2010 New Orleans Saints season

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2010 New Orleans Saints season
Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record11–5
Division place2nd NFC South
Playoff finishLost Wild Card Playoffs
(at Seahawks) 36–41
Pro BowlersDrew Brees (QB)
Jahri Evans (OG)
Carl Nicks (OG)
Roman Harper (FS)
Jonathan Vilma (LB)
AP All-ProsJahri Evans (1st team)
Carl Nicks (2nd team)
Malcolm Jenkins (2nd team)
Darren Sharper (2nd team)
Uniform

The

Louisiana Superdome. From 2009, the Saints were coming off their first Super Bowl-winning season and the most successful in franchise history, having begun undefeated for 13 consecutive games only to lose their three final regular season encounters to finish 13–3. The Saints also attempted to win the NFC South Division title for the third time in history, earn their first consecutive postseason berths since 1991, and successfully defend their conference and league championships. The Saints failed to improve on their 13–3 record, finishing 11–5 and qualifying for the playoffs as a wild card team. The Saints were eliminated in the first round by the Seattle Seahawks, who were the first team with a losing record (7–9) to qualify for the playoffs and/or win a division title in a full season. Sean Payton served his fifth year as head coach
.

This is the first time the Saints made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since the 199092 seasons.

Offseason

2010 NFL Draft

As the winners of Super Bowl XLIV, the Saints acquired the 32nd pick in the first round and drafted in this order.[1]

New Orleans Saints 2010 NFL Draft selections
Draft order Player name Position Height Weight College Contract Notes
Round Choice Overall
1 32 32 Patrick Robinson CB 5'11" 190 lbs Florida State 5 Year
2 32 64 Charles Brown OT 6'5" 303 lbs USC 4 Year
3 31 95 Jimmy Graham TE 6'6" 260 lbs Miami 4 Year
4 25 123 Al Woods DT 6'4" 314 lbs LSU 4 Year
5 27 158 Matt Tennant C 6'5" 300 lbs Boston College 4 Year
6 32 201 Traded to the Arizona Cardinals
7 32 239 Sean Canfield QB 6'4" 214 lbs Oregon State N/A

Roster signings

All signings were to active roster, except where otherwise noted.
Pos. Player Date
[2][3]
Notes
CB Greg Fassitt February 12, 2010
TE Tyler Lorenzen February 12, 2010
T Jermey Parnell February 12, 2010
WR Matt Simon February 12, 2010
G Na'Shan Goddard February 18, 2010
CB Glenn Sharpe February 18, 2010
DT Earl Heyman February 18, 2010
G Tim Duckworth February 19, 2010
RB Zak Keasey February 23, 2010
DE Alex Brown April 7, 2010
DE Jimmy Wilkerson April 20, 2010
LB Clint Ingram May 19, 2010

Roster releases

Pos. Player Date
[2][3]
Notes
WR D'Juan Woods February 16, 2010 Released after being placed on injured reserve prior to the 2009 season[4]
G Jamar Nesbit March 4, 2010 [5]
LB Mark Simoneau March 4, 2010 [5]
DE Charles Grant March 5, 2010 [5]

Schedule

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 August 12 at New England Patriots L 24–27 0–1 Gillette Stadium Recap
2 August 21 Houston Texans W 38–20 1–1
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
3 August 27 San Diego Chargers W 36–21 2–1
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
4 September 2 at Tennessee Titans L 24–27 2–2
LP Field
Recap

Regular season

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 9 Minnesota Vikings W 14–9 1–0
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
2 September 20 at San Francisco 49ers W 25–22 2–0 Candlestick Park Recap
3 September 26 Atlanta Falcons L 24–27 (OT) 2–1
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
4 October 3 Carolina Panthers W 16–14 3–1
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
5 October 10 at Arizona Cardinals L 20–30 3–2
University of Phoenix Stadium
Recap
6 October 17 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 31–6 4–2 Raymond James Stadium Recap
7 October 24 Cleveland Browns L 17–30 4–3
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
8 October 31 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–10 5–3
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
9 November 7 at Carolina Panthers W 34–3 6–3 Bank of America Stadium Recap
10 Bye
11 November 21 Seattle Seahawks W 34–19 7–3
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
12 November 25 at Dallas Cowboys W 30–27 8–3
Cowboys Stadium
Recap
13 December 5 at Cincinnati Bengals W 34–30 9–3
Paul Brown Stadium
Recap
14 December 12 St. Louis Rams W 31–13 10–3
Louisiana Superdome
Recap
15 December 19 at Baltimore Ravens L 24–30 10–4 M&T Bank Stadium Recap
16 December 27 at Atlanta Falcons W 17–14 11–4 Georgia Dome Recap
17 January 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 13–23 11–5
Louisiana Superdome
Recap

Standings

NFC South
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(1) Atlanta Falcons 13 3 0 .813 5–1 10–2 414 288 W1
(5) New Orleans Saints 11 5 0 .688 4–2 9–3 384 307 L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 6 0 .625 3–3 8–4 343 318 W2
Carolina Panthers 2 14 0 .125 0–6 2–10 196 408 L2

Preseason results

Preseason Week 1: at New England Patriots

Period 1 2 34Total
Saints 0 7 14324
Patriots 10 7 7327

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

  • Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), cloudy and cool
  • Game attendance: 68,756
  • Recap

Preseason Week 2: vs Houston Texans

Period 1 2 34Total
Texans 0 10 3720
Saints 14 14 7338

at

New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: Saturday, August 21, 2010
  • Game weather: Indoor Stadium
  • Game attendance: 70,025
  • Recap

Preseason Week 3: vs San Diego Chargers

Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 7 7 0721
Saints 7 10 31636

at

New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: Friday August 27, 2010
  • Game weather: Indoor Stadium
  • Game attendance: 70,025
  • Recap

Preseason Week 4: at Tennessee Titans

Regular season results

Week 1: vs. Minnesota Vikings

NFL Kickoff game

Week 1: Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 9 009
Saints 7 0 7014

at

Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Game information

With their Super Bowl title to defend, the Saints began their season at home in the annual

Kickoff Game against the Minnesota Vikings, in a rematch of last season's NFC Championship Game. New Orleans would strike first in the opening quarter with quarterback Drew Brees hooking up with wide receiver Devery Henderson on a 29-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings would take the lead in the second quarter as kicker Ryan Longwell made a 41-yard field goal, followed by quarterback Brett Favre's 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe
(with a blocked PAT).

In the third quarter, the Saints would regain the lead with a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Pierre Thomas. From there, New Orleans' defense would prevent any further progress from Minnesota.

With the win, New Orleans began their season at 1–0.

Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 2: New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Saints 9 0 7925
49ers 0 7 7822

at

San Francisco, California

Game information

Coming off their home win over the Vikings, the Saints flew to Candlestick Park for a Week 2 Monday Night duel with the San Francisco 49ers. New Orleans would deliver the opening punch in the first quarter as 49ers center David Baas' high snap deep within San Francisco territory went out of the back of the endzone for a safety. The Saints would add onto their lead as quarterback Drew Brees hooked up with running back Reggie Bush on a 6-yard touchdown pass. The 49ers would answer in the second quarter as quarterback Alex Smith found running back Frank Gore on a 12-yard touchdown pass.

San Francisco would take the lead with running back Anthony Dixon's 2-yard touchdown run, yet New Orleans would respond with Brees' 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Thomas. The Saints would add onto their lead in the fourth quarter as kicker Garrett Hartley made a 46-yard and a 19-yard field goal. The 49ers would strike back as Gore got a 7-yard touchdown run, followed by Smith's 2-point conversion pass to tight end Vernon Davis. In the end, New Orleans got the last laugh as Hartley booted the game-ending 37-yard field goal.

With the win, the Saints improved to 2–0.

Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 3: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints – Game summary
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Falcons 7 7 37327
Saints 14 0 73024

at

New Orleans, Louisiana

Game information

Hoping to increase their winning streak the Saints played inside their dome for an NFC South rivalry match against the Falcons. The Saints took the early lead when QB Drew Brees made a 2-yard TD pass to TE Jeremy Shockey. The Falcons replied with QB Matt Ryan making a 13-yard TD pass to TE Tony Gonzalez. The Saints re-took the lead with Brees finding WR Lance Moore on an 80-yard TD pass. But the Falcons replied in the second quarter with RB Michael Turner making a 1-yard TD run. The Saints trailed for the first time in the game when kicker Matt Bryant made a 23-yard field goal. But they took the lead with Brees finding Moore again on a 16-yard TD pass. The Falcons would score when Ryan made a 22-yard TD pass to WR Roddy White. The Saints would tie the game with kicker Garrett Hartley making a 32-yard field goal. At overtime, the decision was made when Matt Bryant hit a 46-yard field goal to give the Saints their first loss of the season, bringing their record down to 2–1.

Week 4: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 4: Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Panthers 0 7 7014
Saints 0 10 3316

at

New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: October 3
  • Game time: 1:00 pm. EDT
  • Game weather: None (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 70,016
  • Referee:
    FOX): Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa
  • Recap
Game information

The Saints fourth game was inside their dome for an NFC south rivalry match against the Panthers. In the 1st quarter New Orleans took the lead as QB Drew Brees completed a 4-yard TD pass to WR Lance Moore. Carolina replied with QB Jimmy Clausen making a 55-yard TD pass to RB Jonathan Stewart. The Saints took the lead when kicker John Carney nailed a 32-yard field goal, but fell behind when RB DeAngelo Williams made a 39-yard TD run. Then John Carney made two field goals to give the Saints the win. He made a 32-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter and a 25-yard field goal in the 4th.

With the win, the Saints improved to 3–1.

Week 5: at Arizona Cardinals

Week 5: New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Saints 10 3 0720
Cardinals 0 3 171030

at

University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Game information

Coming off their close win over the Panthers the Saints flew to

University of Phoenix Stadium for an NFC duel with the Cardinals. In the first quarter the Saints took the early lead as kicker John Carney nailed a 31-yard field goal, followed by QB Drew Brees completing a 1-yard TD pass to TE Jeremy Shockey. The Cardinals replied with kicker Jay Feely making a 37-yard field goal, followed by OT Levi Brown recovering a fumble and returning it 2 yards for a touchdown. In the third quarter the Saints fell behind when Feely got a 44-yard field goal, followed the 4th quarter by Feely's 29-yard field goal. Then FS Kerry Rhodes recovered a fumble and ran 27 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. Then the Saints replied with Brees making a 35-yard TD pass to WR Robert Meachem, but had more problems when Brees' pass was intercepted by CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
and returned 28 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.

With the loss, the Saints fell to 3–2.

Week 6: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 6: New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Saints 7 10 7731
Buccaneers 0 0 066

at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Game information

Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Cardinals the Saints flew to Raymond James Stadium for an NFC South rivalry match against the Buccaneers. In the first quarter New Orleans took the lead when QB Drew Brees completed a 41-yard TD pass to WR Lance Moore. Followed in the second quarter by Brees making a 42-yard TD pass to WR Robert Meachem. This was followed by kicker Garrett Hartley nailing a 27-yard field goal. The Saints increased their lead when QB Drew Brees made a 4-yard TD pass to FB Heath Evans. Tampa Bay scored in the fourth quarter with QB Josh Freeman making a 2-yard TD pass to WR Micheal Spurlock (With a failed 2-point conversion), but the Saints pulled away as RB Ladell Betts got a 1-yard TD run.

With the win, the Saints improve to 4–2.

Week 7: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 7: Cleveland Browns at New Orleans Saints – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 10 10 01030
Saints 0 3 01417

at

New Orleans, Louisiana

Game information

With the loss, the Saints fell to 4–3.

Week 8: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 8: Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Steelers 0 3 0710
Saints 0 3 31420

at

New Orleans, Louisiana

Game information

Hoping to rebound from their home loss to the Browns, the Saints stayed home for a Week 8 interconference duel with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night. After a scoreless first quarter, New Orleans trailed in the second quarter as Steelers kicker Jeff Reed got a 19-yard field goal. The Saints would answer with a 31-yard field goal from kicker Garrett Hartley.

New Orleans took the lead in the third quarter as Hartley booted a 23-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Saints increased their lead as quarterback Drew Brees found wide receiver Marques Colston on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Pittsburgh responded with running back Rashard Mendenhall getting a 38-yard touchdown run, yet New Orleans came right back as Brees connected with wide receiver Lance Moore on an 8-yard touchdown pass.

With the win, the Saints improved to 5–3.

Week 9: at Carolina Panthers

Week 9: New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Saints 7 10 10734
Panthers 3 0 003

at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

  • Date: November 7
  • Game time: 1:00 pm. EST
  • Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C) (Sunny)
  • Game attendance: 73,191
  • Referee:
    Laura Okmin
  • Recap
Game information