A brief history of the Saints in cold-weather games
We’re in for the New Orleans Saints’ first cold-weather game of the year, and there’s already a narrative buzzing that the Saints can’t win in the wind and snow. It’s a lazy narrative built on their status as a dome team from a warm-weather locale, but on its face there’s some merit to it. They’ve only won 6 of their 17 games played at below-freezing temperatures, per Stathead via Pro Football Reference, but that’s more of a product of the Saints playing bad football for several decades.
The Saints went 4-7 in cold-weather games before Sean Payton was hired as head coach, a period in which they won just 237 of the 594 games they played from 1967 to 2005. New Orleans fielded bad teams often, regardless of the weather forecast.
But the narrative is the narrative, and we’re about to hear a lot of chatter on the Saints not being built for the wind and snow. Even though New Orleans has won each of its last two games played in freezing temperatures. Here’s their game-by-game history under 32 degrees:
Dec. 8, 1968: Saints lose to Eagles, 29-17
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Saints quarterback Billy Kilmer completed 19 of 32 pass attempts for 210 yards and a touchdown reception, also running 4 times for 19 yards and a touchdown carry in the loss. Eagles running back Tom Woodeshick put the game away with 18 carries for 122 yards and a 30-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
No. 28, 1971: Saints beat the Packers, 29-21
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The Saints were 8-point underdogs in this matchup at Milwaukee County Stadium, but kicker Charlie Durkee set a franchise record with 5 successful field goals on 6 tries to steal an upset win, connecting from distances of 12, 12, 35, 26, and 11 yards on a cold, windy Wisconsin afternoon in late November. His record was later tied by Morten Andersen (4 times) and John Carney (3 times), but no Saints kicker has ever made more than 5 field goals in a single game since then.
Dec. 1, 1974: Saints lose to Vikings, 29-9
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The Saints kept this one close up to halftime, but Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton shut the door on them in the fourth quarter with two touchdown passes to (who else?) wide receiver John Gilliam, a member of the inaugural Saints squads in 1967 and 1968. Gilliam finished the day with 5 receptions for 109 yards, catching touchdown passes of 13 and 22 yards to put the game away against his old team.
Nov. 7, 1976: Saints lose to Packers, 32-27
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This one was brutal. The Saints took an early lead off of a big-time interception from linebacker Jim Merlo, who returned it 45 yards for a defensive touchdown — and the both squads traded blows in the second half, with two lead changes. Down by a field goal in the final minutes, the Saints offense had a chance to drive downfield and beat the Packers on their home turf, but they were clipped in the end zone and Green Bay won with a safety.
Dec. 5, 1976: Saints lose to the Patriots, 27-6
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Yeah, the Saints didn’t play offense in this one. Quarterbacks Bobby Douglass and Bobby Scott combined for just 136 passing yards, and the running backs didn’t make much headway either — Tony Galbreath, Chuck Muncie, and Mike Strachan were each limited to fewer than 40 rushing yards on the afternoon. It was a big game for Patriots running back Don Calhoun, who ran 22 times for 113 yards on the ground. Second-year New England quarterback Steve Grogan only completed 9 of his 23 pass attempts but scored 2 touchdowns on completions to Ike Forte and Al Chandler.
Dec. 14, 1980: Saints beat the Jets, 21-20
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Talk about drama: this matchup came down to the wire, with three lead changes in the final quarter. Archie Manning was effective, completing 20 of his 30 pass attempts to 6 different receivers for 198 yards and a score, but Tony Galbreath took over down the stretch to hammer in a pair of a critical touchdown runs. The New Orleans defense intercepted Jets quarterback Richard Todd twice in big moments.
Dec. 10, 1989: Saints beat the Bills, 22-19
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The Saints went into this game as 6.5-point underdogs, but they roared to live with 13 points in the first quarter — including a 54-yard touchdown reception by running back Dalton Hilliard, who logged 32 carries on the afternoon. John Fourcade threw for a career-high 302 passing yards. The Buffalo wind chill put the on-field temperature at about 15 degrees Fahrenheit, but the “Dome Patrol” defense smothered the Bills, sacking legendary quarterback Jim Kelly twice and intercepting him thrice, also forcing and recovering a fumble out of his arms. It was just the second home loss for Buffalo that year.
Jan. 6, 1991: Saints lose to Bears, 1991
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This was a sloppy, sloppy afternoon to ring in the new year. Two different Saints quarterbacks threw interceptions (John Fourcade was picked off twice; Steve Walsh lost one, too) and New Orleans didn’t have a single player put up 100-plus yards as a passer, runner, or receiver. Bears running backs Neal Anderson and Brad Muster ran all over them to the tune of 173 combined rushing yards. Of course future Saints head coach Mike Ditka was patrolling the opposing sideline.
Dec. 26, 1993: Saints lose to Eagles, 37-26
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Some late-game heroics from Tyrone Hughes weren’t enough to salvage this one, with the returns ace setting a franchise record on an 83-yard punt returned for a touchdown late in regulation. That helped make the final score look a little less lopsided, but it was already over at that point. Eagles cornerback Eric Allen intercepted Saints quarterback Steve Walsh twice in the second half and scored a pair of defensive touchdowns on the returns, traveling 33 and 25 yards. New Orleans later signed him as a free agent but Allen never met his previous heights.
Dec. 3, 1995: Saints beat the Patriots, 31-17
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The Saints pulled away in the second half here, with fullback Lorenzo Neal scored on a 69-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jim Everett midway through the fourth quarter. It was also a banner day for Saints running back Mario Bates, who put the game out of reach with a 66-yard touchdown run of his own. Bates scored twice, totaling 123 rushing yards on just 15 attempts. Everett outdueled Drew Bledsoe to throw for 293 passing yards, completing 17 of his 26 attempts.
Dec. 21, 1997: Saints lose to Chiefs, 25-13
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Talk about a muddy, miserable afternoon. The Saints actually outgained the Chiefs in this one with 252 yards of offense against 176 from Kansas City; the Chiefs also lost 81 yards on 10 penalties. But New Orleans committed five turnovers (including 3 interceptions from quarterback Billy Joe Hobert), losing all of them, to repeatedly give the Chiefs advantageous field position. Danny Wuerffel wasn’t able to provide much of a spark, though he did connect with wide receiver Keith Poole for a garbage-time touchdown reception.
Jan. 21, 2007: Saints lose to Bears, 39-14
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Yeah, this one hurt. The Saints offense couldn’t get going and the Bears exposed one of Sean Payton’s major flaws — taking advantage of his impatience with the run game. After going into halftime down 16-7, Payton’s worst instincts got the better of him and he only called four rushing attempts in the entire second half, the final one coming on fourth down near midfield (a Reggie Bush run that went nowhere). Drew Brees finished the day with 49 pass attempts, having thrown an interception and taken three sacks while losing a fumble. It was a painful end to what had been an inspiring season. If it’s any consolation, the Bears didn’t do anything after winning this NFC championship game; they wasted the momentum from Devin Hester’s all-time great kickoff return touchdown to open Super Bowl XLI, and they haven’t known success since.
Dec. 30, 2007: Saints lose to Bears, 33-25
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The Saints returned to Chicago hoping for revenge, and they made a good fight of it, though the Bears enjoyed a good game from running back Adrian Peterson (no, not that one). Peterson ran 21 times for 91 yards and completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bernard Berrian on a trick play, but the Saints offense couldn’t make much headway against the Chicago defense. They went 3-of-14 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down, losing 72 yards to 8 penalties. Three drives stalled out in Chicago territory with no points to show for it. It was a good game for Pierre Thomas, though, who showed out in front of his friends and family as a Chicago native — Thomas totaled 105 rushing yards and 121 receiving yards, plus a last-second touchdown catch and ensuing two-point conversion.
Dec. 11, 2008: Saints lose to Bears, 27-24 (in overtime)
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Third time’s the charm, right? This was just a quality game between two equally-matched opponents, and the Bears ultimately came through with a couple of late-game Robbie Gould field goals. Pierre Thomas scored as both a runner and as a receiver while racking up 146 scrimmage yards, but two interceptions from Drew Brees and 97 penalty yards gave Chicago too many opportunities to rally back.
Jan. 3, 2010: Saints lose to Panthers, 23-10
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This game wasn’t much more than a speed bump on New Orleans’ road to Super Bowl XLIV, with the Saints having chosen to rest Drew Brees and some other starters at the end of the 2009 regular season. They’d already sewn up everything they needed as far as playoff seeding was concerned, putting Mark Brunell in the limelight for his final start in the NFL. He went on to appear sporadically with the New York Jets as Mark Sanchez’s backup in 2010 and 2011.
Dec. 5, 2010: Saints beat the Bengals, 34-30
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This was a vintage Drew Brees game. He completed 24 of 29 pass attempts to gain 313 yards and score a pair of touchdowns, including 52-yard completions to wide receiver Robert Meachem and tight end Jimmy Graham, plus a 43-yarder to wideout Marques Colston. 8 different players caught a pass from Brees in this game. New Orleans established a lead early in the second quarter and held onto it for most of the game, but the Bengals rallied late in the fourth quarter to briefly take it away — only for Colston to secure the game-winning touchdown pass with 31 seconds left in regulation, capping a classic 4-minute scoring drive led by Brees, who baited the Bengals defense into jumping for a penalty on fourth down deep inside their own territory.
Jan. 4, 2014: Saints beat the Eagles, 26-24
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Not only was this the first time the Saints won in Philly in the cold — it was the very first road playoff win in franchise history. And they won on their own terms. The Saints took over with about five minutes left in the game, starting out with fantastic field position thanks to a great return by Darren Sproles and a penalty on the Eagles special teams unit. From there on out, it was clockwork with Mark Ingram, Khiry Robinson, and the Saints offensive line bludgeoning the Philadelphia defense into submission. Brees steered the offense down to the Eagles 14-yard line for a chip-shot field goal from Shayne Graham, and the rest is history.
