

11/6/05 L, 17-20 Tiger Stadium 32,637

1/21/07@ L, 14-39 @ Soldier Field 61,817

12/30/07 L, 25-33 @ Soldier Field 62,064

12/11/08 L, 24-27 ot @ Soldier Field 61,692

9/18/11 W, 30-13 Superdome 73,019

10/6/13 W, 26-18 @ Soldier Field 62,361 12/15/14 W, 31-15 @ Soldier Field 60,996

10/29/17 W, 20-12 Superdome 73,192

10/20/19 W, 36-25 @ Soldier Field 62,306

11/1/20 W, 26-23 ot @ Soldier Field

* NFC Wild Card Playoff

@ NFC Championship

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

PLAYERS

LB Alex Anzalone (anne-zuh-LOAN-ee)

T Terron Armstead (ter-RON)

LB Zack Baun (BONN)

WR Marquez Callaway (mar-QWEZ)

LB Demario Davis (duh-MAR-ee-oh)

WR/RS Deonte Harris (deo-on-tay)

RB Alvin Kamara (kuh-Mare-Uh)

WR Jake Kumerow (KOO-mer-o)

DT David Onyemata (own-yay-MAH-ta)

T/G Andrus Peat (ANN-druss PEET)

T Ryan Ramczyk (RAM-check)

C/G Cesar Ruiz (roo-EEZ)

TE Adam Trautman (Trout-man)

COACHES

Senior Defensive Asst. Peter Giunta (GEN-ta).

Offensive Line Coach Dan Roushar (ROW-shar).


HOW DO YOU SAY IT

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2020 SAINTS COMMUNICATIONS STAFF

Greg Bensel-Senior Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (504) 731-1794

Doug Miller-Executive Director of Football Communica-tions


Phone: (504) 731-1895

Justin Macione-Director of Football Communication


Phone: (504) 731-1848

Evan Meyers-Football Communications/Legends Mgr.


Phone: (504) 731-1844

Jordy Spitale-Corporate Communications Manager


Phone: (504) 731-1894

Davis Friend-Communications Associate


Phone: (504) 731-1842

JULY

27 – Signed draft picks G/C Cesar Ruiz, LB Zack Baun, QB Tommy Stevens and TE Adam Trautman.

28 – Placed TEs Cole Wick and Jason Vander Laan on Reserve/Did Not Report/Covid Opt-Out.

AUGUST

2 – Waived DB Chris Johnson, WR Tommylee Lewis, OL Adrian Magee, RB Taquan Mizzell Sr., WR Maurice Har-ris, DL Gus Cumberlander, FB Ricky Ortiz, WR

Krishawn Hogan and CB Deatrick Nichols, waived/injured DL Kenny Bigelow Jr.

3 – Signed WR Bennie Fowler. Waived DT Taylor Stall-worth.

7 – Signed LB Nigel Bradham.

19 – Signed TE Ethan Wolf.

20 – Placed DB Tino Ellis on Injured Reserve.

24 – Placed CB Johnson Bademosi on Injured Reserve and terminated contract of LB Nigel Bradham.

25 – Signed CB Kemon Hall.

26 – Reached an injury settlement with CB Tino Ellis.

29 – Signed DEs Anthony Lanier II and DE T.J. Carter and LB Wynton McManis and waived OL Darrin Paulo.

30 – Placed DL Jalen Dalton on Injured Reserve. Placed RB Dwayne Washington on Reserve/Covid-19.

SEPTEMBER

5 – Terminated the contracts of LB Anthony Chickillo, DL Mario Edwards Jr., WR Bennie Fowler III, DL Margues Hunt and OL Patrick Omameh. Waived LB Joe Bachie, WRs Emmanuel Butler and Austin Carr, DE T.J. Carter, LB Andrew Dowell, TE Garrett Griffin, CB Kemon Hall, WRs Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Juwan Johnson, RB To-ny Jones Jr., LB Wyton McManis, OL Jordan Steckler, TE Tommy Stevens, OL Calvin Throckmorton, C/G Camer-on Tom, DB Keith Washington II and TE Ethan WOlf. Placed LB Kiko Alonso on Reserve/PUP. Placed DE An-thony Lanier II on Injured Reserve. Placed OL James Hurst on Reserve/Suspended by Commissioner. Waived/Injured DB Saquan Hampton.

6 – Placed DB Saquan Hampton on Injured Reserve. Agreed to practice squad contracts with LB Joe Bachie, WR Austin Carr, LB Anthony Chickillo, LB Andrew Dowell, WR Bennie Fowler III, TE Garrett Griffin, CB Kemon Hall, WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, DL Margus Hunt, WR Juwan Johnson, RB Tony Jones Jr., TE Tommy Stevens, OL Calvin Throckmorton, C/G Cameron Tom and DB Keith Washington II.

9 – Signed DE Marcus Willoughby to the practice squad and placed P Blake Gillikin on Injured Reserve.

9 – Reached an injury settlement with DE Anthony Lanier.

12 – Signed WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt to the active roster from the practice squad. Signed RB Alvin Kamara to a five-year contract extension.

13 – Agreed to terms with LB Demario Davis on three-year contract extension.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE


COMMUNICATIONS STAFF

TRANSACTIONS

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

SEPTEMBER

14 – WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt reverted to the practice squad from the active roster. Reached an inju-ry settlement with DB Saquan Hampton.

18 – Activated RB Dwayne Washington from Reserve-Covid.

19 – Signed DB Grant Haley and DT Anthony Zettel to practice squad. LB Anthony Chickillo terminated practice squad contract. Terminated practice squad contract of CB Kemon Hall.

21 – Elevated WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt to the active roster from the practice squad.

22 – WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt reverted to the practice squad from the active roster. .

26 – Signed WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt to the active roster from practice squad. Placed RB Ty Mont-gomery on practice squad and waived C/G Will Clapp.

28 – Signed CB Ken Crawley to the practice squad.

29 – Signed C/G Will Clapp to the practice squad.

30 – Signed WR Malik Henry to the practice squad. Placed WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey on practice squad Injured Re-serve

OCTOBER

3 – Elevated CB Ken Crawley and TE Garrett Griffin to the active roster from the practice squad. Signed C/G Will Clapp to the active roster from the practice squad. Placed LB Chase Hansen on Injured Reserve.

5 – CB Ken Crawley and TE Garrett Griffin reverted to practice squad. T/G James Hurst suspension lifted by Commissioner. Team granted roster exemption.

8 – Waived C/G Will Clapp and signed WR Tommylee Lewis to the practice squad.

10 – Signed C/G Will Clapp to practice squad. Terminated practice squad contract of WR Malik Henry.

12 – CB Ken Crawley signed to active roster from practice squad. T/G James Hurst roster exemption lifted. Terminat-ed contract of DL Margus Hunt. Elevated WR Austin Carr and TE Garrett Griffin to active roster from practice squad.

13 – WR Austin Carr and TE Garrett Griffin reverted to the practice squad.

22 – Signed DE Will Clarke to the practice squad.

23 – Placed CB Ken Crawley and WR Emmanuel Sanders on Reserve/COVID-19 and WR Bennie Fowler III on In-jured Reserve.

24 – Activated WR Austin Carr (COVID-19 replacement), C/G Will Clapp and WR Juwan Johnson (COVID-19 re-placement) from the practice squad.

26 – WR Austin Carr (COVID-19 replacement), C/G Will Clapp and WR Juwan Johnson (COVID-19 replacement) reverted to the practice squad.

28 – Reinstated CB Ken Crawley from Reserve/COVID-19.

31 – Activated WR Austin Carr , C/G Will Clapp (COVID-19 replacement) and WR Juwan Johnson from the practice squad. Signed WR Tommylee Lewis to active roster from practice squad.

NOVEMBER

2 – WR Austin Carr, C/G Will Clapp (COVID-19 replace-ment and WR Juwan Johnson reverted to the practice squad. Waived WR Tommylee Lewis. Acquired LB Kwon Alexander from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for LB Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth round draft pick.

4 – Placed LB Marcus Willoughby on practice squad In-jured Reserve, signed TE Ethan Wolf and WR Tommylee Lewis to the practice squad. Reinstated WR Emmanuel Sanders from Reserve/COVID-19.

6 – Placed DB Justin Hardee and DT Sheldon Rankins on Injured Reserve, Activated RB Ty Montgomery off of In-jured Reserve.

11 – Signed DE Christian Ringo to the practice squad and terminated practice squad contract of TE Tommy Stevens.

13 – Activated LB Chase Hansen from Injured Reserve.

17 – Terminated practice squad contract of DE Will Clarke and signed DT Ryan Glasgow to the practice squad.

20 – Placed QB Drew Brees on Injured Reserve.

21 – TE Garrett Griffin signed to active roster from practice squad. Signed QB Trevor Siemian and received roster exemption. Elevated DT Ryan Glasgow from practice squad.

22 – DT Ryan Glasgow reverted to the practice squad.

24 – Waived LB Chase Hansen.

26 – Signed LB Chase Hansen to the practice squad.

28 – Placed T Terron Armstead on Reserve/COVID-19. Elevated WR Austin Carr to active roster from practice squad (COVID-19 elevation) and also elevated G/C Will Clapp and DT Ryan Glasgow.



TRANSACTIONS

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-TRANSACTIONS

NOVEMBER

29 – Placed T/G Derrick Kelly on Reserve/COVID-19. Elevated G/C Cameron Tom to active roster from practice squad (COVID-19 elevation).

30 – C/G Cameron Tom, WR Austin Carr, G/C Will Clapp and DT Ryan Glasgow reverted to practice squad from active roster.

DECEMBER

5 – Elevated DE Anthony Zettel, C/G Will Clapp (COVID-19 replacement), WR Juwan Johnson (COVID-19 replace-ment) and WR Tommylee Lewis from practice squad. Acti-vated DT Sheldon Rankins from Injured Reserve, placed WR Marquez Callaway on Injured Reserve and signed CB Grant Haley to active roster from practice squad.

7– DE Anthony Zettel, C/G Will Clapp, WR Juwan Johnson and WR Tommylee Lewis reverted to practice squad.

9– Activated T Terron Armstead and T/G Derrick Kelly from Reserve-COVID-19, and activated WR Lill’Jordan Humph-rey off of practice squad injured reserve.

12 – WR Juwan Johnson and WR Tommylee Lewis elevat-ed to active roster from practice squad. Activated DB Justin Hardee from Injured Reserve and placed CB Patrick Robinson on Injured Reserve.

14 – WR Juwan Johnson and WR Tommylee Lewis revert-ed to practice squad.

14 – Acquired G/T Patrick Omameh off waivers from Las Vegas.

19 – WR Juwan Johnson, C/G Will Clapp and WR Tommyl-ee Lewis signed to active roster from practice squad, elevated WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey from practice squad, waived QB Trevor Siemian and TE Garrett Griffin, activated QB Drew Brees from Injured Reserve and placed WR/RS Deonte Harris and WR Michael Thomas on Injured Re-serve.

20 – Placed QB Jameis Winston on Reserve/COVID-19.

21 – WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey reverted to practice squad.

22 – Re-signed QB Trevor Siemian and TE Garrett Griffin to the practice squad..

23 – Signed WR Jake Lampman to the practice squad..

24 – WR Austin Carr signed to active roster from practice squad. Waived T/G Patrick Omameh and WR Tommylee

Lewis. Elevated WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey from practice squad. Activated WR Marquez Callaway from Injured Re-serve. Placed WR Tre’Quan Smith on Injured Reserve. Activated QB Jameis Winston from Reserve/COVID-19. Placed DB Keith Washington on Reserve/COVID-19.

26 – WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey reverted to practice squad. Assigned WR Jake Kumerow off of waivers from Buffalo.

28 – Placed LB Kwon Alexander on Injured Reserve.

30 – Placed DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson on Reserve/COVID-19. Re-signed WR Tommylee Lewis to practice squad.

JANUARY

1 – Placed RB Alvin Kamara on Reserve/COVID-19,

2 – Elevated CB Grant Haley, RB Tony Jones Jr. (COVID-19 replacement), TE Garrett Griffin (COVID-19 replace-ment), LB Chase Hansen, LB Andrew Dowell (COVID-19 replacement), WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey (COVID-19 re-placement) and WR Tommylee Lewis COVID-19 replace-ment) from practice squad. Placed DB D.J. Swearinger, RB Latavius Murray, RB Dwayne Washington and FB Mi-chael Burton on Reserve/COVID-19.


TRANSACTIONS

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REGULAR SEASON

Date Opponent Time/Network/Result

Sept. 13 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS W, 34-23

Sept. 21 @Las Vegas Raiders L, 24-34

Sept. 27 GREEN BAY PACKERS L, 30-37

Oct. 4 @Detroit Lions W, 35-29

Oct. 12 LOS ANGELES CHARGERS W, 30-27 OT

--—-——-———————-BYE——————————-

Oct. 25 CAROLINA PANTHERS W, 27-24

Nov. 1 @Chicago Bears W, 26-23 OT

Nov. 8 @Tampa Bay Buccaneers W, 38-3

Nov. 15 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS W, 27-13

Nov. 22 ATLANTA FALCONS W, 24-9

Nov. 29 @Denver Broncos W, 31-3

Dec. 6 @Atlanta Falcons W, 21-16

Dec. 13 @Philadelphia Eagles L, 21-24

Dec. 20 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS L, 29-32

Dec. 25 MINNESOTA VIKINGS W, 52-33

Jan. 3 @Carolina Panthers W, 33-7

WEEK 1: New Orleans Saints 34, Tampa Bay Bucca-neers 23; September 13, 2020 @ Mercedes-Benz Su-perdome – Drew Brees and Tom Brady, the two leading passers in National Football League history, couldn't mus-ter vintage performances in the first National Football League game featuring two starting quarterbacks in their 40s.

But while Brees avoided game-turning mishaps with an offense he's led since 2006, Brady suffered some costly cross-ups with his new team. Brady threw two interceptions in his Tampa Bay debut, Alvin Kamara scored touchdowns running and receiving, and the New Orleans Saints beat the Buccaneers 34-23 on Sunday.

“I made some just bad, terrible turnovers,” Brady said. "I obviously have got to do a lot better job.”

The first of Brady’s interceptions led to Kamara’s six-yard touchdown run. The second pick thrown by the new, 43-year-old Bucs QB — who left the Patriots in free agency after 20 years and six Super Bowl triumphs — was re-turned 36 yards for a touchdown by Janoris Jenkins.

“Win the turnover battle like we did, have a turnover for a touchdown, you’re a 90-something percent winner in those games,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. ”Just a lot of things happened in that game that despite how you play, those things can help you win games. The energy and ef-fort I was pleased with.”

The 41-year-old Brees passed for 160 yards and two TDs. He did not turn the ball over and took only one sack. His first TD pass was a dump-off to Kamara from 12 yards out. In the fourth quarter he hit free-agent signing Emmanuel Sanders for a 5-yard score.

“I’d probably say I played awful,” Brees said. “Certainly, we are used to playing at a much higher level offensively and especially in the passing game. So, we’ll get that back on track.”

Still, Brees found satisfaction in beating Brady's Bucs.

“Of course, it’s significant and it’s unique and I’d be lying to you if I said to you it didn’t mean a little bit more," Brees said. "I've got so much love and respect for (Brady) and what he’s able to accomplish.

“We played against each other in college, for goodness sake, in 1999,” Brees continued. “At the end of the day, I think we would both pinch ourselves if you told us back then we’d have the opportunity to play this long and be a part of so many great teams and moments, historic mo-ments.”

Few witnessed this latest bit of history in person, with gov-ernment leaders and the Saints organization having agreed that no fans should attend the opener amid the coronavirus pandemic.

That turned the normally deafening Mercedes-Benz Super-dome into more of an echo chamber. When kicker Wil Lutz’s field goal put New Orleans up 17-7, the squeaking of pulleys could be heard as the net behind the goalpost was lowered.

Brady compared the environment to “a scrimmage.”

“But obviously, it counts,” he added. “We’ve got to look each other in the eye and all work harder, put more urgen-cy on the things we have to do.”

Tight end Jared Cook caught five passes for 80 yards for New Orleans, highlighted by a 46-yard reception down the left side that set up Sanders' touchdown. Brady was 15 of 28 passing for 157 yards and one touchdown through the first 54 minutes. He padded his numbers in garbage time, finishing with 239 yards and two touchdowns, the second scoring strike going to wide receiverMike Evans with 2:41 left.



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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 1 VS. TAMPA BAY

Tampa Bay's opening drive was promising for Brady, who the Bucs hope can lead them to their first playoff appear-ance since the 2007 season.

He lofted a 26-yard completion to wide receiver Chris God-win along the right sideline, drew a pass interference pen-alty with a 22-yard attempt to Evans and capped the drive with a 2-yard keeper, after which he emphatically spiked the ball.

It was a fleeting, triumphant moment for the Bucs in a game defined more, in the end, by their new star's mis-takes.

FORTUITOUS MOVES

The Saints saw two players activated from the practice squad come up with big special teams plays. DL Margus Hunt blocked a 54-yard field goal attempt. WR Bennie Fowler recovered a muffed kickoff at the Tampa Bay 18 in the fourth quarter, setting up a 21-yard field goal that made it 34-17 with 8:01 left.

WEEK 2: Las Vegas Raiders 34, New Orleans Saints 24; September 21, 2020 @ Allegiant Stadium – After being in control of the contest with a 17-7 lead, the Saints got caught in a hailstorm of a comeback in the desert debut of the NFL in Las Vegas, where the Raiders scored 24 con-secutive points in the final three quarters in a loss that dropped New Orleans to 1-1. Despite struggles on offense, New Orleans seemed to be inching back early in the fourth quarter when CB P.J. William recovered a fumble by Raid-ers QB Derek Carr at the Saints 40. But New Orleans couldn’t get past the Las Vegas 47 and Carr engineered a ten-play, 89-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard rushing TD by RB Jalen Richard.

Carr completed 28-of-38 passes for 282 yards, three touch-downs, zero interceptions and a 120.7 passer rating, de-spite being sacked three times.

New Orleans held Las Vegas scoreless on their first two offensive possessions, including one late in the first quarter where DT David Onyemata sacked Carr on third down to get the defense off the field. But the momentum quickly changed when the Raiders forced a three-and-out. Carr led Las Vegas on a 11-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown pass to FB Alec Ingold. The club’s then traded touchdowns, but Raiders K Daniel Carlson booted a 28-yard field goal as time expired at the half to tie the score

On the fifth play from scrimmage of the third quarter, Raid-ers TE Foster Moreau had a 31-yard reception from Carr to set up a one-yard touchdown throw to TE Darren Waller. Once the Saints got the ball back, their only drive of the third quarter was stunted at the Las Vegas 43-yard line by 35 yards. Following Richard’s fourth quarter touchdown, New Orleans would match it with a three-yard rushing touchdown by RB Alvin Kamara. On Las Vegas’ next offen-sive drive, Carlson kicked a 54-yard field goal, set up by a 29-yard pass interference penalty assessed to CB Janoris Jenkins.

WEEK 3: Green Bay Packers 37, New Orleans Saints 30; September 27, 2020 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome – The Saints battled back from four deficits to tie the score at 27-27 on the final play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter on a spectacular 52-yard touchdown reception by RB Alvin Kamara, then stopped Green Bay on downs near midfield to put themselves in position to take a fourth quar-ter lead. But a fumble that set up a field goal, hurt New Or-leans’ momentum, as well as three defensive penalties on Green Bay’s drive, proving to be the difference in the Pack-ers’ win.

In a contest that featured seven different lead changes, New Orleans tied the score on the last play from scrim-mage of the third quarter at 27-27 when Kamara took a screen pass from QB Drew Brees and slithered and broke multiple tackles for the career-long 52-yard receiving touch-down, also moving into first place in franchise history in multiple-score contests (16). S Malcolm Jenkins and CB Marshon Lattimore then combined to stop Packers RB Aaron Jones on an unsuccessful fourth-and-one rush-ing near midfield.

Following a seven-yard rush by RB Latavius Murray, QB Taysom Hill fumbled on an option play as it was forced and it was recovered by Green Bay LB Z’Darius Smith, setting up a 49-yard field goal by K Mason Crosby. On Green Bay’s final drive, with the Packers up 30-27 and third-and-three, LB Demario Davis jumped offsides, giving QB Aaron Rodgers a free play. On it, CB Janoris Jenkins was assessed a defensive pass interference penalty at the New Orleans one-yard line, exhausting New Orleans’ hopes for a comeback.

Kamara had a huge performance, setting career-highs in both receiving yardage and touchdown receptions with 13 grabs for 139 yards and two scores, adding 58 rushing yards on 12 carries for 187 total yards from scrimmage. Brees completed 29-of-36 passes for 288 yards with three touchdown throws, zero interceptions and a 127.8 passer rating.



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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 3

Rodgers completed 21-of-32 passes for 283 yards with three touchdown passes, zero interceptions and a 124.9 passer rating. Green Bay WR Allen Lazard recorded six catches for 146 yards with one touchdown, including a ca-reer-long 72-yard grab. Packers RB Aaron Jones rushed 16 times for 69 yards with one touchdown, as the Saints did not surrender 100 yards rushing to a player for the 45th consecutive regular season/postseason contest, now tied for the third-longest streak in National Football League rec-ord books.

WEEK 4: New Orleans Saints 35, Detroit Lions 29, Oc-tober 4, 2020 at Ford Field- The New Orleans Saints came away with a convincing win against the Lions, show-casing their run game versatility, dominant defense and effective passing game, scoring 35 unanswered points.

The Lions offense put up two touchdowns within the first five minutes of play, displaying an early 14-0 lead against the Saints. The Detroit defense came up with an intercep-tion on the Saints’ first play, to put them in prime field posi-tion. QB Matthew Stafford found targets RB D’Andre Swift and WR Kenny Golladay during their first scores.

QB Drew Brees and the Saints offense overcame the two-touchdown deficit, going into the half with a 28-14 lead.

Running backs Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray took command of the run game, splitting up touches throughout the game. New Orleans had a total 164 yards rushing, Kamara with 19 carries for 83 yards (4.4 yd avg) and Mur-ray with 14 carries for 64 yards (4.6 yd avg). The run game capitalized in the red zone, exhibiting Kamara’s seventh touchdown this season, as well as two rushing scores from Murray.

Brees and the New Orleans passing offense were con-sistent throughout the contest, with two stand out targets, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith. Brees threw for a total of 246 yards, two touchdowns and went 19 for 25. Sanders led the team in receiving, during a breakout game with 6 receptions for 93 yards, his season high. Brees connected with Smith twice in the endzone, giving him (Smith) a total of 4 recep-tions for 54 yards.

The Saints offense went five-for-five in the red zone against the Lions defense, scoring touchdowns on each attempt.

Defensive end Cameron Jordan, Defensive tackle David Onyemata and Defensive end Trey Hendrickson led the pass rush, each coming up with one sack apiece. Corner-

back Patrick Robinson forced a critical turnover, picking off Stafford in the end zone in the second quarter.

• New Orleans’ defense was steady on all aspects. The Saints’ run defense held the Lions to 90 yards rushing and only allowed a season-low 281 total yards, the first time they gave up under 300 yards this season. Surrendering only 36 yards rushing to Lions running back Adrian Peter-son, New Orleans has not allowed an opposing run-ning back to reach the century mark for their last 46 regular season and postseason games, the third-longest streak in the National Football League.

• Kamara scored a touchdown for the sixth consecutive regular season game dating back to 2019, tying the fran-chise mark for consecutive contests with a score.

• Jordan’s sack gives him four against Detroit, tying the franchise for fourth among teams on his list of sack victims behind the three NFC South clubs, Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay.

• The victory improved New Orleans’ all-time regular sea-son record vs. Detroit to 13-12-1, increasing the number of clubs they have a winning record against to nine.

• Head Coach Sean Payton now has 141 career wins in regular season/postseason combined, moving him into a tie with John Fox for 25th all-time in National Football League record books.

WEEK 5: New Orleans Saints 30, Los Angeles Chargers 27, October 4, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Super-dome- Wil Lutz kicked a 36-yard field goal with 5:08 left in overtime and New Orleans' defense stopped Chargers re-ceiver Mike Williams just short on fourth down to preserve a 30-27 victory over seemingly star-crossed Los Angeles on Monday night.

Chargers kicker Michael Badgley, who missed his first career point-after kick wide right in the first quarter, had a chance to redeem himself after Williams' leaping catch be-tween two defenders put the Chargers on the Saints' 32-yard line in the final seconds. But Badgley's 50-yard kick as time expired bounced off the right upright.

"The young man has been kicking outstanding. He's got to do better but we could have done some other things bet-ter," Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said.

Drew Brees rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and hit tight end Jared Cook for a 41-yard score as the Saints rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second quarter.

"This is how you grow as a team," Brees said. "This is how you become battle-tested — and I think it pays divi-dends."



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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 5

Rookie Justin Herbert's fourth touchdown pass of the game, a 64-yarder to Michael Williams, briefly put Los An-geles back in front before the Saints (3-2) tied it on Taysom Hill's nine-yard run with 52 seconds remaining in regula-tion.

The Chargers (1-4) fell to their fourth straight loss by a touchdown or less, and the second in overtime. They also blew a 17-point lead for a second straight game.

"Never thought this team would lose four straight. We've put ourselves in position, but we didn't get it done," Lynn said. "We have to finish these damn games."

Herbert, who was named the starter for the remainder of the season this week, finished 20 of 34 for 264 yards with-out an turnover. Five of his completions went to Williams for 109 yards and two TDs.

Brees finished 33 of 47 for 325 yards, including 12 com-pletions to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders for 122 yards, as his 13 career overtime wins a starting quarterback broke a tie with Tom Brady since it was instituted in the 1974 sea-son. Kamara had 119 yards from scrimmage, highlighted by his leaping, juggling catch along the right sideline over the head of safety Rayshawn Jenkins to set up Hill's tying TD.

In Week Four, it was Tampa Bay's Tom Brady, a six-time Super Bowl winner. This week it was Brees — the National Football League's all-time leader in completions, yards and touchdowns.

Brees' dive over a pile of linemen at the goal line made it 20-10 14 seconds before halftime.

Lutz' 53-yard field goal pulled New Orleans within a touchdown in the third quarter. Then Brees found Cook open behind the Chargers' secondary on third-and-long to tie it early in the fourth quarter.

In staking Los Angeles to an early 20-3 lead, Herbert became the first rookie to pass for three TDs in the first half of a Monday night game.

His first came touchdown pass of the evening when he rolled right away from pressure and fired a 17-yard pass down the sideline to Allen.

Herbert's 49-yard completion to Jalen Guyton set up his four-yard scoring strike to Williams one play later. The touchdown capped a drive extended by a roughing-the-punter penalty against New Orleans RB Dwayne Washing-ton.

Chargers S Nasir Adderly's interception of Brees and 39-

yard return to the Saints one-yard line set up Herbert's three-yard scoring pass to TE Hunter Henry, which made it 20-3.

WEEK 7: New Orleans Saints 27, Carolina Panthers 24, October 25, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome– The Saints earned a hard-fought 27-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers with 3,000 fans in attendance for the first time this season at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, Oct. 25

Saints quarterback Drew Brees found a rhythm on the opening possession, driving 75 yards which ended with a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jared Cook. The score marked the first time the Saints have scored a touch-down on the opening possession of a game in the 2020 season.

With two of his top targets inactive for the contest, Brees relied on rookie wide recceiver Marquez Callaway, wide receiver/return specialist Deonte Harris, wide recceiver Tre’Quan Smith and running back Alvin Kamara in the passing game. Star wide receivers Michael Thomas (hamstring) and Emmanuel Sanders (Covid-19) were ab-sent..

Brees completed 29-of-36 passes for 387 yards and two scores. In a standout performance, Callaway hauled in eight catches for 75 yards. The Saints were 12 of 14 on third down and never punted.

The Saints rushing attack, led by Kamara and Latavius Murray, combined for 130 yards on the ground. Kamara also notched eight receptions for 65 yards. After a 16-yard grab in the second half, Kamara joined Roger Craig and Christian McCaffrey as the only players with at least 2,500 rushing and 2,500 receiving yards in their first four seasons in NFL history.

While the New Orleans defense had some struggles, DE Marcus Davenport stepped up when it mattered most. Dav-enport sacked former Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater for a eight-yard loss with two minutes remaining, knocking Caro-lina out of reasonable field goal range. Joey Slye attempted a 65-yard field goal to tie the game, but just came up short.

“I thought the sack on third down was critical,” Saints Head Coach Sean Payton said during his postgame press conference. “It put them in a much different position. It was a good win.”

Bridgewater, who played two seasons with the Saints before joining Carolina this season, completed 23-of-28 passes for 254 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown strike to wideout D.J. Moore.



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WEEK 8: Saints 26, Bears 23, November 1, 2020 @ Sol-dier Field – The Saints earned a 26-23 overtime victory over the Bears behind the leg of K Wil Lutz on a crisp, au-tumn afternoon at Soldier Field on Nov. 1, All Saints Day. Lutz knocked home a 35-yard field goal with 2:12 left in overtime to secure the fourth consecutive win of the sea-son for New Orleans, which is 5-2 and tied for first with Tampa Bay in the NFC South. "It was a hard fought game," Saints Coach Sean Payton said during his postgame press conference. "I think in the second half we played better football. It's good when you win an overtime game like that - it's the second one this year. There's a little bit of grit and toughness that I think you begin to build. I don't think you just start with it." Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed 31-of-41 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. Brees connected with tight end Jared Cook on a 16-yard touchdown strike with three seconds remaining in the first half, trimming Chica-go's lead to 13-10 at the break. Taysom Hill found paydirt late in regulation on at 20-yard pass from Brees, extending the Saints lead to 23-13. On the play Brees surpassed Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady for most career touch-down passes (560 to 559). Running back Alvin Kamara hauled in nine passes for 96 yards, finishing with 163 all-purpose yards in the contest. New Orleans' first three offensive possessions of the sec-ond half started inside Chicago territory. Return man Deonte Harris set up the Saints offense with excellent field position on a pair of electrifying punt returns, including a 42-yard return setting the Saints up in the red zone mid-way through the third quarter. Defensively, New Orleans tallied 5.0 sacks on the after-noon. Defensive end Trey Hendrickson established a new season high (5.5 sacks) on the year with one quarterback takedown. Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore came up with an interception with 8:34 to play in the third quarter. The takeaway came on the ensuing play after Bears WR Javon Wims was ejected for throwing multiple punches at Saints DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Saints LB Demario Davis had an opportunity to seal the win in regulation, but a forward progress call allowed Chi-cago to maintain possession after Davis forced and jumped on a fumble. Bears QB Nick Foles completed 28-of-41 passes for 272 yards tor two touchdowns and an interception. Foles con-nected with former Tulane Green Wave WR Darnell Mooney five times for 69 yards and a touchdown. Star WR Allen Robinson had six receptions for 87 yards and a score. Chicago running back David Montgomery flirted with a 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 21 carries for 89 yards.

WEEK 9: Saints 38, Buccaneers 3; November 8, 2020 @ Raymond James Stadium – Drew Brees vs. Tom Brady, and the battle for the supremacy of the NFC South, was a one-sided affair. Brees threw for 222 yards and four touchdowns, regaining the NFL career TD pass lead and lifting the New Orleans Saints into first place with a 38-3 rout of Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night.

The three-time defending division champion won their fifth straight game, intercepting Brady three times and complet-ing a season sweep of the Bucs (6-3), who also suffered a double-digit loss at New Orleans in Week 1. “Each time you can win and find different ways to win, I think it just builds confidence and creates momentum,” Brees said. “Obviously tonight was a great night,” he added. “All the way around in all three phases, it was pretty exceptional.”

The Saints (6-2) weren’t perfect—turning the ball over twice themselves-however the offense was extremely effi-cient with receivers Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sand-ers back in the lineup, and the defense played its best game of the season.

Brees was 26 of 32 passing, including first-half TD throws of 14 yards to Tre’Quan Smith, 8 yards to Adam Trautman and 12 yards to Sanders, who missed the previous two games while on the COVID-19 list. The 41-year old added a three-yarder to Josh Hill to make it 38-0 with just over nine minutes remaining. “We knew this was a big game, divisional opponent, Tam-pa’s playing extremely well,: said Brees, who lost a fumble on Tampa Bay’s only sack but didn’t throw an interception. “Obviously we’re been a little short-handed over the last few weeks … Tonight, it was good to get them back in the mix,” Brees added. “We wanted to spread the ball around, wanted to play complementary football. I can’t say enough about our defense, they just played phenomenal.”

Brees regained the league career TD pass lead with 564, three more than the 43-year old Brady, who had thrown for 17 touchdowns and just one interception over the previous six games.

WEEK 10: Saints 27, 49ers 13, Nov. 15, 2020 at Mer-cedes-Benz Superdome- With QB Drew Brees sidelined by a rib injury, the Saints turned to their defense to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 27-13 in front of 6,000 fans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, Nov. 15.

The defense delivered. All-Pro LB Demario Davis notched a game high 12 tackles, while DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson tallied eight total tackles, including his first career sack. DBs Malcolm Jenkins and Patrick Robinson each intercepted 49ers QB Nick Mullens. Special teams played a factor in the field position game for New Orleans. Undrafted rookie Marquez Callaway came up with two muffed punt recoveries, and rookie LB Zack Baun also delivered a high-impact special teams tackle. It took the Saints offense while to get going, but a 75-yard Deonte Harris kick return sparked the first score of the game, a 49-yard Wil Lutz field goal. CONT. ON NEXT PAGE


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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 10 Brees completed 8-of-13 passes for 76 yards and one score before exiting the game with a rib injury at halftime. He took a hard hit in the second quarter on a sack by 49ers defensive end Kentavius Street. Street was called for un-necessary roughness on the play. "He took a heavy shot in the first half," Saints Coach Sean Payton said during his postgame press conference. "As he came out in the second half, he felt it was really impacting him. He'll get an MRI and x-rays. His back felt sore. As he tried to throw, he just came up to me and said, 'Hey, I don't feel like I'm capable of playing.' And so quickly we made the switch, and you know, that happens sometimes." "I was not going to be able to be effective," Brees said. "It had nothing to do with pain. It was definitely just what my body was going to be able to do or not be able to do." Jameis Winston's first pass replacing Brees went for a first down. Winston completed 6-of-10 passes for 63 yards, while Taysom Hill carried the ball eight times for 45 yards from the quarterback position. "My main job is to serve my teammates and help put us in a position to win the football game," Winston said during his postgame press conference. "I am happy we had a great team win today." Five quarterbacks took at least one snap between the two teams in Sunday's contest. Running back Alvin Kamara hauled in seven receptions for 83 yards and a score and added two short rushing touch-downs. In addition to Brees, the Saints had these players leave the game with injuries, tight end Josh Hill, wide re-ceiver Tre'Quan Smith, cornerback Marshon Lattimore and defensive tackle Malcom Brown.

WEEK 11: New Orleans Saints 24, Atlanta Falcons 9, November 22, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome- Driving accurate throws downfield, exhibiting poise in the pocket and scrambling judiciously, Taysom Hill capitalized on his first true opportunity to make his case as a candi-date to one day succeed record-setting star Drew Brees as the Saints quarterback.

Hill rushed for two touchdowns and completed 78.3% of his passes for 233 yards in his first NFL start at quarterback, and New Orleans beat the Atlanta Falcons 24-9 on Sunday to extend its winning streak to seven games. “Man, he played tremendous,” said Saints receiver Michael Thomas, who caught nine passes for 104 yards. “I could see the look in his eyes. He was ready for the moment.” With the 41-year-old Brees sidelined at least three games with multiple rib fractures, Saints coach Sean Payton gave Hill the nod over offseason free-agent acquisition Jameis Winston. The decision meant a lot to Hill, who persevered through an injury-plagued college career at BYU before starting his NFL career as a 27-year-old undrafted rookie in 2017. And because Hill initially flourished in an unconventional utility role, with duties ranging from change-of-pace option QB to tight end and special teams, he played in 46 previous NFL games before finally getting his first start under center. “I spent a lot of time reflecting this week. My wife and I had

so many conversations about were we’ve been, the pro-cess of getting here," Hill said. "If I’m being honest, it was an emotional week.” Hill looked comfortable running the scheme Payton de-signed for him. He completed 18 of 23 passes without an interception and used his all-around athleticism to run inter-mittently on scrambles or designed read-option plays, fin-ishing with a team-high 51 yards rushing. The biggest blemish in his performance was an inconsequential, fourth-quarter fumble after a 20-yard run to the Atlanta 22. Still, he had a better day than Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, who was sacked eight times and finished 19-of-37 passing for 232 yards, no touchdowns and two intercep-tions to defensive backs Marcus Williams and Janoris Jen-kins. Cameron Jordan sacked Ryan three times, while Trey Hendrickson and David Onyemata each had two sacks. “You’ve got to give the Saints credit. They did a great job on defense,” Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris said. “The defensive backs, they did a nice job of limiting us on what we were able to do. They had a nice game plan for us. They did a nice job of keeping Matt under control and they did a nice job keeping our receivers under control.” Hill entered having thrown just five passes with four com-pletions for 86 yards this season and was 10 of 18 for 205 yards in his career, leaving him relatively unproven as a passer. Not anymore. While his all-around athleticism would have made scrambling a tempting default choice, he regularly showed patience and poise while delivering accurate pass-es moments before impact from onrushing defenders. “I always know that I have the ability, if things break down, that I can make a play,” Hill said. “But my mindset was: let's keep your eyes down the field and let's find opportuni-ties” for receivers. Hill was among the last to leave the field after the game, raising one hand to acknowledge cheers of the pandemic-limited crowd of about 6,000. All that was missing was a first-career scoring pass — part-ly because of how effectively the Saints ran the ball. Alvin Kamara scored New Orleans' first touchdown on a three-yard run, Hill scored the second on a fourth down keeper from the Atlanta 2, and Hill's second TD came on a 10-yard scramble. Kamara, Hill and Latavius Murray powered a ground game that netted 168 yards, which helped the Saints (8-2) sus-tain drives that consumed a total of 33:41. New Orleans' second-ranked run defense held Atlanta to 52 yards rushing, and the Saints defense did not allow a touchdown for the second time in three games — with only one touchdown given up in between. The Falcons (3-7) struck first with a field goal set up by Ryan's 46-yard completion to Calvin Ridley and led 9-3 on three Younghoe Koo kicks before the Saints responded with 21 straight points. MAKING HISTORY Kamara became the first player in NFL history with at least 500 yards rushing and receiving in each of his first four seasons. Thomas recorded his 482nd career catch during the first half, giving him ownership of the record for most catches in an NFL player's first five seasons. He finished with 489.


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WEEK 12: Saints 31, Broncos 3, November 29, 2020 at Empower Field at Mile High- The Saints dominated the line of scrimmage in its 31-3 rout over Denver on Sunday. The Saints ran for 229 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns against a stout Broncos defensive unit that gave up just 56 rushing yards the week prior. "I was proud of how we ran the football," Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "I thought our guys up front, toward the end of the game, we won that battle pretty clearly." Running back Latavius Murray carried 19 times, tallying 124 yards and two scores. Taysom Hill added two scores on the ground, taking advantage of his trademark quarter-back power rush off the right side of the line. "Yeah, the quarterback power, any time the quarterback runs the ball, you really gain an extra blocker," Saints guard Nick Easton said Monday. "So if everybody executes their assignments, he's got a free run to the end zone. So, it's pretty hard for a defense, like somebody's got to defeat the block in order to make a tackle. So, you end up getting a few extra yards on those type of plays." Easton got the start in place of injured guard Andrus Peat. "As far as knowing I was going to start, I approach every week with the mentality that I'm going to be a big contribu-tor and play my hardest," Easton said. "Andrus, was deal-ing with a concussion and working through the protocol. So, it was a little blurry going through the week, but I al-ways prepare like I'm going to start." New Orleans was also without All-Pro T Terron Armstead, who was placed on the Covid-19/Reserve List Saturday. Defensively, the Saints (9-2) set a franchise record with just 112 yards allowed and forced three turnovers while winning their eighth straight game. "We're just playing with trust in our teammates and our guys next to us," DT Malcom Brown said. "I mean, we trust everybody to be where they're supposed to be. And we're just trying to roll like that and we just keep on working. Not looking too far ahead and not trying to hold anything from ourselves. But, we just want to keep on working, go through the process and stack them up every week." Brown and company were tasked with facing Kendall Hin-ton, an undrafted rookie wide receiver activated from the Broncos' practice squad and inserted as their quarterback. The Broncos lost all four of their quarterbacks this week after backup Jeff Driskel tested positive for Covid-19 and starter Drew Lock and the other two quarterbacks on the roster were deemed close contacts and ruled ineligible. "We all kind of prepared for the offense as Drew Lock at quarterback and everything," Brown said. "But I mean, it's the NFL. Whatever they roll out, you have got to defend and that's kind of the mentality we took to it." Due to Denver's quarterback situation, the Broncos relied heavily on the "Wildcat" offense, only attempting nine pass-es, two of which were intercepted. "I like to play the run a lot," Brown said. "My fundamentals and technique are real important to me. So, we knew we'd play the run a lot all game. It's weird too though,. because usually you get rewarded with a pass on third down, where you can rush the passer. It was just one of those games where it was just, I don't know, it was kind of weird." New Orleans leads the National Football League in total defense, allowing just 284.9 yards per game.

WEEK 13: Saints 21, Atlanta Falcons 16, December 6, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Taysom Hill finally threw a touchdown pass. Two of them, in fact. The New Orleans defense finally gave up a touchdown. But not two, which ensured the Saints are headed back to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Hill won another start filling in for injured Drew Brees and New Orleans got the big defensive stop it needed in the closing minutes to preserve a 21-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Saints (10-2) clinched a playoff berth with their ninth straight victory and Chicago’s 34-30 loss to Detroit.

“our work’s not done yet,” defensive end Trey Hendrick-son said.

Hill connected with Tre’Quan Smith on a 15-yard touch-down in the opening quarter-the quarterback’s first scoring pass since his senior year at Brigham Young in 2016.

He added another before halftime, zipping an 11-yard pass to tight end Jared Cook in tight coverage.

“I don’t care as much as people might think (regarding lack of touchdown pass),” said Hill, who improved to 3-0 in filling in for Brees. “I know there was a lot of conversation about getting that first TD completion. But as long as we’re winning football games, I’m happy.”

Hill was 27 of 37 for 232 yards passing. He tackled on 83 yards rushing on 14 carries, including a 43-yard scamper that was the longest run of his career, setting up his first TD pass.

“I thought his performance was strong,” coach Sean Payton said. “He made a lot of throws.” the football. He had a couple of fumbles, the first coming deep in Atlanta territory to spark the Falcons’ comeback.

Atlanta drove 85 yards capped by Matt Ryan’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Russell Gage with 7:43 remaining. New Orleans hadn’t allowed a touchdown since the opening drive of a game against San Francisco on Nov. 15, a span of 14 quarters without one.

The Falcons 94-8) got the ball back and again pushed deep into New Orleans territory. On second-and-2 at the saints 13, Todd Gurley was stuffed for no gain by LB De-mario Davis. He got the ball again on third down for a sweep around the left end, but Davis caught him for a 7-yard loss.

If there was one flaw in Hill’s game, it was hanging on to Ryan threw into the end zone on fourth down, but the pass fell incomplete to finish off the home team’s best chance at pulling off an upset. Atlanta got a desperation heave on the final play of the game, but it was batted down by DB D.J. Swearinger. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE


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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 13 The Saints never doubted their ability to prevent a sec-ond TD.

“We like us,” defensive end Cam Jordan said. “If we’re defending a touchdown, we love us.”

New Orleans extended the lead to 21-8 on Alvin Kama-ra’s 11-yard TD run in the third quarter and had a chance to wrap it up after Ryan fumbled on a play that was initially ruled an incompletion but changed to a fumble after Payton challenged the call.

Hill gave it right back. Under heavy pressure, he tried to throw the ball away but wound up fumbling, giving the Fal-cons renewed hope.

“It’s one of those things wehre I’m trying to make a play,” Hill said. “In hindsight, I wish I had just taken the sack and gotten a field goal. Those would’ve been big points for us.

Ryan was 19-of-39 for 273 yards. He was sacked three times—a far cry from the combined 17 times he went down in the last two games against the Saints.

Still, Ryan faced heavy pressure much of the game, get-ting hit eight times. The run game wasn’t much help, man-aging just 70 yards and 3.3 yards per carry. Gurley, coming back from a knee injury, was held to 16 yards on eight car-ries.

“They’re a good defense, that’s for sure,” Ryan said. “We needed to be in more third-and-shorts to give us better op-portunities.”

Falcons K Younghoe Koo kicked three field goals, ex-tending his streak to 24 in a row since his lone Week 3 miss.

New Orleans swept the season series with the Falcons.

WINNING WITHOUT BREES

The Saints are now 8-0 over the last two seasons when Brees isn’t able to play. Last season, then won all five games that Teddy Bridgewater started.

“That’s the position everyone focuses on, but our team’s playing well,” Payton said. “We’re fortunate to have depth at a number of positions, and that includes quarterback.

SPEEDY MIKE

Wide receiver Michael Thomas became the fastest player in NFL history to record 500 career receptions, doing it in his 69th career game.

He surpassed the mark shared by Anquan Boldin and Julio Jones, who reached 500 catches in 80 games.

WEEK 14: Philadelphia Eagles 24, New Orleans Saints 21; December 13, 2020 @ Lincoln Financial Field – The Saints rebounded from a lethargic first half to outscore Phil-adelphia 21-7 in the final two quarters with a comeback almost complete, but LB Craig Robertson’s valiant effort to recover an onside kick fell short with 1:24 remaining and the Eagles barely walked away with a 24-21 victory. Phila-delphia opened a 17-0 lead on three second quarter pos-sessions, as their rushing attack gained 173 yards in the first half. New Orleans then started the third quarter by get-ting the Eagles off the field on a three–and-out and QB Taysom Hill engineered a ten-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a five-yard rushing touchdown by RB Alvin Kamara. The Saints defense would get the Eagles off the field again, when LB Kwon Alexander and S Marcus Williams stopped Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts for no gain up the middle on fourth-and-and-one. Four plays later, Hill connected with WR Emmanuel Sanders for a 37-yard touchdown. The Eagles scored midway through the fourth quarter on a one-yard rushing touchdown by Philadelphia RB Miles Sanders, When New Orleans got the ball back, Hill was sacked on third and eight by Eagles DL Javon Har-grave, forcing an unsuccessful 57-ayrd field goal at-tempt. But two plays later, Alexander stripped the ball from Hurts and it was recovered by S Malcolm Jenkins. Hill drove the Saints three plays later to seven points on a 20-yard touchdown pass to TE Jared Cook, but time would run out after the unsuccessful onside attempt as the Eagles would knee on downs for the 24-21 win.

WEEK 15: Chiefs 32, Saints 29; December 20, 2020 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome – The Saints came up short in Drew Brees' return, falling 32-29 to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints' franchise quarterback had missed the previous four games with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Brees and the Saints' offense, missing WR Michael Thomas, got off to a rusty start with four three-and-outs and an intercep-tion to start. Brees was 0 for 6 in those possessions. After the sluggish start, Brees completed 15-of-28 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, including a 51-yard strike to Emmanuel Sanders that helped set up a Taysom Hill touchdown. Hill, the Saints' Swiss army knife, notched his sixth rushing touchdown of the 2020 campaign on the 1-yard scamper. It's the most rushing touchdowns by a Saints quarterback in a season, surpassing Archie Manning (1977). Sanders led the team with four receptions for 76 yards. New Orleans' defense made Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes feel it all game. The Saints sacked Mahomes four times, led by DE Trey Hendrickson who registered two takedowns. Hendrickson recorded his third game of the season with at least 2.0 sacks, moving his season total to 12.5 sacks, first amongst all NFL defenders alongside Rams DT Aaron Donald and Packers LB Za'Darius Smith. Hendrickson added five quarterback hits and a forced fum-ble. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE


GAME SUMMARIES

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 15 "Played their hearts out," Saints coach Sean Payton said of the Saints defense in his postgame press conference. "(I'm) proud of the effort." Mahomes proved to be too much in the end, completing 26-of-47 passes for 254 yards and three scores. Chiefs run-ning back and former LSU Tiger Clyde Edwards-Helaire led the team with 79 rushing yards on 14 carries before leaving the game due to injury. Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan was disqualified after throwing a punch with 13:50 remaining. The Chiefs dominated the time of possession, 41:14 to 18:46.

WEEK 16: Saints 52, Minnesota Vikings 33, December 25, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome – The Saints made their Christmas debut, getting off to a hot start in the running game and never let up, the backbone for a record-breaking performance that punched their ticket for their fourth consecutive NFC South division title.

Sparked by a 40-yard rushing touchdown from RB Alvin Kamara, the Saints marched 75 yards on their first pos-session to take a quick 7-0 lead.

Minnesota displayed an ability to move the ball on their first possession, as they ran down the field on eight plays and 75 yards, ending with a 15-yard rushing touchdown by RB Dalvin Cook to tie the score.

However, New Orleans quickly drove down the field, starting with RB Ty Montgomery’s 33-yard kickoff return and ending with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Kamara to take a 14-7 lead.

After the Saints defense forced the first punt of the con-test, but backed up at their four-yard line, QB Drew Brees connected with 19-yard completions with QB Taysom Hill and rookie WR Juwan Johnson and RB Latavius Murray had runs of 21 and 11 yards to set up a 30-yard field goal by K Wil Lutz to give the Saints a 17-7 lead.

Facing the early second quarter deficit, the Vikings of-fense found some success on their next possession and put together a 75-yard scoring drive that was capped by a four-yard run by RB Mike Boone.

Brees was then picked off by the Vikings on the next pos-session, but the defense picked him up in forcing a three-and-out, led by a third down sack split by S Malcolm Jen-kins and DT David Onyemata to force a punt.

The Saints then took possession at the Vikings 46-yard line and seven plays later, Kamara rushed five yards for his third touchdown of the contest

At the start of the third quarter, the New Orleans defense forced a punt, but Vikings lB Hardy Nickerson intercepted a

ball that went off the hands of WR Emmanuel Sanders in Saints territory, setting the Vikings up at their 18-yard line. Three plays later, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins connected with TE Irv Smith Jr. on a two-yard touchdown, to put Minnesota within four points at 24-20 following an unsuccessful extra point attempt by K Dan Bailey.

New Orleans then enjoyed a productive ten-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a six-yard rushing touchdown by Kamara, his fourth of the contest to put the Saints up by 11 until Cousins and Smith connected on a one-yard scoring connection.

New Orleans then put the game away with rushing touchdowns from Kamara and Hill. Late in the contest, Kamara tied the NFL record for rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns with his sixth rushing score of the evening on a three-yard run after Brees connected with TE Adam Trautman for a 41-yard gain.

WEEK 17: Saints 33, Panthers 7; January 3, 2021 @ Bank of America Stadium – While the Saints didn’t get the first-round bye in the NFC playoffs they coveted, they proved again they can win big games without star players. And that could come in handy in the postseason. Drew Brees threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, the Saints had five interceptions and New Orleans routed the Carolina Panthers 33-7 on Sunday without their top two running backs and fullback to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Saints (12-4) will host the seventh-seeded Chicago Bears in the wild-card round next Sunday at 4:40 p.m. EST. “We have had various guys go down in a key positions,” Brees said. “We were dealt kind of a crazy hand this week, but it says so much about our team and how we were able to respond.” Brees sat out five games this season with broken ribs, wide receiver Michael Thomas has missed nine games with an ankle injury and on Sunday the entire Saints running back room was out due to a COVID-19 outbreak. That meant converted wide receiver Ty Montgomery had to fill in for Alvin Kamara, who tied an NFL record with six TDs in Week 16 vs. the Vikings. He proved up to the task, rush-ing for 105 yards on 18 carries as the Saints became the first team to sweep the NFC South by going 6-0 since the division was formed in 2002. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said that’s a tribute to coach Sean Payton. “How he’s handled Drew, Michael (Thomas) and Alvin be-ing out. … He says we’re not going to go into panic mode — and that is a credit for him,” said Sanders, who had 63 yards receiving and a touchdown. Payton acknowledged there were a lot “moving parts” this week after coaches learned about the COVID-19 tests late in the week. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE


GAME SUMMARIES

17

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 17 “It’s happened to other teams,” Payton said. “I was real proud of how some guys stepped up.” Carolina’s Teddy Bridgewater was benched midway through the third quarter after throwing his second intercep-tion in the end zone into double coverage. The former Saints QB finished 13 of 23 for 176 yards and was re-placed by P.J. Walker, who was intercepted three times. Panthers coach Matt Rhule said he took Bridgewater out because he felt he was lacking velocity on his throws and wasn’t pushing off his ankle, which he injured earlier in the game. “I didn’t think he looked real healthy to me,” Rhule said. The Panthers (5-11) were also without their top two running backs Christian McCaffrey and Mike Davis due to injury and managed just 74 yards rushing. Now that the Saints are in the postseason, veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins said players need to be extra careful to avoid coming into contact with COVID-19. “That will come with some sacrifices and being smart and isolating ourselves,” Jenkins said. “… We are trying our best to limit our exposure because we have what we want right in front of us.” In the past, the Saints would have earned a first-round bye, but the NFL’s decision to add an extra playoff team in each conference this year means New Orleans will need an ex-tra win to reach the Super Bowl. “We wanted to end the season continuing to ascend,” Brees said.

T Terron Armstead, DE Cameron Jordan, RB Alvin Kama-ra, CB Marshon Lattimore and G Andrus Peat.

NFC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK WEEK 1: P THOMAS MORSTEAD Saints 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Sept. 13, 2020

Played in his 175th career game, moving into a tie with TE Hoby Brenner for eight on the club’s all-time games played list. Punted six times for 264 yards (44.0 avg.) with five punts downed inside the 20 and recorded one kickoff, which was muffed by Tampa Bay and recovered by WR Benny Fowler.

NFC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK WEEK 5: K WIL LUTZ Saints 30, Los Angeles Chargers 27 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Oct. 12, 2020

Converted three-of-three field goal attempts, including a 53-yard kick in the third quarter and a 36-yard kick in over-time. Converted all three PAT attempts and had three touchbacks.

WEEK 16 NFC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AND FEDEX GROUND PLAYER OF THE WEEK: RB AL-VIN KAMARA Saints 52, Minnesota Vikings @ Mercedes-Benz Super-dome, Dec. 25, 2020

Tied an NFL single-game record with six rushing touch-downs, done once before by the Chicago Cardinals’ Ernie Nevers on Nov. 28, 1929. Set a new saints record with six scores in a game. Rushed for a career-high 155 yards on 22 carries, including a season-long 40-yard run that result-ed in the Saint’ first score of the game.

NFC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER: DE CAMERON JORDAN

Jordan tied for the NFL lead with five sacks in the month of November, including three vs. Atlanta on November 22.

SAINTS MAN OF THE YEAR: LB DEMARIO DAVIS

2020 team winner and team nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for dedication to the community and charitable endeavors and excellent play on the field.

BART STARR AWARD: LB DEMARIO DAVIS

Award given to the NFL player who best exemplifies out-standing character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community


GAME SUMMARIES

HONORS

18

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS POSTSEASON SUMMARY

The Saints earned their first championship with a 31-17 win over Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLIV and have a 9-12 overall record in the postseason. The 2020 season marks the 14th time overall and ninth under Head Coach Sean Payton that the Saints have qualified for the postsea-son The Saints have enjoyed their greatest postseason success in the Payton era with a 8-7 record. With the NFC South title and the conference’s number two postseason seed, they are guaranteed at least one more home playoff game if they defeat Chicago on Sunday, where they have posted a 7-5 record, 6-2 under Payton.

Below is a list of New Orleans’ all-time playoff results, with Payton’s appearances in bold. Overall, the Saints have faced 11 different teams in the postseason and have a win-ning record against five of those opponents, a losing record versus five teams and are 1-1 against another:

Date Opponent Game Result

1/3/88 Minnesota NFC Wild Card L, 10-44

1/6/91 at Chicago NFC Wild Card L, 6-16

12/28/91 Atlanta NFC Wild Card L, 20-27

1/3/93 Phil. NFC Wild Card L, 20-36

12/30/00 St. Louis NFC Wild Card W, 31-28

1/6/01 at Minn. NFC Divisional L, 16-34

1/13/07 Phil. NFC Divisional W, 27-24

1/21/07 at Chicago NFC Champ. L, 14-39

1/16/10 Arizona NFC Divisional W, 45-14

1/24/10 Minnesota NFC Champ. W, 31-28

2/7/10 Indianapolis SB XLIV W, 31-17

1/8/11 at Seattle NFC Wild Card L, 36-41

1/7/12 Detroit NFC Wild Card W, 45-28

1/14/12 at SF NFC Divisional L, 32-36

1/4/14 at Phil. NFC Wild Card W, 26-24

1/11/14 at Seattle NFC Divisional L, 15-23

1/7/18 Carolina NFC Wild Card W, 31-26

1/14/18 at Minnesota NFC Divisional, L, 24-29

1/13/18 Phil. NFC Divisional W, 20-14

1/20/19 L.A. Rams NFC Champ., L, 23-26

1/5/20 Minnesota NFC Wild Card, L, 20-26

2020 SAINTS EXPERIENCE IN THE PLAYOFFS

Below is a rundown of the playoff experience by the 53-man roster of the 2020 New Orleans Saints. 45 players have appeared in a Saints playoff game while 15 have also appeared in playoff games with other teams:

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE AS SAINTS (33)

15 games (1) - QB Drew Brees.

13 games (1) - P Thomas Morstead.

8 games (1) - DE Cameron Jordan.

7 games (2) - T Terron Armstead, TE Josh Hill.

8 games (1) - S Malcolm Jenkins.

5 games (11) - S Vonn Bell, DB Justin Hardee, QB Tay-som Hill, CB Marshon Lattimore,, K Wil Lutz, DT David Onye-mata, T Ryan Ramczyk, LB Craig Robertson, S Marcus Wil-liams, CB P.J. Williams, LS Zach Wood.

4 games (2) - DE Trey Hendrickson, G/T Andrus Peat .

3 games (3) - CB Ken Crawley, LB Demario Davis, DT Sheldon Rankins.

2 games (3) - LB Alex Anzalone, WR Austin Carr and DE Marcus Davenport.

1 game (8) - DT Malcom Brown, TE Jared Cook, C/G Nick Easton, DE Carl Granderson, DB J.T. Gray, CB Janoris Jenkins, C/G Erik McCoy, DT Shy Tuttle.

SAINTS WITH POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE ON OTHER TEAMS (8)

11 games (1) - DT Malcom Brown (New England), WR Emmanuel Sanders (Pittsburgh, Denver, New England)

6 games (1) - S Malcolm Jenkins (Philadelphia)

4 games (2) - G/T James Hurst (Baltimore), RB Ty Montgomery (Green Bay, Baltimore)

3 games (1) - TE Jared Cook (Green Bay), .

2 games (1) - WR Jake Kumerow (Green Bay)

1 game (2) - QB Drew Brees (San Diego), CB Janoris Jenkins (NY Giants)

SAINTS WITH NO POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE (12)

LB Zack Baun, WR Marquez Callaway, C/G Will Clapp, LB Kaden Elliss, DE Carl Granderson, OL Ethan Greenidge, OL Derrick Kelly, WR Juwan Johnson, DL Malcolm Roach, G/C Cesar Ruiz, TE Adam Trautman and QB Jameis Winston


TEAM NOTES

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FAMILY TIES

Numerous Saints players, coaches and administrators are not the only members of their families to make a name for themselves in pro football. No fewer than 23 Saints play-ers, coaches or front office staff have relatives who have played, coached or served in the front office in the National Football League.

Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen - Late father, Grady Allen, played linebacker for the Falcons from 1968-72.

Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael - Late father, Pete, served as an assistant coach from 1994-2003 with the Jacksonville Jaguars (1994-99), Cleveland Browns (2000) and Chicago Bears (2002-03).

Quarterbacks Coach Joe Lombardi - The grandson of legendary National Football League head coach Vince Lombardi, who led both Green Bay and Washington. He led the Packers to three straight and five overall NFL Championships in seven years, in addition to winning the first two Super Bowls.

Secondary Coach Aaron Glenn - Younger brother, Ja-son, was a linebacker and sixth-round draft pick of the De-troit Lions in the 2001 NFL Draft, playing six seasons with the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings.

Offensive Assistant D.J. Williams - Father, Doug Wil-liams, is the Washington Football Club’s Senior Vice Presi-dent/Player Development, who won Super Bowl XXII as starting quarterback for the Redskins, the pinnacle of a storied 12-year pro football career, which includes him be-ing in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor, also working in the Buccaneers front office.

Vice President/Asst. GM-College Personnel Jeff Ireland – Stepson of Chiefs Hall of Fame LB/C E.J. Holub. Grand-son of Eagles running back and Bears personnel exec. Jim Parmer.

National Scout Terry Wooden - Brother, JoJo, is Director of Player Personnel for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Linebacker Demario Davis - Cousin Steve McNair was a former standout quarterback for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (1995-2005) and Baltimore Ravens (2006-07).

Quarterback Taysom Hill - Brother-in-law, David Nixon played linebacker and on special teams for the Raiders (2009), Houston Texans (2010) and St. Louis Rams (2010-11).

Cornerback Janoris Jenkins - Cousin, Pernell McPhee plays linebacker for the Ravens (2011-14, 2019-present) and also played for the Bears (2015-17) and Washington (2018).

Linebacker Kaden Elliss - Father, Luther Elliss was a for-mer first round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 1995 and played ten years in the NFL and was selected to two Pro Bowls.

Defensive end Cameron Jordan - Father, Steve, had a 13-year career at tight end for the Minnesota Vikings, with six Pro Bowl selections, being inducted into their Ring of Honor.

Wide Receiver Jake Kumerow - Father Eric, played linebacker for the Miami Dolphins from 1988-90. The neph-ew of former Dolphins defensive end John Bosa (1987-89) and cousin of Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa and 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa.

Tackle/Guard Andrus Peat - Father, Todd, played six NFL seasons with the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Raiders.

Defensive Tackle Shy Tuttle - Uncle, Perry Tuttle played wide receiver on Clemson’s national championship team in 1981, who was a first round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1982 and then played three National Football League seasons with the Bills, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Area Scout Scott Campbell - Late father, Marion Camp-bell, played for the 49ers (1954-55) and the Eagles (1956-61) as one of the league’s last two way players along the line as a two-time Pro Bowl selection and first-team All-Pro in 1960, was a longtime defensive assistant with the Patri-ots (1962-63), Vikings (1964-66), Rams (1967-68), Eagles (1977-82) and Atlanta Falcons (1969-74) and was former head coach of the Eagles (1983-85) and F

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