Payton’s Saints take a page from Mora’s 1990 playbook

By Ed Daniels, Sports

Is it 1990 or 2021?

Is Jim Mora coaching the New Orleans Saints or is it really Sean Payton?

In ’90, the Saints were without their starting quarterback of five seasons, Bobby Hebert, who held out in a contract dispute. The club was 22nd out of 28 teams in total offense. The Saints scored 274 points in 16 games and allowed 275.

But, New Orleans still made the playoffs by playing great defense, winning the kicking game and doing just enough on offense.

In 1990, the Saints won because they were a solid organization, led by a head coach who knew exactly what his club had to do to win games.

Thirty-one years later, the Saints are at the top of the NFL in turnover margin.

In a 28-13 win over the Patriots last Sunday, they intercepted rookie quarterback Mac Jones three times, blocked a punt and controlled the game. New Orleans ran it 38 times and threw it only 21. Of the club’s 13 completions, 10 went to street free agents.

The Saints did exactly what they were supposed to do to win the game. A lot like 1990, except that club finished 8-8.

The ceiling for the 2021 version appears to be a bit higher. New Orleans comes home with a chance to move to 3-1 with a victory over the Giants.

The 1990 Saints were led by the best linebacking group in the history of the game, the famous Dome Patrol. Thirty-one years later, four of the Saints’ five top tacklers in a 28-13 win over New England were defensive backs. The Saints had eight passes defensed to go along with their three interceptions. New Orleans had two sacks and 11 quarterback hurries.

The “hoodie” – Patriots coach Bill Belichick, a student of the game if there ever was one – watched his team get whipped in a brand of good ole fashioned football.

So, is this brand of football good enough to win big? Will it work against the best teams in the NFC? Well, there are three 3-0 teams in the conference. The Saints don’t play the Rams or Cardinals and will get their shot again at Carolina at the Superdome.

After the Giants, the Saints go to Washington, with a chance to be 4-1, and then have a bye week.

For a team that lost its Hall of Fame quarterback to the TV booth and was $100 million over the salary cap, that’s pretty heady stuff.

In California, Jim Mora is watching and nodding in approval. The current Saints are playing his kinda football.

Ed Daniels is sports director at ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].