Payton's Saints good on Monday Night Football

Written by Ken Trahan, President--NewOrleans.Com/Sports | Sunday, 29 November 2009 18:12 | Saints News

In the less-than-stellar history of the New Orleans Saints, the team has made minimal appearances on Monday Night Football—until recently. That’s because the league always attempts to pick top teams and good matchups for their marquee, showcase game weekly.

Under Sean Payton, the worm has turned, both in terms of being chosen to play on Monday night and in terms of being successful on Monday night.

When the Saints host the New England Patriots Monday night, it will be the 28th appearance in the 43-year history of the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, either on ABC or ESPN.

The Saints are 10-17 overall on Monday Night Football but they have won their last two Monday night games and are an impressive 4-2 under Payton on Monday Night Football.

Payton’s Saints won the most memorable Monday Night game in franchise history, the return to New Orleans and the Superdome on September 25, 2006, when they whipped the Falcons 23-3. The memory of Steve Gleason blocking a punt and Curtis DeLoatch recovering for a touchdown are still vivid in the mind. It may have been the loudest sound I have ever heard at any football game in my life.

On September 24, 2007, the Saints fell to Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans 31-14 in the Superdome to fall to 0-3 on the season. On December 10, 2007, the Saints handled the Falcons 34-14 in the Georgia Dome. On October 6, 2008, the Saints erupted offensively to pummel Green Bay 51-29 with a huge night from Drew Brees. Earlier this season, on November 2, the Saints beat Atlanta 35-27 to move to 7-0 on the season.

Of course, they are now 10-0 and await the three-time Super Bowl champion Patriots Monday night as a slight favorite. The ratings for this one figure to be huge nationally and off the charts locally.

The Saints and Monday Night Football were a bad match in the early years of the franchise. New Orleans lost its first six games on the big stage before finally posting a win. Some games were memorable while others were quite forgettable.

It all started on September 24, 1972, when the Saints and Archie Manning, in his second season, played in spirited fashion against Hank Stram’s powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs and Len Dawson before succumbing 20-17 at Tulane Stadium. I was in the stands for that one and the Saints had a real shot to win the game, playing well.

With Manning and a seemingly improving team, the NFL put the Saints on Monday night on September 24 of 1973, week two of the season. Unfortunately, the Saints lost in week one by an embarrassing 62-7 margin to the Falcons at Tulane Stadium. The week two Monday night game at Dallas went badly as well, with the Cowboys winning 40-3.

On November 25, 1974, the Saints played budding dynasty Pittsburgh on a very cold night at Tulane Stadium. I was in the stands again, shivering, as the Steelers froze the Saints 28-7 with Terry Bradshaw at quarterback.

The NFL would not schedule a Monday night game for the Saints again until 1979. That turned out to be a good move. By 1979, the Saints were one of the most exciting offensive teams in the NFL. They entered the Monday night game with Oakland at 7-6. A win would solidify a chance at a first-ever winning season and first-ever playoff appearance.

It started well. Archie Manning hit Tony Galbreath on what I still consider to be the best catch in Saints history for a touchdown. New Orleanian Kenny Bordelon of Brother Martin High School and LSU intercepted a Kenny Stabler pass and returned it for a touchdown to make it 35-14 Saints in the third quarter. The Superdome was going nuts. It would become quiet the rest of the night.

Stabler found Cliff Branch, who broke a tackle and ran for a score. The leaky flex defense of the Saints could not stop the Raiders the rest of the night. Oakland rallied to win 42-35 in a wild one, crushing the Saints hopes for a winning season and playoff berth. Stabler would become a Saints in 1982.

Off of that exciting game and season, the league again scheduled the Saints for a Monday night game in 1980. Bad move. The Saints started 0-14. In the midst of that losing streak, they lost to the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 on Monday night in the ‘Dome, falling to 0-11. Head Coach Dick Nolan was fired after the game, replaced on an interim basis by offensive line coach Dick Stanfel.

The next appearance on Monday night for the Saints came on November 21, 1983. New Orleans was in the midst of a solid 6-5 season. A win over New York would put them in prime position for their first-ever winning season and playoff berth. The Saints and Jets played a back-and-forth game with Hokie Gajan playing very well for New Orleans but the Jets scored late to win 31-28 in the Superdome behind Richard Todd. Bum Phillips would bring Todd to New Orleans, much as he did with Stabler. Both were past their prime when they got to New Orleans.

In 1984, the Saints finally broke through to post their first-ever victory on Monday night. Dennis “Dirt” Winston returned an interception for a touchdown against his former team as the Saints beat Pittsburgh 27-24 in an entertaining affair.

In 1988, Jim Mora’s Saints won their fourth straight game, defeating Dallas 20-17 on Morten Andersen’s 49-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

In 1989, the Saints lost at San Francisco 31-13 as a struggling offense got little going all night long. Later in the season, Mora changed quarterbacks, going with John Fourcade. The Saints won their last three games, including a 30-20 win over the Eagles at the Superdome as Fourcade used his scrambling and roll-out ability to stymie the vaunted Philadelphia defense.

In 1990, Bobby Hebert was a holdout and Fourcade was named as the team’s starting quarterback. The season opener was a Monday night battle against the world champion 49ers. The Saints defense played brilliantly, stopping Joe Montana and the ‘Niner offense all night long. Unfortunately, the Saints offense did nothing all night long. Montana finally mounted a drive and the 49ers won it with a late field goal 13-12.

On New Year’s Eve of 1990, the Saints faced the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night, needing a win to make the playoffs. On the final play of the game, Morten Andersen had a potential game-winning field goal blocked but the Rams were clearly offside. Given a second chance, Andersen made a 20-yard field goal to boot the Saints into the playoffs, 20-17.

On December 16, 1991, the Saints were battling for a West division title. Needing a win in week 15, the Saints defense shut down the Los Angeles Raiders, winning 27-0. New Orleans went on to win the division at Arizona the following week.

On November 23, 1992, the Saints hammered a good Washington team 20-3 at the Superdome.

In 1993, the Saints started fast at 5-0 but sputtered home to finish 8-8. In the midst of their struggles, the Saints limped into Candlestick Park and got blasted by Steve Young and the 49ers, 42-7 in week ten. Later that season in week 14, the Saints fell to the Giants 24-14 at the Superdome.

On November 28, 1994, the Saints again faced the 49ers, losing 35-14 to Young and San Francisco at the Superdome. A few weeks later on December 19, the world champion Cowboys came calling. While Mario Bates had a big game and the Saints grabbed an early lead, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and company came back to defeat New Orleans 24-16 in the Superdome.

On December 17, 2001, the Saints faced the high-powered St. Louis Rams at the Superdome. St. Louis gained a measure of revenge for a playoff loss at New Orleans in the 2000 season, beating the Saints 34-21 behind a good night by Kurt Warner.

On September 19, 2005, the Saints played their infamous “home” game at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a game relocated due to Hurricane Katrina. With former President George H.W. Bush on hand to flip the coin and to help raise money, along with former President Bill Clinton for Katrina victims, the Saints were plagued by turnovers in a 27-10 loss to Eli Manning and the Giants. Later that season, the Saints played the Falcons at the Georgia Dome on December 12, losing 36-17 in week 13.

Inside the numbers, the NFL likes picking the Saints at home on Monday nights. 21 of their 27 previous Monday night games have been home games. Make that 22 of 28 Monday night against the Patriots.

The most frequent Monday night opponents include Atlanta (4), San Francisco (4), Dallas (3), Pittsburgh (2), the Rams (2) and the Raiders (2).  Four of the last seven Monday night games have been against the Falcons. When the Saints host the Patriots Monday night, it will mark the first time the two teams have squared off on Monday night. Saints fans are hoping that Payton’s Saints can continue to enjoy the success that they have enjoyed since 2006.