The 2017 season was the New Orleans Saints' 51st in the National Football League (NFL), their 42nd playing home games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and their 11th under head coach Sean Payton. Thanks to a significantly improved defense and consistent quality on offense, the team improved on their 7–9 output from the previous three seasons, while achieving an eight-game winning streak after losing their first two contests, their longest streak (tied with their 2011 team) since 2009, when they won Super Bowl XLIV. In Week 13 the Saints clinched their first winning season since 2013 and swept the Carolina Panthers for the first time since 2011. In Week 16, the Saints clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2013 by defeating the Atlanta Falcons. In Week 17, the Saints clinched the NFC South for the first time since 2011 with the Panthers loss to the Falcons. This was the first of four consecutive NFC South titles for the Saints. On January 7, 2018 the Saints played their divisional rival Carolina Panthers in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They beat Carolina 31–26 in the Wild Card, but lost 29–24 to the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round in a shocking ending.
This year was Tom Benson's final season as owner of the Saints, as he died at the age of 90 on March 15, 2018 from influenza.
Offseason
Signings Position Player Age 2016 Team Contract OG Larry Warford 25 Detroit Lions 4 years, $34 million DT Nick Fairley 29 New Orleans Saints 4 years, $28 million LB A. J. Klein 25 Carolina Panthers 4 years, $24 million WR Ted Ginn Jr. 32 Carolina Panthers 3 years, $11 million RB Adrian Peterson 32 Minnesota Vikings 2 years, $7 million LB Manti Te'o 26 San Diego Chargers 2 years, $5 million OLB Alex Okafor 26 Arizona Cardinals 1 year, $2 million DE Darryl Tapp 32 New Orleans Saints 1 year, $1 million TE John Phillips 29 New Orleans Saints 1 year, $980,000 CB Sterling Moore 27 New Orleans Saints 1 year, $900,000 QB Chase Daniel 30 Philadelphia Eagles 1 year, $900,000 FS Rafael Bush 29 Detroit Lions 1 year, $855,000 RB Travaris Cadet 28 New Orleans Saints 1 year, $855,000
Releases Position Player Age 2017 Team OLB Kasim Edebali 27 Denver Broncos RB Tim Hightower 30 San Francisco 49ers G Tim Lelito 27 Tennessee Titans CB B. W. Webb 27 Chicago Bears S Jairus Byrd 30 Carolina Panthers DE Paul Kruger 31 TBD SS Roman Harper 34 TBD OG Jahri Evans 33 Green Bay Packers CB Kyle Wilson 29 TBD
Draft
2017 New Orleans Saints draft Round Selection Player Position College 1 11 Marshon Lattimore CB Ohio State32 Ryan Ramczyk OT Wisconsin 2 42 Marcus Williams FS Utah 3 67 Alvin Kamara RB Tennessee76Alex AnzaloneOLBFlorida103Trey HendricksonDEFlorida Atlantic 6 196 Al-Quadin Muhammad DE Miami
Staff
Final roster
Preseason After three years of holding training camp at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, the Saints opted to move camp back to the team's headquarters facility in Metairie, Louisiana.Nick Underhill, "Saints to hold 2017 training camp in Metairie after ending stretch at Greenbrier", The Advocate, February 9, 2017.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 at Cleveland Browns L 14–20 0–1 FirstEnergy Stadium Recap 2 August 20 at Los Angeles Chargers W 13–7 1–1 StubHub Center Recap 3 Houston Texans W 13–0 2–1 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 4 Baltimore Ravens L 13–14 2–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
Regular season
Schedule On December 13, 2016, the NFL announced that the Saints will play the Miami Dolphins as one of the London Games at Wembley Stadium in London, England, with the Dolphins serving as the home team. The game will occur during Week 4 (Sunday, October 1), and will be televised in the United States. The network and time will be announced in conjunction with the release of the regular season schedule.
The Saints' 2017 schedule was revealed on April 20.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 at Minnesota Vikings L 19–29 0–1 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap 2 September 17 New England Patriots L 20–36 0–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 3 September 24 at Carolina Panthers W 34–13 1–2 Bank of America Stadium Recap 4 October 1 at Miami Dolphins W 20–0 2–2 Wembley Stadium Recap 5 Bye 6 October 15 Detroit Lions W 52–38 3–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 7 October 22 at Green Bay Packers W 26–17 4–2 Lambeau Field Recap 8 October 29 Chicago Bears W 20–12 5–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 9 November 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 30–10 6–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 10 November 12 at Buffalo Bills W 47–10 7–2 New Era Field Recap 11 November 19 Washington Redskins W 34–31 8–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 12 November 26 at Los Angeles Rams L 20–26 8–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 13 December 3 Carolina Panthers W 31–21 9–3 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 14 at Atlanta Falcons L 17–20 9–4 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Recap 15 December 17 New York Jets W 31–19 10–4 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 16 December 24 Atlanta Falcons W 23–13 11–4 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 17 December 31 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 24–31 11–5 Raymond James Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Minnesota Vikings In a playoff preview between these 2 teams, the Saints lost to the Vikings by a score of 29-19. Despite having a 6-3 lead at one time, the Saints were outscored 26-16 for the remainder of the game. With the loss, the Saints began the season 0-1 for the 4th straight season. It was also running back Adrian Peterson's first time playing in Minneapolis since leaving the Vikings via free agency in the offseason.
Week 2: vs. New England Patriots The Saints lose to the defending Super Bowl champions, New England Patriots, thus dropping their record to 0-2.
Week 3: at Carolina Panthers The Saints gain their first victory of the season against the Carolina Panthers. They improve to 1-2.
Week 4: at Miami Dolphins NFL London Games Hoping to improve their record to 2-2, the Saints flew to London to take on the Miami Dolphins. With the shutout victory, the Saints improved their season record in the process.
Week 6: vs. Detroit Lions Coming off with the perfect win over Miami, the Saints host the Lions at home in the Superdome. Cameron Jordan gained popularity for his "spider" tackle, as well as a pick six in the end zone. The Saints would beat the Lions for the first time since the 2011 season, and then improve their record to 3-2.
Week 7: at Green Bay Packers
Week 8: vs. Chicago Bears
Week 9: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 10: at Buffalo Bills
Week 11: vs. Washington Redskins This would be the last time the team allowed a 100-yard rusher until December 13, 2020. This is also the first time since the 2009 season for the Saints to beat the Redskins and the first season to beat Kirk Cousins.
Week 12: at Los Angeles Rams The Saints weren't able to beat the Rams, thus dropping to 8-3.
Week 13: vs. Carolina Panthers
The Saints clinched a winning record for the first time since 2013 and swept the Carolina Panthers for the first time since the Saints' 2011 Season. This improved their record to 9-3.
Week 14: at Atlanta Falcons After a costly Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty committed by Sean Payton, the Saints were defeated by the Falcons. They fell to 9-4.
Week 15: vs. New York Jets The Saints beat the Jets for the first time since the 2009 Season, improving their record to 10-4.
Week 16: vs. Atlanta Falcons The Saints meet the Falcons again, but this time, they beat them by 10 points. This also brought their record up to 11-4.
Week 17: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Saints meet the Buccaneers on the road. However, Jameis Winston would win this game. The Saints finish their regular season 11-5 and advance to the Wild Card playoff game.
Standings
Division
Conference
Postseason Playoff round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap Wild Card January 7, 2018 Carolina Panthers (5) W 31–26 1–0 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap Divisional January 14, 2018 at Minnesota Vikings (2) L 24–29 1–1 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap
NFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. (5) Carolina Panthers The Saints meet the Panthers in the Playoffs for the first time. It also marked their first Wild Card victory against their division rival by five points. With their victory over the Panthers, the Saints extend their season by improving to 12-5 and advancing to the Divisional Playoff game.
NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (2) Minnesota Vikings
References
External links 2017 New Orleans Saints at Pro-Football-Reference.com