NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (11-4) AT

CAROLINA PANTHERS (5-10) SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2021 – 3:25 P.M. (CST)

BANK OF AMERICA STADIUM – CHARLOTTE, N.C. TV: FOX (WVUE FOX 8 locally)

LOCAL RADIO: WWL (870 AM and 105.3 FM) – Zach Strief (play-by-play) and Deuce McAllister (color analyst)

SPANISH LANGUAGE RADIO: KGLA (830 AM and 105.7 FM) – Mario Je-rez (play-by-play), Juan Carlos Ramos (color analyst) and Victor Quinonez (color analyst)

THE MATCHUP With their chances to be the NFC’s number one seed in the postseason still alive, the New Orleans Saints (11-4) will travel to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers (5-10) in the regular season finale for both clubs at Bank of Amer-ica Stadium. The contest with a 3:25 p.m. kickoff will be regionally televised on FOX.

The Saints are coming off of a dominating 52-33 nation-ally televised Christmas day victory over the Minnesota Vikings, where the ground game took charge with 264 yards rushing. Running back Alvin Kamara put forth one of the most dominating individual performances of 2020, as he carried 22 times for 155 yards (7.0 avg.) with six touch-downs, adding three receptions for 17 yards. Kamara, who had just been selected to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl the prior Monday, tied the National Football League record for total touchdowns and rushing touchdowns, while set-ting career-highs in carries and rushing yardage. A stout offensive line blocked for the seventh-most rushing yards in a contest in club record books. A stout offensive line blocked for the seventh-most rushing yards in a Saints game, spurred a franchise-record seven touchdowns on the ground and did not allow quarterback Drew Brees to be sacked once as the signal-caller, became the first play-er in NFL history to reach 80,000 career passing yards. Completing 19-of-26 throws for 311 yards. Brees’ top two targets in the passing game were wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who led the team in catches and yards (four

grabs for 83 yards) and tight end Jared Cook, who posted three grabs for 82 yards

In winning the time of possession battle 36:47-23:13, New Orleans’ bruising rushing attack was complemented by a defense that made timely third down stops, two key sacks and forced fumbles and solid performances by its leaders. After Vikings running back Dalvin Cook carried nine times for 51 yards (5.7 avg.) in the first half, he just managed six carries for 22 yards (3.7 avg.) in the final two quarters as the Saints run defense tightened up. The de-fense’s veteran leadership came through against an of-fense known for explosive plays. Linebacker Demario Da-vis led the Saints with eight tackles (six solo), increas-ing his club-best total to 114 stops. Safety Malcolm Jen-kins posted seven stops, a split sack with defensive tackle David Onyemata and one forced fumble. Defensive tackle Cameron Jordan recorded the 100th sack (regular season and postseason combined) of his career on a fourth quarter play that resulted in a forced fumble and 11-yard loss.

New Orleans will face an opportunistic Carolina team that kept the Washington Football team from clinching the NFC East with a 20-13 win at FedEx Field, behind 197 yards passing from former Saints signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater and an opportunistic performance on de-fense and special teams. 5-0 in the division, New Orleans will look to become the first team to finish 6-0 in the NFL South on Sunday in their quest for the top seed.

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SAINTS-PANTHERS CONNECTIONS Carolina quarterback Teddy Bridgewater played for Saints from 2018-19. In 2019, Bridgewater started a five-game stretch from Weeks Three-Eight, where he and the Saints won all five of his starts. Bridgewater, Saints center/guard Nick Easton and running back Latavius Murray were teammates in Minnesota in 2017. Defensive Tackle Shel-don Rankins and Bridgewater and Carolina guard John Miller were also college teammates at Louisville. Mur-ray, Easton and Carolina wide receiver Brandon Zyslstra were teammates in Minnesota in 2018....New Orleans safe-ty D.J. Swearinger Sr. prepped at Greenwood (S.C.) HS and played at South Carolina. Swearinger and Panthers S Tre Boston were teammates with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018...Carolina defensive end Marquis Haynes played at the University of Mississippi...New Orleans linebacker Alex Anzalone and Panthers quarterback Will Grier were teammates at the University of Florida...Panthers of-fensive coordinator Joe Brady served as an offensive as-sistant in New Orleans from 2017-18. Brady also served as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Louisiana State University in 2019 for the College Football Playoff National Champions. Brady also played wide re-ceiver at William and Mary when Saints Assistant Offensive Line Coach/Running Game Brendan Nugent served on their offensive coaching staff...Saints tight end Jared Cook played at the University of South Carolina from 2005-07...New Orleans defensive tackle Shy Tuttle prepped at North Davidson (Welcome, N.C.) HS...New Orleans Defen-sive Line Coach Ryan Nielsen served as defensive line coach/recruiting/run game coordinator at North Carolina State from 2013-16, serving on the same Wolfpack coach-ing staff with Panthers wide receivers coach Frisman Jack-son the first two seasons. Nielsen and Jackson served on the same coaching staff at Northern Illinois in 2012...Saints Wide Receivers Coach Ronald Curry was a four-year starter at quarterback at the University of North Carolina and also was the starting point guard on the school’s 1998-99 and 2000-01 basketball teams...New Or-leans cornerback Marshon Lattimore and Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel were also teammates at Ohio State. Nugent and Carolina Defensive Line Coach Mike Phair served on the same Chicago staff in 2013. Nugent also served on the same Montreal Alouettes (2012) and Bears (2013-14) offensive staffs with Panthers Offensive Line Coach Pat Meyer...Saints Senior Def. Asst. Peter Giunta and Panthers Head Coach Matt Rhule served on the same New York Giants coaching staff in 2012...Carolina tight end Chris Manhertz played for the Saints from 2015-16...Saints guard/tackle Derrick Kelly and Panthers defen-sive end Brian Burns were college teammates at Florida State...Saints linebacker Demario Davis and Panthers line-backer Julian Stanford were teammates with the New York Jets in 2015 and 2017 and Davis played with Carolina wide

receiver Robby Anderson and safety Juston Burris with the Jets in 2017...New Orleans defensive end Trey Hendrick-son and Panthers linebacker Adarius Taylor were col-lege teammates at Florida Atlantic in 2013...New Orleans running back Dwayne Washington and Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson were college teammates at the Univer-sity of Washington. Swearinger and Panthers running back Mike Davis were college teammates with the Game-cocks. Saints Special Teams Assistant Michael Wilhoite played with Davis in San Francisco from 2015-16 and in Seattle in 2017...Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins and Pan-thers cornerback Rasul Douglas were teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2017-19...Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson prepped at Riverdale High School and played at Louisiana State University as a college teammate of New Orleans practice squad center/guard Will Clapp...Panthers defensive tackle Woodrow Hamilton, who played at the University of Mississippi, was on the Saints practice squad from 2017-18 and also was a team-mate in New England of Saints defensive tackle Malcom Brown...Saints wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders played with Panthers defensive tackles Zach Kerr, guard Michael Schofield, center Matt Paradis and tackle Rus-sell Okung in Denver. Janoris Jenkins and Panthers cornerback Corn Elder were teammates in New York in the 2019 preseason...Panthers defensive back Natrell Jamer-son was a fifth round draft pick by the Saints out of the University of Wisconsin in 2018, where he was a college teammate of both Saints linebacker Zack Baun and tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

NEW ORLEANS – CAROLINA STATISTICAL COMPARISON 2020 NFL Regular Season Rankings

Saints Panthers

Record 11-4 5-10 Scoring Avg. (NFL Rank) 29.9(4) 22.9 (23) Opp. Scoring Avg. (NFL Rank) 22.0 (9) 24.6 (18) Total Off. (NFL Rank) 378.4 (9) 351.5 (20) Rushing Off. (NFL Rank) 140.6 (7) 108.7 (20) Passing Off. (NFL Rank) 237.8 (19) 242.8 (17) Total Def. (NFL Rank) 310.3 (3) 360.9 (18)Rushing Def. (NFL Rank) 95.2 (4) 118.7(16) Passing Def. (NFL Rank) 215.1 (6) 242.3 (17)Kickoff Return Avg. (NFL Rank) 25.4 (6) 25.5 (5)Punt Return Avg. (NFL Rank) 10.2 (8) 5.7 (27)Turnover Margin (NFL Rank) +4 (9t) +6 (7t) Penalties 94 97 Penalty Yards 974 747 Opp. Penalties 63 81 Opp. Penalty Yards 512 682

Saints at Panthers: Week 17

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THE COACHES Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has posted a 150-88 overall record (.640), including an 8-7 postseason mark after the franchise had won only one playoff game prior to his arrival in 2006. Payton holds both the club’s top victory total and winning percentage. Payton is ranked 25th all-time in NFL record books in victories, fifth among active head coaches. He continues to represent the Saints as the model of stability not only within the NFC South, as he is the longest tenured head coach within the division, but also among the most accomplished within the NFL. Only the Patriots’ Bill Belichick (2000) has been with the his team longer than Payton’s 15 seasons. Payton is also one of just nine active NFL head coaches to lead a team to a Super Bowl victory. The others are Belichick, the Seattle Sea-hawks’ Pete Carroll, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Jon Gruden (Buccaneers in 2002), the Baltimore Ravens’ John Har-baugh, the Dallas Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy (Green Bay Packers in 2010), the Philadelphia Eagles’ Doug Pederson, Kansas City’s Andy Reid and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin. The 2020 Saints are only the sixth team in National Football League history to have six-game winning streaks in four consecutive seasons and with a nine-game winning streak had won at least nine straight games in two of the past three seasons and have had double-digit victory fig-ures and consecutive playoff berths in four straight years for the first time in franchise history, also being only the third NFC team since divisional alignment to capture four straight division championships. Five Saints were selected to the Pro Bowl as the Black and Gold will enter the NFL playoffs for the ninth season in Payton’s head coaching tenure. The 2019 New Orleans Saints posted their second consecutive 13-3 record, capturing their third consecutive NFC South title and playoff berth. A franchise-record six players were selected Associated Press All-Pro and a club-best 11 were named to the Pro Bowl. New Orleans won seven games on the road for the second consecutive sea-son. The Saints set an National Football League single-season record with only eight turnovers as they ranked second in the league in turnover ratio (+15). New Orleans also ranked third in sacks (51), tied for third in scoring (28.6 ppg.) and ranked fourth in opponent rushing yards per game. Special teams captured first place in National Foot-ball League writer Rick Gosselin’s annual comprehensive rankings. Payton earned a bachelor’s degree in communi-cations at Eastern Illinois, where as a quarterback he had 10,665 passing yards, at the time the third-highest total in NCAA Division I-AA history. Payton was inducted into the Eastern Illinois Hall of Fame in 2000 and had his jersey retired in a ceremony in 2010. He received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater in 2013. Payton was born Dec. 29, 1963 in San Mateo, Calif., and raised in Naper-ville, Ill., Payton has a daughter, Meghan and a son, Con-nor.

Matt Rhule was named the fifth head coach in Carolina Panthers history on January 8, 2020 and has guided them to a 5-10 record in his first campaign. Rhule joined Carolina after three seasons (2017-19) as the head coach at Baylor University. Rhule helped rebuild the Baylor program, guid-ing the team from a 1-11 finish in his first season to a 7-6 record and a bowl berth in 2018 to an 11-3 record and ap-pearance in the Big 12 Championship and the Sugar Bowl in 2019. He was voted the Big 12 Conference’s Chuck Neinas Coach of the Year by his peers. Baylor’s appear-ance in the Sugar Bowl this past season was just the sec-ond-ever in school history, and under Rhule’s leadership, the Bears became the first Power 5 program to go from 11 losses (2017) to 11 wins (2019) within two seasons. Prior to his stint at Baylor, Rhule was the head coach at Temple University (2013-16), where he took the Owls from a 2-10 mark in his first season to a 6-6 record in 2014 and two consecutive 10-in seasons in 2015 and 2016. He guided the Owls to the school’s first back-to-back 10-win seasons, a pair of bowl berths (2015-16) and the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship. He helped the Owls improve from a two-win season in his first year at the school in 2013. Rhule has spent 22 years as a coach in the college and National Football League ranks. Rhule was an assistant offensive line coach with the New York Giants (2012) and a college assistant at Temple (2006-11), serv-ing as offensive coordinator (2008-11), quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator (2007) and defensive line coach (2006). He also was part of the coaching staffs at Western Carolina (2002-05), UCLA (2001), Buffalo (1999-2000) and Albright College (1998). Rhule played linebacker at Penn State from 1994-97.

Saints at Panthers: Week 17

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NEW ORLEANS SAINTS-CAROLINA PANTHERS SERIES HISTORY

The Panthers initially entered the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1995 and since then, with New Orleans leading the regular season series 26-25, with the Saints picking up the 2017 NFC Wild Card showdown at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The clubs were in the NFC West from 1995-2001 and the rivalry’s continued in the NFC South since 2002. The Saints have a 12-13 road record against the Panthers. Of the 51 regular season games in the series, 25 have been decided by eight points or less, with New Orle-ans winning 13. The Saints’ longest winning streak was a five-game stretch from 2000-02.

In the 51 regular season games of the series there has been:

• 1,142 points scored by New Orleans, 1,121 al-lowed.

• A five-game New Orleans winning streak from 2000-02.

• A four-game New Orleans winning streak in games played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome from 1998-2001.

• 25 games decided by double-digits.

• Six games decided by 21 or more points.

• 24 games decided by eight points or less.

• One 32-point win by New Orleans in last season’s regular season finale.

• A 32-point loss by New Orleans.

SAINTS-PANTHERS SERIES FAST FACTS

Saints’ Largest Margin of Victory: 32 points, Saints won 42-10, 12/28/19 at Bank of America Stadi-um

Panthers’ Largest Margin of Victory: 32 points, Pan-thers won 45-13, 1/2/00 at Ericsson Stadium

Current Series Streak: Two-game winning streak for New Orleans, 11/24/19-present

Saints’ Longest Win Streak: Five games, 10/15/00-11/10/02

Panthers’ Longest Win Streak: Four games (twice), 12/18/05-10/7/07 (most recent) and 12/29/02-12/5/04

Most Points by Saints in a Game: 45 points, Saints won 45-17, 1/1/12 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Most Points by Panthers in a Game: 45 points, Pan-thers won 45-13, 1/2/00 at Ericsson Stadium

Most Combined Points (Both Teams): 82 points, Pan-thers won 44-38, 12/30/12 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Fewest Points by Saints in a Game: Zero points, Pan-thers won 13-0, 10/19/97 at Superdome

Fewest Points by Panthers in a Game: Three points, Saints won 34-3, 11/7/10 at Bank of America Stadium

Fewest Combined Points (Both Teams): 13 points, Pan-thers won 13-0, 10/19/97 at Superdome

INDIVIDUAL

Most Rushing Yards (Saints): Running back Ricky Wil-liams, 147 yards on 31 carries (4.7 avg.) with one touchdown on 10/14/01 at Ericsson Stadium.

Most Rushing Yards (Panthers): Running back DeAn-gelo Williams, 210 yards on 21 carries (10.0 avg.) with two touchdowns on 12/30/12 at Mercedes-Benz Super-dome.

Most Passing Yards (Saints): Quarterback Drew Brees, 465 yards on 34-of-49 passing (69.4%) with four TDs (118.2 rating) on 10/16/16 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Most Passing Yards (Panthers): Quarterback Kerry Collins, 335 yards on 17-of-46 passing (37.0 %) with three touchdowns (48.7 passer rating) on 11/26/95 at Su-perdome.

Most Receptions (Saints): (Tie) Running back Darren Sproles, 13 receptions for 128 yards (9.8 avg.), 9/16/12 at Bank of America Stadium (Most Recent). Wide receiver Joe Horn, 13 recep-tions for 150 yards (11.5 avg.) and one touchdown, 12/2/01 at Louisiana Superdome (First).

Most Receptions (Panthers): (Tie) TE Greg Olsen, 10 receptions for 72 yards (7.2 avg.) and one touchdown on 12/7/14 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome (Most Recent). WR Steve Smith, 10 receptions for 87 yards (8.7 avg.) and one touchdown on 10/1/06 at Bank of America Stadium. WR Muhsin Muhammad, 10 receptions for 179 yards (17.9 avg.) and one touchdown on 12/5/04 at Louisiana Super-dome (First).

Most Receiving Yards (Saints): Wide receiver Brandin Cooks, 173 yards on seven receptions (24.7 avg.) with one touchdown on 10/16/16 at Mercedes-Benz Super-dome.

Most Receiving Yards (Panthers): Wide receiver Mu-hsin Muhammad, 192 yards on nine receptions (21.3 avg.) with one touchdown on 9/13/98 at Louisiana Super-dome.

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NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

PLAYERS

LB Alex Anzalone (anne-zuh-LOAN-ee)

T Terron Armstead (ter-RON)

LB Zack Baun (BONN)

WR Marquez Callaway (mar-QWEZ)

LB Demario Davis (duh-MAR-ee-oh)

WR/RS Deonte Harris (deo-on-tay)

RB Alvin Kamara (kuh-Mare-Uh)

DT David Onyemata (own-yay-MAH-ta)

T/G Andrus Peat (ANN-druss PEET)

T Ryan Ramczyk (RAM-check)

C/G Cesar Ruiz (roo-EEZ)

TE Adam Trautman (Trout-man)

COACHES

Senior Defensive Asst. Peter Giunta (GEN-ta).

Offensive Line Coach Dan Roushar (ROW-shar).

2020 SAINTS COMMUNICATIONS STAFF

Greg Bensel-Senior Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting

Email: greg.bensel@saints.nfl.com

Phone: (504) 731-1794

Doug Miller-Executive Director of Football Communica-tions

Email: doug.miller@saints.nfl.com

Phone: (504) 731-1895

Justin Macione-Director of Football Communication

Email: justin.macione@saints.nfl.com

Phone: (504) 731-1848

Evan Meyers-Football Communications/Legends Mgr.

Email: evan.meyers@saints.nfl.com

Phone: (504) 731-1844

Jordy Spitale-Corporate Communications Manager

Email: jordy.spitale@saints.nfl.com

Phone: (504) 731-1894

Davis Friend-Communications Associate

Email: davis.friend@saints.nfl.com

Phone: (504) 731-1842

JULY

27 – Signed draft picks G/C Cesar Ruiz, LB Zack Baun, QB Tommy Stevens and TE Adam Trautman.

28 – Placed TEs Cole Wick and Jason Vander Laan on Reserve/Did Not Report/Covid Opt-Out.

AUGUST

2 – Waived DB Chris Johnson, WR Tommylee Lewis, OL Adrian Magee, RB Taquan Mizzell Sr., WR Maurice Har-ris, DL Gus Cumberlander, FB Ricky Ortiz, WR Krishawn Hogan and CB Deatrick Nichols, waived/injured DL Kenny Bigelow Jr.

3 – Signed WR Bennie Fowler. Waived DT Taylor Stall-worth.

7 – Signed LB Nigel Bradham.

19 – Signed TE Ethan Wolf.

20 – Placed DB Tino Ellis on Injured Reserve.

24 – Placed CB Johnson Bademosi on Injured Reserve and terminated contract of LB Nigel Bradham.

25 – Signed CB Kemon Hall.

26 – Reached an injury settlement with CB Tino Ellis.

29 – Signed DEs Anthony Lanier II and DE T.J. Carter and LB Wynton McManis and waived OL Darrin Paulo.

30 – Placed DL Jalen Dalton on Injured Reserve. Placed RB Dwayne Washington on Reserve/Covid-19.

Saints at Panthers: Week 17

HOW DO YOU SAY IT

COMMUNICATIONS STAFF

TRANSACTIONS

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SEPTEMBER

5 – Terminated the contracts of LB Anthony Chickillo, DL Mario Edwards Jr., WR Bennie Fowler III, DL Margues Hunt and OL Patrick Omameh. Waived LB Joe Bachie, WRs Emmanuel Butler and Austin Carr, DE T.J. Carter, LB Andrew Dowell, TE Garrett Griffin, CB Kemon Hall, WRs Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Juwan Johnson, RB To-ny Jones Jr., LB Wyton McManis, OL Jordan Steckler, TE Tommy Stevens, OL Calvin Throckmorton, C/G Camer-on Tom, DB Keith Washington II and TE Ethan WOlf. Placed LB Kiko Alonso on Reserve/PUP. Placed DE An-thony Lanier II on Injured Reserve. Placed OL James Hurst on Reserve/Suspended by Commissioner. Waived/Injured DB Saquan Hampton.

6 – Placed DB Saquan Hampton on Injured Reserve. Agreed to practice squad contracts with LB Joe Bachie, WR Austin Carr, LB Anthony Chickillo, LB Andrew Dowell, WR Bennie Fowler III, TE Garrett Griffin, CB Kemon Hall, WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, DL Margus Hunt, WR Juwan Johnson, RB Tony Jones Jr., TE Tommy Stevens, OL Calvin Throckmorton, C/G Cameron Tom and DB Keith Washington II.

9 – Signed DE Marcus Willoughby to the practice squad and placed P Blake Gillikin on Injured Reserve.

9 – Reached an injury settlement with DE Anthony Lanier.

12 – Signed WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt to the active roster from the practice squad. Signed RB Alvin Kamara to a five-year contract extension.

13 – Agreed to terms with LB Demario Davis on three-year contract extension.

14 – WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt reverted to the practice squad from the active roster. Reached an inju-ry settlement with DB Saquan Hampton.

18 – Activated RB Dwayne Washington from Reserve-Covid.

19 – Signed DB Grant Haley and DT Anthony Zettel to practice squad. LB Anthony Chickillo terminated practice squad contract. Terminated practice squad contract of CB Kemon Hall.

21 – Signed WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt to the active roster from the practice squad.

22 – WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt reverted to the practice squad from the active roster. .

26 – Signed WR Bennie Fowler III and DL Margus Hunt to the active roster from the practice squad. Placed RB Ty Montgomery on practice squad and waived C/G Will

Clapp.

28 – Signed CB Ken Crawley to the practice squad.

29 – Signed C/G Will Clapp to the practice squad.

30 – Signed WR Malik Henry to the practice squad. Placed WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey on practice squad Injured Re-serve

OCTOBER

3 – Elevated CB Ken Crawley and TE Garrett Griffin to the active roster from the practice squad. Signed C/G Will Clapp to the active roster from the practice squad. Placed LB Chase Hansen on Injured Reserve.

5 – CB Ken Crawley and TE Garrett Griffin reverted to practice squad. T/G James Hurst suspension lifted by Commissioner. Team granted roster exemption.

8 – Waived C/G Will Clapp and signed WR Tommylee Lewis to the practice squad.

10 – Signed C/G Will Clapp to practice squad. Terminated practice squad contract of WR Malik Henry.

12 – CB Ken Crawley signed to the active roster from the practice squad. T/G James Hurst roster exemption lifted. Terminated contract of DL Margus Hunt. Elevated WR Aus-tin Carr and TE Garrett Griffin to active roster from practice squad.

13 – WR Austin Carr and TE Garrett Griffin reverted to the practice squad.

22 – Signed DE Will Clarke to the practice squad.

23 – Placed CB Ken Crawley and WR Emmanuel Sanders on Reserve/COVID-19 and WR Bennie Fowler III on In-jured Reserve.

24 – Activated WR Austin Carr (COVID-19 replacement), C/G Will Clapp and WR Juwan Johnson (COVID-19 re-placement) from the practice squad.

26 – WR Austin Carr (COVID-19 replacement), C/G Will Clapp and WR Juwan Johnson (COVID-19 replacement) reverted to the practice squad.

28 – Reinstated CB Ken Crawley from Reserve/COVID-19.

31 – Activated WR Austin Carr , C/G Will Clapp (COVID-19 replacement) and WR Juwan Johnson from the practice squad. Signed WR Tommylee Lewis to active roster from practice squad.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Saints at Panthers: Week 17

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-TRANSACTIONS

NOVEMBER

2 – WR Austin Carr, C/G Will Clapp (COVID-19 replace-ment and WR Juwan Johnson reverted to the practice squad. Waived WR Tommylee Lewis. Acquired LB Kwon Alexander from the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for LB Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth round draft pick.

4 – Placed LB Marcus Willoughby on practice squad In-jured Reserve, signed TE Ethan Wolf and WR Tommylee Lewis to the practice squad. Reinstated WR Emmanuel Sanders from Reserve/COVID-19.

6 – Placed DB Justin Hardee and DT Sheldon Rankins on Injured Reserve, Activated RB Ty Montgomery off of In-jured Reserve.

11 – Signed DE Christian Ringo to the practice squad and terminated practice squad contract of TE Tommy Stevens.

13 – Activated LB Chase Hansen from Injured Reserve.

17 – Terminated practice squad contract of DE Will Clarke and signed DT Ryan Glasgow to the practice squad.

20 – Placed QB Drew Brees on Injured Reserve.

21 – TE Garrett Griffin signed to active roster from practice squad. Signed QB Trevor Siemian and received roster exemption. Elevated DT Ryan Glasgow from practice squad.

22 – DT Ryan Glasgow reverted to the practice squad.

24 – Waived LB Chase Hansen.

26 – Signed LB Chase Hansen to the practice squad.

28 – Placed T Terron Armstead on Reserve/COVID-19. Elevated WR Austin Carr to active roster from practice squad (COVID-19 elevation) and also elevated G/C Will Clapp and DT Ryan Glasgow.

29 – Placed T/G Derrick Kelly on Reserve/COVID-19. Elevated G/C Cameron Tom to active roster from practice squad (COVID-19 elevation).

30 – C/G Cameron Tom, WR Austin Carr, G/C Will Clapp and DT Ryan Glasgow reverted to practice squad from active roster.

DECEMBER

5 – Elevated DE Anthony Zettel, C/G Will Clapp (COVID-19 replacement), WR Juwan Johnson (COVID-19 replace-ment) and WR Tommylee Lewis from practice squad. Acti-vated DT Sheldon Rankins from Injured Reserve, placed WR Marquez Callaway on Injured Reserve and signed CB

Grant Haley to active roster from practice squad.

7– DE Anthony Zettel, C/G Will Clapp, WR Juwan Johnson and WR Tommylee Lewis reverted to practice squad.

9– Activated T Terron Armstead and T/G Derrick Kelly from Reserve-COVID-19, and activated WR Lill’Jordan Humph-rey off of practice squad injured reserve.

12 – WR Juwan Johnson and WR Tommylee Lewis elevat-ed to active roster from practice squad. Activated DB Justin Hardee from Injured Reserve and placed CB Patrick Robinson on Injured Reserve.

14 – WR Juwan Johnson and WR Tommylee Lewis revert-ed to practice squad.

14 – Acquired G/T Patrick Omameh off waivers from Las Vegas.

19 – WR Juwan Johnson, C/G Will Clapp and WR Tommyl-ee Lewis signed to active roster from practice squad, elevated WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey from practice squad, waived QB Trevor Siemian and TE Garrett Griffin, activated QB Drew Brees from Injured Reserve and placed WR/RS Deonte Harris and WR Michael Thomas on Injured Re-serve.

20 – Placed QB Jameis Winston on Reserve/COVID-19.

21 – WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey reverted to practice squad.

22 – Re-signed QB Trevor Siemian and TE Garrett Griffin to the practice squad..

23 – Signed WR Jake Lampman to the practice squad..

24 – WR Austin Carr signed to active roster from practice squad. Waived T/G Patrick Omameh and WR Tommylee Lewis. Elevated WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey from practice squad. Activated WR Marquez Callaway from Injured Re-serve. Placed WR Tre’Quan Smith on Injured Reserve. Activated QB Jameis Winston from Reserve/COVID-19. Placed DB Keith Washington on Reserve/COVID-19.

26 – WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey reverted to practice squad. Assigned WR Jake Kumerow off of waivers from Buffalo.

28 – Placed LB Kwon Alexander on Injured Reserve.

Saints at Panthers: Week 17

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REGULAR SEASON

Date Opponent Time/Network/Result

Sept. 13 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS W, 34-23

Sept. 21 @Las Vegas Raiders L, 24-34

Sept. 27 GREEN BAY PACKERS L, 30-37

Oct. 4 @Detroit Lions W, 35-29

Oct. 12 LOS ANGELES CHARGERS W, 30-27 OT

--—-——-———————-BYE——————————-

Oct. 25 CAROLINA PANTHERS W, 27-24

Nov. 1 @Chicago Bears W, 26-23 OT

Nov. 8 @Tampa Bay Buccaneers W, 38-3

Nov. 15 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS W, 27-13

Nov. 22 ATLANTA FALCONS W, 24-9

Nov. 29 @Denver Broncos W, 31-3

Dec. 6 @Atlanta Falcons W, 21-16

Dec. 13 @Philadelphia Eagles L, 21-24

Dec. 20 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS L, 29-32

Dec. 25 MINNESOTA VIKINGS W, 52-33

Jan. 3 @Carolina Panthers 3:25/FOX

WEEK 1: New Orleans Saints 34, Tampa Bay Bucca-neers 23; September 13, 2020 @ Mercedes-Benz Su-perdome – Drew Brees and Tom Brady, the two leading passers in National Football League history, couldn't mus-ter vintage performances in the first National Football League game featuring two starting quarterbacks in their 40s.

But while Brees avoided game-turning mishaps with an offense he's led since 2006, Brady suffered some costly cross-ups with his new team. Brady threw two interceptions in his Tampa Bay debut, Alvin Kamara scored touchdowns running and receiving, and the New Orleans Saints beat the Buccaneers 34-23 on Sunday.

“I made some just bad, terrible turnovers,” Brady said. "I obviously have got to do a lot better job.”

The first of Brady’s interceptions led to Kamara’s six-yard touchdown run. The second pick thrown by the new, 43-year-old Bucs QB — who left the Patriots in free agency after 20 years and six Super Bowl triumphs — was re-turned 36 yards for a touchdown by Janoris Jenkins.

“Win the turnover battle like we did, have a turnover for a touchdown, you’re a 90-something percent winner in those games,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. ”Just a lot of things happened in that game that despite how you play, those things can help you win games. The energy and ef-fort I was pleased with.”

The 41-year-old Brees passed for 160 yards and two TDs. He did not turn the ball over and took only one sack. His first TD pass was a dump-off to Kamara from 12 yards out. In the fourth quarter he hit free-agent signing Emmanuel Sanders for a 5-yard score.

“I’d probably say I played awful,” Brees said. “Certainly, we are used to playing at a much higher level offensively and especially in the passing game. So, we’ll get that back on track.”

Still, Brees found satisfaction in beating Brady's Bucs.

“Of course, it’s significant and it’s unique and I’d be lying to you if I said to you it didn’t mean a little bit more," Brees said. "I've got so much love and respect for (Brady) and what he’s able to accomplish.

“We played against each other in college, for goodness sake, in 1999,” Brees continued. “At the end of the day, I think we would both pinch ourselves if you told us back then we’d have the opportunity to play this long and be a part of so many great teams and moments, historic mo-ments.”

Few witnessed this latest bit of history in person, with gov-ernment leaders and the Saints organization having agreed that no fans should attend the opener amid the coronavirus pandemic.

That turned the normally deafening Mercedes-Benz Super-dome into more of an echo chamber. When kicker Wil Lutz’s field goal put New Orleans up 17-7, the squeaking of pulleys could be heard as the net behind the goalpost was lowered.

Brady compared the environment to “a scrimmage.”

“But obviously, it counts,” he added. “We’ve got to look each other in the eye and all work harder, put more urgen-cy on the things we have to do.”

Tight end Jared Cook caught five passes for 80 yards for New Orleans, highlighted by a 46-yard reception down the left side that set up Sanders' touchdown. Brady was 15 of 28 passing for 157 yards and one touchdown through the first 54 minutes. He padded his numbers in garbage time, finishing with 239 yards and two touchdowns, the second scoring strike going to wide receiverMike Evans with 2:41 left.

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Tampa Bay's opening drive was promising for Brady, who the Bucs hope can lead them to their first playoff appear-ance since the 2007 season.

He lofted a 26-yard completion to wide receiver Chris God-win along the right sideline, drew a pass interference pen-alty with a 22-yard attempt to Evans and capped the drive with a 2-yard keeper, after which he emphatically spiked the ball.

It was a fleeting, triumphant moment for the Bucs in a game defined more, in the end, by their new star's mis-takes.

FORTUITOUS MOVES

The Saints saw two players activated from the practice squad come up with big special teams plays. DL Margus Hunt blocked a 54-yard field goal attempt. WR Bennie Fowler recovered a muffed kickoff at the Tampa Bay 18 in the fourth quarter, setting up a 21-yard field goal that made it 34-17 with 8:01 left.

WEEK 2: Las Vegas Raiders 34, New Orleans Saints 24; September 21, 2020 @ Allegiant Stadium – After being in control of the contest with a 17-7 lead, the Saints got caught in a hailstorm of a comeback in the desert debut of the NFL in Las Vegas, where the Raiders scored 24 con-secutive points in the final three quarters in a loss that dropped New Orleans to 1-1. Despite struggles on offense, New Orleans seemed to be inching back early in the fourth quarter when CB P.J. William recovered a fumble by Raid-ers QB Derek Carr at the Saints 40. But New Orleans couldn’t get past the Las Vegas 47 and Carr engineered a ten-play, 89-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard rushing TD by RB Jalen Richard.

Carr completed 28-of-38 passes for 282 yards, three touch-downs, zero interceptions and a 120.7 passer rating, de-spite being sacked three times.

New Orleans held Las Vegas scoreless on their first two offensive possessions, including one late in the first quarter where DT David Onyemata sacked Carr on third down to get the defense off the field. But the momentum quickly changed when the Raiders forced a three-and-out. Carr led Las Vegas on a 11-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown pass to FB Alec Ingold. The club’s then traded touchdowns, but Raiders K Daniel Carlson booted a 28-yard field goal as time expired at the half to tie the score

On the fifth play from scrimmage of the third quarter, Raid-ers TE Foster Moreau had a 31-yard reception from Carr to set up a one-yard touchdown throw to TE Darren Waller. Once the Saints got the ball back, their only drive of the third quarter was stunted at the Las Vegas 43-yard line by 35 yards. Following Richard’s fourth quarter touchdown, New Orleans would match it with a three-yard rushing touchdown by RB Alvin Kamara. On Las Vegas’ next offen-sive drive, Carlson kicked a 54-yard field goal, set up by a 29-yard pass interference penalty assessed to CB Janoris Jenkins.

WEEK 3: Green Bay Packers 37, New Orleans Saints 30; September 27, 2020 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome – The Saints battled back from four deficits to tie the score at 27-27 on the final play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter on a spectacular 52-yard touchdown reception by RB Alvin Kamara, then stopped Green Bay on downs near midfield to put themselves in position to take a fourth quar-ter lead. But a fumble that set up a field goal, hurt New Or-leans’ momentum, as well as three defensive penalties on Green Bay’s drive, proving to be the difference in the Pack-ers’ win.

In a contest that featured seven different lead changes, New Orleans tied the score on the last play from scrim-mage of the third quarter at 27-27 when Kamara took a screen pass from QB Drew Brees and slithered and broke multiple tackles for the career-long 52-yard receiving touch-down, also moving into first place in franchise history in multiple-score contests (16). S Malcolm Jenkins and CB Marshon Lattimore then combined to stop Packers RB Aaron Jones on an unsuccessful fourth-and-one rush-ing near midfield.

Following a seven-yard rush by RB Latavius Murray, QB Taysom Hill fumbled on an option play as it was forced and it was recovered by Green Bay LB Z’Darius Smith, setting up a 49-yard field goal by K Mason Crosby. On Green Bay’s final drive, with the Packers up 30-27 and third-and-three, LB Demario Davis jumped offsides, giving QB Aaron Rodgers a free play. On it, CB Janoris Jenkins was assessed a defensive pass interference penalty at the New Orleans one-yard line, exhausting New Orleans’ hopes for a comeback.

Kamara had a huge performance, setting career-highs in both receiving yardage and touchdown receptions with 13 grabs for 139 yards and two scores, adding 58 rushing yards on 12 carries for 187 total yards from scrimmage. Brees completed 29-of-36 passes for 288 yards with three touchdown throws, zero interceptions and a 127.8 passer rating.

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Rodgers completed 21-of-32 passes for 283 yards with three touchdown passes, zero interceptions and a 124.9 passer rating. Green Bay WR Allen Lazard recorded six catches for 146 yards with one touchdown, including a ca-reer-long 72-yard grab. Packers RB Aaron Jones rushed 16 times for 69 yards with one touchdown, as the Saints did not surrender 100 yards rushing to a player for the 45th consecutive regular season/postseason contest, now tied for the third-longest streak in National Football League rec-ord books.

WEEK 4: New Orleans Saints 35, Detroit Lions 29, Oc-tober 4, 2020 at Ford Field- The New Orleans Saints came away with a convincing win against the Lions, show-casing their run game versatility, dominant defense and effective passing game, scoring 35 unanswered points.

The Lions offense put up two touchdowns within the first five minutes of play, displaying an early 14-0 lead against the Saints. The Detroit defense came up with an intercep-tion on the Saints’ first play, to put them in prime field posi-tion. QB Matthew Stafford found targets RB D’Andre Swift and WR Kenny Golladay during their first scores.

QB Drew Brees and the Saints offense overcame the two-touchdown deficit, going into the half with a 28-14 lead.

Running backs Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray took command of the run game, splitting up touches throughout the game. New Orleans had a total 164 yards rushing, Kamara with 19 carries for 83 yards (4.4 yd avg) and Mur-ray with 14 carries for 64 yards (4.6 yd avg). The run game capitalized in the red zone, exhibiting Kamara’s seventh touchdown this season, as well as two rushing scores from Murray.

Brees and the New Orleans passing offense were con-sistent throughout the contest, with two stand out targets, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith. Brees threw for a total of 246 yards, two touchdowns and went 19 for 25. Sanders led the team in receiving, during a breakout game with 6 receptions for 93 yards, his season high. Brees connected with Smith twice in the endzone, giving him (Smith) a total of 4 recep-tions for 54 yards.

The Saints offense went five-for-five in the red zone against the Lions defense, scoring touchdowns on each attempt.

Defensive end Cameron Jordan, Defensive tackle David Onyemata and Defensive end Trey Hendrickson led the pass rush, each coming up with one sack apiece. Corner-

back Patrick Robinson forced a critical turnover, picking off Stafford in the end zone in the second quarter.

• New Orleans’ defense was steady on all aspects. The Saints’ run defense held the Lions to 90 yards rushing and only allowed a season-low 281 total yards, the first time they gave up under 300 yards this season. Surrendering only 36 yards rushing to Lions running back Adrian Peter-son, New Orleans has not allowed an opposing run-ning back to reach the century mark for their last 46 regular season and postseason games, the third-longest streak in the National Football League.

• Kamara scored a touchdown for the sixth consecutive regular season game dating back to 2019, tying the fran-chise mark for consecutive contests with a score.

• Jordan’s sack gives him four against Detroit, tying the franchise for fourth among teams on his list of sack victims behind the three NFC South clubs, Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay.

• The victory improved New Orleans’ all-time regular sea-son record vs. Detroit to 13-12-1, increasing the number of clubs they have a winning record against to nine.

• Head Coach Sean Payton now has 141 career wins in regular season/postseason combined, moving him into a tie with John Fox for 25th all-time in National Football League record books.

WEEK 5: New Orleans Saints 30, Los Angeles Chargers 27, October 4, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Super-dome- Wil Lutz kicked a 36-yard field goal with 5:08 left in overtime and New Orleans' defense stopped Chargers re-ceiver Mike Williams just short on fourth down to preserve a 30-27 victory over seemingly star-crossed Los Angeles on Monday night.

Chargers kicker Michael Badgley, who missed his first career point-after kick wide right in the first quarter, had a chance to redeem himself after Williams' leaping catch be-tween two defenders put the Chargers on the Saints' 32-yard line in the final seconds. But Badgley's 50-yard kick as time expired bounced off the right upright.

"The young man has been kicking outstanding. He's got to do better but we could have done some other things bet-ter," Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said.

Drew Brees rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and hit tight end Jared Cook for a 41-yard score as the Saints rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second quarter.

"This is how you grow as a team," Brees said. "This is how you become battle-tested — and I think it pays divi-dends."

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 5

Rookie Justin Herbert's fourth touchdown pass of the game, a 64-yarder to Michael Williams, briefly put Los An-geles back in front before the Saints (3-2) tied it on Taysom Hill's nine-yard run with 52 seconds remaining in regula-tion.

The Chargers (1-4) fell to their fourth straight loss by a touchdown or less, and the second in overtime. They also blew a 17-point lead for a second straight game.

"Never thought this team would lose four straight. We've put ourselves in position, but we didn't get it done," Lynn said. "We have to finish these damn games."

Herbert, who was named the starter for the remainder of the season this week, finished 20 of 34 for 264 yards with-out an turnover. Five of his completions went to Williams for 109 yards and two TDs.

Brees finished 33 of 47 for 325 yards, including 12 com-pletions to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders for 122 yards, as his 13 career overtime wins a starting quarterback broke a tie with Tom Brady since it was instituted in the 1974 sea-son. Kamara had 119 yards from scrimmage, highlighted by his leaping, juggling catch along the right sideline over the head of safety Rayshawn Jenkins to set up Hill's tying TD.

In Week Four, it was Tampa Bay's Tom Brady, a six-time Super Bowl winner. This week it was Brees — the National Football League's all-time leader in completions, yards and touchdowns.

Brees' dive over a pile of linemen at the goal line made it 20-10 14 seconds before halftime.

Lutz' 53-yard field goal pulled New Orleans within a touchdown in the third quarter. Then Brees found Cook open behind the Chargers' secondary on third-and-long to tie it early in the fourth quarter.

In staking Los Angeles to an early 20-3 lead, Herbert became the first rookie to pass for three TDs in the first half of a Monday night game.

His first came touchdown pass of the evening when he rolled right away from pressure and fired a 17-yard pass down the sideline to Allen.

Herbert's 49-yard completion to Jalen Guyton set up his four-yard scoring strike to Williams one play later. The touchdown capped a drive extended by a roughing-the-punter penalty against New Orleans RB Dwayne Washing-ton.

Chargers S Nasir Adderly's interception of Brees and 39-

yard return to the Saints one-yard line set up Herbert's three-yard scoring pass to TE Hunter Henry, which made it 20-3.

WEEK 7: New Orleans Saints 27, Carolina Panthers 24, October 25, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome– The Saints earned a hard-fought 27-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers with 3,000 fans in attendance for the first time this season at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, Oct. 25

Saints quarterback Drew Brees found a rhythm on the opening possession, driving 75 yards which ended with a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jared Cook. The score marked the first time the Saints have scored a touch-down on the opening possession of a game in the 2020 season.

With two of his top targets inactive for the contest, Brees relied on rookie wide recceiver Marquez Callaway, wide receiver/return specialist Deonte Harris, wide recceiver Tre’Quan Smith and running back Alvin Kamara in the passing game. Star wide receivers Michael Thomas (hamstring) and Emmanuel Sanders (Covid-19) were ab-sent..

Brees completed 29-of-36 passes for 387 yards and two scores. In a standout performance, Callaway hauled in eight catches for 75 yards. The Saints were 12 of 14 on third down and never punted.

The Saints rushing attack, led by Kamara and Latavius Murray, combined for 130 yards on the ground. Kamara also notched eight receptions for 65 yards. After a 16-yard grab in the second half, Kamara joined Roger Craig and Christian McCaffrey as the only players with at least 2,500 rushing and 2,500 receiving yards in their first four seasons in NFL history.

While the New Orleans defense had some struggles, DE Marcus Davenport stepped up when it mattered most. Dav-enport sacked former Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater for a eight-yard loss with two minutes remaining, knocking Caro-lina out of reasonable field goal range. Joey Slye attempted a 65-yard field goal to tie the game, but just came up short.

“I thought the sack on third down was critical,” Saints Head Coach Sean Payton said during his postgame press conference. “It put them in a much different position. It was a good win.”

Bridgewater, who played two seasons with the Saints before joining Carolina this season, completed 23-of-28 passes for 254 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown strike to wideout D.J. Moore.

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WEEK 8: Saints 26, Bears 23, November 1, 2020 @ Sol-dier Field – The Saints earned a 26-23 overtime victory over the Bears behind the leg of K Wil Lutz on a crisp, au-tumn afternoon at Soldier Field on Nov. 1, All Saints Day. Lutz knocked home a 35-yard field goal with 2:12 left in overtime to secure the fourth consecutive win of the sea-son for New Orleans, which is 5-2 and tied for first with Tampa Bay in the NFC South. "It was a hard fought game," Saints Coach Sean Payton said during his postgame press conference. "I think in the second half we played better football. It's good when you win an overtime game like that - it's the second one this year. There's a little bit of grit and toughness that I think you begin to build. I don't think you just start with it." Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed 31-of-41 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. Brees connected with tight end Jared Cook on a 16-yard touchdown strike with three seconds remaining in the first half, trimming Chica-go's lead to 13-10 at the break. Taysom Hill found paydirt late in regulation on at 20-yard pass from Brees, extending the Saints lead to 23-13. On the play Brees surpassed Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady for most career touch-down passes (560 to 559). Running back Alvin Kamara hauled in nine passes for 96 yards, finishing with 163 all-purpose yards in the contest. New Orleans' first three offensive possessions of the sec-ond half started inside Chicago territory. Return man Deonte Harris set up the Saints offense with excellent field position on a pair of electrifying punt returns, including a 42-yard return setting the Saints up in the red zone mid-way through the third quarter. Defensively, New Orleans tallied 5.0 sacks on the after-noon. Defensive end Trey Hendrickson established a new season high (5.5 sacks) on the year with one quarterback takedown. Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore came up with an interception with 8:34 to play in the third quarter. The takeaway came on the ensuing play after Bears WR Javon Wims was ejected for throwing multiple punches at Saints DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Saints LB Demario Davis had an opportunity to seal the win in regulation, but a forward progress call allowed Chi-cago to maintain possession after Davis forced and jumped on a fumble. Bears QB Nick Foles completed 28-of-41 passes for 272 yards tor two touchdowns and an interception. Foles con-nected with former Tulane Green Wave WR Darnell Mooney five times for 69 yards and a touchdown. Star WR Allen Robinson had six receptions for 87 yards and a score. Chicago running back David Montgomery flirted with a 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 21 carries for 89 yards.

WEEK 9: Saints 38, Buccaneers 3; November 8, 2020 @ Raymond James Stadium – Drew Brees vs. Tom Brady, and the battle for the supremacy of the NFC South, was a one-sided affair. Brees threw for 222 yards and four touchdowns, regaining the NFL career TD pass lead and lifting the New Orleans Saints into first place with a 38-3 rout of Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night.

The three-time defending division champion won their fifth straight game, intercepting Brady three times and complet-ing a season sweep of the Bucs (6-3), who also suffered a double-digit loss at New Orleans in Week 1. “Each time you can win and find different ways to win, I think it just builds confidence and creates momentum,” Brees said. “Obviously tonight was a great night,” he added. “All the way around in all three phases, it was pretty exceptional.”

The Saints (6-2) weren’t perfect—turning the ball over twice themselves-however the offense was extremely effi-cient with receivers Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sand-ers back in the lineup, and the defense played its best game of the season.

Brees was 26 of 32 passing, including first-half TD throws of 14 yards to Tre’Quan Smith, 8 yards to Adam Trautman and 12 yards to Sanders, who missed the previous two games while on the COVID-19 list. The 41-year old added a three-yarder to Josh Hill to make it 38-0 with just over nine minutes remaining. “We knew this was a big game, divisional opponent, Tam-pa’s playing extremely well,: said Brees, who lost a fumble on Tampa Bay’s only sack but didn’t throw an interception. “Obviously we’re been a little short-handed over the last few weeks … Tonight, it was good to get them back in the mix,” Brees added. “We wanted to spread the ball around, wanted to play complementary football. I can’t say enough about our defense, they just played phenomenal.”

Brees regained the league career TD pass lead with 564, three more than the 43-year old Brady, who had thrown for 17 touchdowns and just one interception over the previous six games.

WEEK 10: Saints 27, 49ers 13, Nov. 15, 2020 at Mer-cedes-Benz Superdome- With QB Drew Brees sidelined by a rib injury, the Saints turned to their defense to defeat the San Francisco 49ers 27-13 in front of 6,000 fans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, Nov. 15.

The defense delivered. All-Pro LB Demario Davis notched a game high 12 tackles, while DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson tallied eight total tackles, including his first career sack. DBs Malcolm Jenkins and Patrick Robinson each intercepted 49ers QB Nick Mullens. Special teams played a factor in the field position game for New Orleans. Undrafted rookie Marquez Callaway came up with two muffed punt recoveries, and rookie LB Zack Baun also delivered a high-impact special teams tackle. It took the Saints offense while to get going, but a 75-yard Deonte Harris kick return sparked the first score of the game, a 49-yard Wil Lutz field goal. CONT. ON NEXT PAGE

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 10 Brees completed 8-of-13 passes for 76 yards and one score before exiting the game with a rib injury at halftime. He took a hard hit in the second quarter on a sack by 49ers defensive end Kentavius Street. Street was called for un-necessary roughness on the play. "He took a heavy shot in the first half," Saints Coach Sean Payton said during his postgame press conference. "As he came out in the second half, he felt it was really impacting him. He'll get an MRI and x-rays. His back felt sore. As he tried to throw, he just came up to me and said, 'Hey, I don't feel like I'm capable of playing.' And so quickly we made the switch, and you know, that happens sometimes." "I was not going to be able to be effective," Brees said. "It had nothing to do with pain. It was definitely just what my body was going to be able to do or not be able to do." Jameis Winston's first pass replacing Brees went for a first down. Winston completed 6-of-10 passes for 63 yards, while Taysom Hill carried the ball eight times for 45 yards from the quarterback position. "My main job is to serve my teammates and help put us in a position to win the football game," Winston said during his postgame press conference. "I am happy we had a great team win today." Five quarterbacks took at least one snap between the two teams in Sunday's contest. Running back Alvin Kamara hauled in seven receptions for 83 yards and a score and added two short rushing touch-downs. In addition to Brees, the Saints had these players leave the game with injuries, tight end Josh Hill, wide re-ceiver Tre'Quan Smith, cornerback Marshon Lattimore and defensive tackle Malcom Brown.

WEEK 11: New Orleans Saints 24, Atlanta Falcons 9, November 22, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome- Driving accurate throws downfield, exhibiting poise in the pocket and scrambling judiciously, Taysom Hill capitalized on his first true opportunity to make his case as a candi-date to one day succeed record-setting star Drew Brees as the Saints quarterback.

Hill rushed for two touchdowns and completed 78.3% of his passes for 233 yards in his first NFL start at quarterback, and New Orleans beat the Atlanta Falcons 24-9 on Sunday to extend its winning streak to seven games. “Man, he played tremendous,” said Saints receiver Michael Thomas, who caught nine passes for 104 yards. “I could see the look in his eyes. He was ready for the moment.” With the 41-year-old Brees sidelined at least three games with multiple rib fractures, Saints coach Sean Payton gave Hill the nod over offseason free-agent acquisition Jameis Winston. The decision meant a lot to Hill, who persevered through an injury-plagued college career at BYU before starting his NFL career as a 27-year-old undrafted rookie in 2017. And because Hill initially flourished in an unconventional utility role, with duties ranging from change-of-pace option QB to tight end and special teams, he played in 46 previous NFL games before finally getting his first start under center. “I spent a lot of time reflecting this week. My wife and I had

so many conversations about were we’ve been, the pro-cess of getting here," Hill said. "If I’m being honest, it was an emotional week.” Hill looked comfortable running the scheme Payton de-signed for him. He completed 18 of 23 passes without an interception and used his all-around athleticism to run inter-mittently on scrambles or designed read-option plays, fin-ishing with a team-high 51 yards rushing. The biggest blemish in his performance was an inconsequential, fourth-quarter fumble after a 20-yard run to the Atlanta 22. Still, he had a better day than Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, who was sacked eight times and finished 19-of-37 passing for 232 yards, no touchdowns and two intercep-tions to defensive backs Marcus Williams and Janoris Jen-kins. Cameron Jordan sacked Ryan three times, while Trey Hendrickson and David Onyemata each had two sacks. “You’ve got to give the Saints credit. They did a great job on defense,” Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris said. “The defensive backs, they did a nice job of limiting us on what we were able to do. They had a nice game plan for us. They did a nice job of keeping Matt under control and they did a nice job keeping our receivers under control.” Hill entered having thrown just five passes with four com-pletions for 86 yards this season and was 10 of 18 for 205 yards in his career, leaving him relatively unproven as a passer. Not anymore. While his all-around athleticism would have made scrambling a tempting default choice, he regularly showed patience and poise while delivering accurate pass-es moments before impact from onrushing defenders. “I always know that I have the ability, if things break down, that I can make a play,” Hill said. “But my mindset was: let's keep your eyes down the field and let's find opportuni-ties” for receivers. Hill was among the last to leave the field after the game, raising one hand to acknowledge cheers of the pandemic-limited crowd of about 6,000. All that was missing was a first-career scoring pass — part-ly because of how effectively the Saints ran the ball. Alvin Kamara scored New Orleans' first touchdown on a three-yard run, Hill scored the second on a fourth down keeper from the Atlanta 2, and Hill's second TD came on a 10-yard scramble. Kamara, Hill and Latavius Murray powered a ground game that netted 168 yards, which helped the Saints (8-2) sus-tain drives that consumed a total of 33:41. New Orleans' second-ranked run defense held Atlanta to 52 yards rushing, and the Saints defense did not allow a touchdown for the second time in three games — with only one touchdown given up in between. The Falcons (3-7) struck first with a field goal set up by Ryan's 46-yard completion to Calvin Ridley and led 9-3 on three Younghoe Koo kicks before the Saints responded with 21 straight points. MAKING HISTORY Kamara became the first player in NFL history with at least 500 yards rushing and receiving in each of his first four seasons. Thomas recorded his 482nd career catch during the first half, giving him ownership of the record for most catches in an NFL player's first five seasons. He finished with 489.

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WEEK 12: Saints 31, Broncos 3, November 29, 2020 at Empower Field at Mile High- The Saints dominated the line of scrimmage in its 31-3 rout over Denver on Sunday. The Saints ran for 229 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns against a stout Broncos defensive unit that gave up just 56 rushing yards the week prior. "I was proud of how we ran the football," Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "I thought our guys up front, toward the end of the game, we won that battle pretty clearly." Running back Latavius Murray carried 19 times, tallying 124 yards and two scores. Taysom Hill added two scores on the ground, taking advantage of his trademark quarter-back power rush off the right side of the line. "Yeah, the quarterback power, any time the quarterback runs the ball, you really gain an extra blocker," Saints guard Nick Easton said Monday. "So if everybody executes their assignments, he's got a free run to the end zone. So, it's pretty hard for a defense, like somebody's got to defeat the block in order to make a tackle. So, you end up getting a few extra yards on those type of plays." Easton got the start in place of injured guard Andrus Peat. "As far as knowing I was going to start, I approach every week with the mentality that I'm going to be a big contribu-tor and play my hardest," Easton said. "Andrus, was deal-ing with a concussion and working through the protocol. So, it was a little blurry going through the week, but I al-ways prepare like I'm going to start." New Orleans was also without All-Pro T Terron Armstead, who was placed on the Covid-19/Reserve List Saturday. Defensively, the Saints (9-2) set a franchise record with just 112 yards allowed and forced three turnovers while winning their eighth straight game. "We're just playing with trust in our teammates and our guys next to us," DT Malcom Brown said. "I mean, we trust everybody to be where they're supposed to be. And we're just trying to roll like that and we just keep on working. Not looking too far ahead and not trying to hold anything from ourselves. But, we just want to keep on working, go through the process and stack them up every week." Brown and company were tasked with facing Kendall Hin-ton, an undrafted rookie wide receiver activated from the Broncos' practice squad and inserted as their quarterback. The Broncos lost all four of their quarterbacks this week after backup Jeff Driskel tested positive for Covid-19 and starter Drew Lock and the other two quarterbacks on the roster were deemed close contacts and ruled ineligible. "We all kind of prepared for the offense as Drew Lock at quarterback and everything," Brown said. "But I mean, it's the NFL. Whatever they roll out, you have got to defend and that's kind of the mentality we took to it." Due to Denver's quarterback situation, the Broncos relied heavily on the "Wildcat" offense, only attempting nine pass-es, two of which were intercepted. "I like to play the run a lot," Brown said. "My fundamentals and technique are real important to me. So, we knew we'd play the run a lot all game. It's weird too though,. because usually you get rewarded with a pass on third down, where you can rush the passer. It was just one of those games where it was just, I don't know, it was kind of weird." New Orleans leads the National Football League in total defense, allowing just 284.9 yards per game.

WEEK 13: Saints 21, Atlanta Falcons 16, December 6, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Taysom Hill finally threw a touchdown pass. Two of them, in fact. The New Orleans defense finally gave up a touchdown. But not two, which ensured the Saints are headed back to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Hill won another start filling in for injured Drew Brees and New Orleans got the big defensive stop it needed in the closing minutes to preserve a 21-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Saints (10-2) clinched a playoff berth with their ninth straight victory and Chicago’s 34-30 loss to Detroit.

“our work’s not done yet,” defensive end Trey Hendrick-son said.

Hill connected with Tre’Quan Smith on a 15-yard touch-down in the opening quarter-the quarterback’s first scoring pass since his senior year at Brigham Young in 2016.

He added another before halftime, zipping an 11-yard pass to tight end Jared Cook in tight coverage.

“I don’t care as much as people might think (regarding lack of touchdown pass),” said Hill, who improved to 3-0 in filling in for Brees. “I know there was a lot of conversation about getting that first TD completion. But as long as we’re winning football games, I’m happy.”

Hill was 27 of 37 for 232 yards passing. He tackled on 83 yards rushing on 14 carries, including a 43-yard scamper that was the longest run of his career, setting up his first TD pass.

“I thought his performance was strong,” coach Sean Payton said. “He made a lot of throws.” the football. He had a couple of fumbles, the first coming deep in Atlanta territory to spark the Falcons’ comeback.

Atlanta drove 85 yards capped by Matt Ryan’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Russell Gage with 7:43 remaining. New Orleans hadn’t allowed a touchdown since the opening drive of a game against San Francisco on Nov. 15, a span of 14 quarters without one.

The Falcons 94-8) got the ball back and again pushed deep into New Orleans territory. On second-and-2 at the saints 13, Todd Gurley was stuffed for no gain by LB De-mario Davis. He got the ball again on third down for a sweep around the left end, but Davis caught him for a 7-yard loss.

If there was one flaw in Hill’s game, it was hanging on to Ryan threw into the end zone on fourth down, but the pass fell incomplete to finish off the home team’s best chance at pulling off an upset. Atlanta got a desperation heave on the final play of the game, but it was batted down by DB D.J. Swearinger. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 13 The Saints never doubted their ability to prevent a sec-ond TD.

“We like us,” defensive end Cam Jordan said. “If we’re defending a touchdown, we love us.”

New Orleans extended the lead to 21-8 on Alvin Kama-ra’s 11-yard TD run in the third quarter and had a chance to wrap it up after Ryan fumbled on a play that was initially ruled an incompletion but changed to a fumble after Payton challenged the call.

Hill gave it right back. Under heavy pressure, he tried to throw the ball away but wound up fumbling, giving the Fal-cons renewed hope.

“It’s one of those things wehre I’m trying to make a play,” Hill said. “In hindsight, I wish I had just taken the sack and gotten a field goal. Those would’ve been big points for us.

Ryan was 19-of-39 for 273 yards. He was sacked three times—a far cry from the combined 17 times he went down in the last two games against the Saints.

Still, Ryan faced heavy pressure much of the game, get-ting hit eight times. The run game wasn’t much help, man-aging just 70 yards and 3.3 yards per carry. Gurley, coming back from a knee injury, was held to 16 yards on eight car-ries.

“They’re a good defense, that’s for sure,” Ryan said. “We needed to be in more third-and-shorts to give us better op-portunities.”

Falcons K Younghoe Koo kicked three field goals, ex-tending his streak to 24 in a row since his lone Week 3 miss.

New Orleans swept the season series with the Falcons.

WINNING WITHOUT BREES

The Saints are now 8-0 over the last two seasons when Brees isn’t able to play. Last season, then won all five games that Teddy Bridgewater started.

“That’s the position everyone focuses on, but our team’s playing well,” Payton said. “We’re fortunate to have depth at a number of positions, and that includes quarterback.

SPEEDY MIKE

Wide receiver Michael Thomas became the fastest player in NFL history to record 500 career receptions, doing it in his 69th career game.

He surpassed the mark shared by Anquan Boldin and Julio Jones, who reached 500 catches in 80 games.

WEEK 14: Philadelphia Eagles 24, New Orleans Saints 21; December 13, 2020 @ Lincoln Financial Field – The Saints rebounded from a lethargic first half to outscore Phil-adelphia 21-7 in the final two quarters with a comeback almost complete, but LB Craig Robertson’s valiant effort to recover an onside kick fell short with 1:24 remaining and the Eagles barely walked away with a 24-21 victory. Phila-delphia opened a 17-0 lead on three second quarter pos-sessions, as their rushing attack gained 173 yards in the first half. New Orleans then started the third quarter by get-ting the Eagles off the field on a three–and-out and QB Taysom Hill engineered a ten-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a five-yard rushing touchdown by RB Alvin Kamara. The Saints defense would get the Eagles off the field again, when LB Kwon Alexander and S Marcus Williams stopped Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts for no gain up the middle on fourth-and-and-one. Four plays later, Hill connected with WR Emmanuel Sanders for a 37-yard touchdown. The Eagles scored midway through the fourth quarter on a one-yard rushing touchdown by Philadelphia RB Miles Sanders, When New Orleans got the ball back, Hill was sacked on third and eight by Eagles DL Javon Har-grave, forcing an unsuccessful 57-ayrd field goal at-tempt. But two plays later, Alexander stripped the ball from Hurts and it was recovered by S Malcolm Jenkins. Hill drove the Saints three plays later to seven points on a 20-yard touchdown pass to TE Jared Cook, but time would run out after the unsuccessful onside attempt as the Eagles would knee on downs for the 24-21 win.

WEEK 15: Chiefs 32, Saints 29; December 20, 2020 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome – The Saints came up short in Drew Brees' return, falling 32-29 to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints' franchise quarterback had missed the previous four games with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Brees and the Saints' offense, missing WR Michael Thomas, got off to a rusty start with four three-and-outs and an intercep-tion to start. Brees was 0 for 6 in those possessions. After the sluggish start, Brees completed 15-of-28 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, including a 51-yard strike to Emmanuel Sanders that helped set up a Taysom Hill touchdown. Hill, the Saints' Swiss army knife, notched his sixth rushing touchdown of the 2020 campaign on the 1-yard scamper. It's the most rushing touchdowns by a Saints quarterback in a season, surpassing Archie Manning (1977). Sanders led the team with four receptions for 76 yards. New Orleans' defense made Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes feel it all game. The Saints sacked Mahomes four times, led by DE Trey Hendrickson who registered two takedowns. Hendrickson recorded his third game of the season with at least 2.0 sacks, moving his season total to 12.5 sacks, first amongst all NFL defenders alongside Rams DT Aaron Donald and Packers LB Za'Darius Smith. Hendrickson added five quarterback hits and a forced fum-ble. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-WEEK 15 "Played their hearts out," Saints coach Sean Payton said of the Saints defense in his postgame press conference. "(I'm) proud of the effort." Mahomes proved to be too much in the end, completing 26-of-47 passes for 254 yards and three scores. Chiefs run-ning back and former LSU Tiger Clyde Edwards-Helaire led the team with 79 rushing yards on 14 carries before leaving the game due to injury. Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan was disqualified after throwing a punch with 13:50 remaining. The Chiefs dominated the time of possession, 41:14 to 18:46.

WEEK 16: Saints 52, Minnesota Vikings 33, December 25, 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome – The Saints made their Christmas debut, getting off to a hot start in the running game and never let up, the backbone for a record-breaking performance that punched their ticket for their fourth consecutive NFC South division title.

Sparked by a 40-yard rushing touchdown from RB Alvin Kamara, the Saints marched 75 yards on their first pos-session to take a quick 7-0 lead.

Minnesota displayed an ability to move the ball on their first possession, as they ran down the field on eight plays and 75 yards, ending with a 15-yard rushing touchdown by RB Dalvin Cook to tie the score.

However, New Orleans quickly drove down the field, starting with RB Ty Montgomery’s 33-yard kickoff return and ending with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Kamara to take a 14-7 lead.

After the Saints defense forced the first punt of the con-test, but backed up at their four-yard line, QB Drew Brees connected with 19-yard completions with QB Taysom Hill and rookie WR Juwan Johnson and RB Latavius Murray had runs of 21 and 11 yards to set up a 30-yard field goal by K Wil Lutz to give the Saints a 17-7 lead.

Facing the early second quarter deficit, the Vikings of-fense found some success on their next possession and put together a 75-yard scoring drive that was capped by a four-yard run by RB Mike Boone.

Brees was then picked off by the Vikings on the next pos-session, but the defense picked him up in forcing a three-and-out, led by a third down sack split by S Malcolm Jen-kins and DT David Onyemata to force a punt.

The Saints then took possession at the Vikings 46-yard line and seven plays later, Kamara rushed five yards for his third touchdown of the contest

At the start of the third quarter, the New Orleans defense forced a punt, but Vikings lB Hardy Nickerson intercepted a

ball that went off the hands of WR Emmanuel Sanders in Saints territory, setting the Vikings up at their 18-yard line. Three plays later, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins connected with TE Irv Smith Jr. on a two-yard touchdown, to put Minnesota within four points at 24-20 following an unsuccessful extra point attempt by K Dan Bailey.

New Orleans then enjoyed a productive ten-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a six-yard rushing touchdown by Kamara, his fourth of the contest to put the Saints up by 11 until Cousins and Smith connected on a one-yard scoring connection.

New Orleans then put the game away with rushing touchdowns from Kamara and Hill. Late in the contest, Kamara tied the NFL record for rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns with his sixth rushing score of the evening on a three-yard run after Brees connected with TE Adam Trautman for a 41-yard gain.

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PRO BOWL

T Terron Armstead, DE Cameron Jordan, RB Alvin Kama-ra, CB Marshon Lattimore and G Andrus Peat.

NFC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK WEEK 1: P THOMAS MORSTEAD Saints 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Sept. 13, 2020

Played in his 175th career game, moving into a tie with TE Hoby Brenner for eight on the club’s all-time games played list. Punted six times for 264 yards (44.0 avg.) with five punts downed inside the 20 and recorded one kickoff, which was muffed by Tampa Bay and recovered by WR Benny Fowler.

NFC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK WEEK 5: K WIL LUTZ Saints 30, Los Angeles Chargers 27 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Oct. 12, 2020

Converted three-of-three field goal attempts, including a 53-yard kick in the third quarter and a 36-yard kick in over-time. Converted all three PAT attempts and had three touchbacks.

NFC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER: DE CAMERON JORDAN

Jordan tied for the NFL lead with five sacks in the month of November, including three vs. Atlanta on November 22.

SAINTS MAN OF THE YEAR: LB DEMARIO DAVIS

2020 team winner and team nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for dedication to the community and charitable endeavors and excellent play on the field.

FAMILY TIES

Numerous Saints players, coaches and administrators are not the only members of their families to make a name for themselves in pro football. No fewer than 23 Saints play-ers, coaches or front office staff have relatives who have played, coached or served in the front office in the NFL.

Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen - Late father, Grady Allen, played linebacker for the Falcons from 1968-72.

Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael - Late father, Pete, served as an assistant coach from 1994-2003 with the Jacksonville Jaguars (1994-99), Cleveland Browns (2000) and Chicago Bears (2002-03).

Quarterbacks Coach Joe Lombardi - The grandson of legendary National Football League head coach Vince Lombardi, who led both Green Bay and Washington. He led the Packers to three straight and five overall NFL Championships in seven years, in addition to winning the first two Super Bowls.

Secondary Coach Aaron Glenn - Younger brother, Ja-son, was a linebacker and sixth-round draft pick of the De-troit Lions in the 2001 NFL Draft, playing six seasons with the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings.

Offensive Assistant D.J. Williams - Father, Doug Wil-liams, is the Washington Football Club’s Senior Vice Presi-dent/Player Development, who won Super Bowl XXII as starting quarterback for the Redskins, the pinnacle of a storied 12-year pro football career, which includes him be-ing in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor, also working in the Buccaneers front office.

Vice President/Asst. GM-College Personnel Jeff Ireland – Stepson of Chiefs Hall of Fame LB/C E.J. Holub. Grand-son of Eagles running back and Bears personnel exec. Jim Parmer.

National Scout Terry Wooden - Brother, JoJo, is Director of Player Personnel for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Linebacker Demario Davis - Cousin Steve McNair was a former standout quarterback for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (1995-2005) and Baltimore Ravens (2006-07).

Quarterback Taysom Hill - Brother-in-law, David Nixon played linebacker and on special teams for the Raiders (2009), Houston Texans (2010) and St. Louis Rams (2010-11).

Cornerback Janoris Jenkins - Cousin, Pernell McPhee plays linebacker for the Ravens (2011-14, 2019-present) and also played for the Bears (2015-17) and Washington (2018).

Linebacker Kaden Elliss - Father, Luther Elliss was a for-mer first round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 1995 and played ten years in the NFL and was selected to two Pro Bowls.

Defensive end Cameron Jordan - Father, Steve, had a 13-year career at tight end for the Minnesota Vikings, with six Pro Bowl selections, being inducted into their Ring of Honor. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE-FAMILY TIES

Tackle/Guard Andrus Peat - Father, Todd, played six NFL seasons with the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Raiders.

Defensive Tackle Shy Tuttle - Uncle, Perry Tuttle played wide receiver on Clemson’s national championship team in 1981, who was a first round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1982 and then played three National Football League seasons with the Bills, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Area Scout Scott Campbell - Late father, Marion Camp-bell, played for the 49ers (1954-55) and the Eagles (1956-61) as one of the league’s last two way players along the line as a two-time Pro Bowl selection and first-team All-Pro in 1960, was a longtime defensive assistant with the Patri-ots (1962-63), Vikings (1964-66), Rams (1967-68), Eagles (1977-82) and Atlanta Falcons (1969-74) and was former head coach of the Eagles (1983-85) and Falcons (1987-89).

Area Scout Joey Vitt - Father, Joe Vitt, is a longtime Na-tional Football League assistant coach, who served as as-sistant head coach/linebackers of the Saints from 2006-16, is currently assistant head coach/inside linebackers of the Jets and also had coaching stints with the Seattle Sea-hawks, Colts, Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.

Combine Scout Matt Phillips - Father, Ted is the presi-dent/CEO of the Chicago Bears.

COACHES IN THE NFL

Six members of the 2020 Saints coaching staff have prior playing experience in the National Football League.

Head Coach Sean Payton - Played for the Bears in 1987.

Asst. Head Coach/Tight Ends Dan Campbell - A third round draft pick of the New York Giants in 1999 out of Tex-as A&M, who appeared in 114 games with 75 starts for the Giants, Cowboys and Lions, where he caught 91 passes for 934 yards and 11 touchdowns during his playing career.

Wide Receivers Coach Ronald Curry - A seventh round draft pick (235th overall) of the Raiders in 2002 out of the North Carolina and played for the Oakland Raiders from 2002-08, appearing in 76 games with 32 starts, registering 193 receptions for 2,347 yards with 13 touchdowns.

Secondary Coach Aaron Glenn - The 12th overall pick of the Jets in the 1994 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M and started 176 of 205 games with New York, the Texans, Dal-

las Cowboys, Jaguars and Saints and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. Glenn recorded 41 interceptions with six brought back for touchdowns, adding a kick return score.

Defensive Assistant Michael Wilhoite - Played six seasons (2012-17) in the NFL, six with the 49ers and his final cam-paign with the Seahawks. Played in 79 career games with 45 starts and posted totals of 316 tackles, four intercep-tions, nine passes defensed, two forced fumbles, one fum-ble recovery and 40 special teams stops.

Pass Rush Specialist Brian Young - Played in the NFL from 2000-08 with the St. Louis Rams his first four sea-sons, who originally selected him in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft (139th overall) from Texas-El Paso and final five campaigns with the Saints, playing in 124 games, recording 22.5 career sacks and eight fumble recoveries.

2020 PRACTICE SQUAD

The following players make up the Saints practice squad with the NFL expanding it up to 16 players in 2020:

Player Pos. School Exp.

Trevor Siemian QB Northwestern 5

Ryan Glasgow DT Michigan 4

Grant Haley DB Penn State 3

Andrew Dowell LB Michigan State 1

Tony Jones Jr. RB Notre Dame R

Christian Ringo DE Louisiana-Lafayette 4

Calvin Throckmorton OL Oregon R

Cameron Tom OL Southern Mississippi R

Jake Lampman WR Ferris State 2

Garrett Griffin TE Air Force 3

Lil’Jordan Humphrey WR Texas 2

Ethan Wolf TE Tennessee 1

Anthony Zettel DT Penn State 6

MY HOMETOWN

Saints players come from 21 different states, Washington D.C. and Nigeria. Of the players currently on the team’s active roster, Texas claims the most members with nine (Quarterback Drew Brees, defensive tackle Malcom Brown, defensive end Marcus Davenport, center/guard Erik McCoy, running back Ty Montgomery, punter Thomas Mor-stead, linebacker Craig Robertson, wide receiver Emmanu-el Sanders and long snapper Zach Wood).

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WINNING STREAKS

Under Payton, the Saints have put together seven winning streaks of at least six games, headlined in 2020 by a nine-game win streak that snapped on December 13. The Saints are the sixth team in NFL history to have a six-game win streak in four straight seasons joining the 1929-32 Green Bay Packers, 1970-73 Miami Dolphins, 1989-95 49ers, 2004-09 Indianapolis Colts and 2014-19 New Eng-land Patriots. Below is a list of the franchise’s win streaks of at least six games since Payton was hired as head coach in 2006:

Sept. 13-Dec. 13, 2009—13 games

Oct. 31-Dec. 12, 2010—6 games

Nov. 6, 2011-Jan 1, 2012—8 games

Sept. 24-Nov. 19, 2017—8 games

Sept. 16-Nov. 22, 2018—10 games

Sept. 22, 2019-Oct. 27, 2019—6 games

Oct. 4-Dec. 13, 2020 —9 games

LONGEST WINNING STREAKS IN NEW ORLEANS SAINTS HISTORY

13 9/13-12/13/09

10 9/16-12/23/18

9 11/1-12/27/87

12/23/90-10/20/91

10/4/-12/13/20

DOUBLE DIGIT WINS

Standing at 11-4, New Orleans has won at least ten games for the ninth time under Payton after posting double-digit win totals only five times from 1967-2005. In Sunday’s reg-ular season finale at Carolina, the Saints will be looking to record, the franchise’s seventh season of at least 12 wins, five under Payton.

ROSTER FACTS AND FIGURES

Oldest Saints player: QB Drew Brees, 41, 1/15/79

Youngest Saint: Center/Guard Cesar Ruiz, 21, 6/14/99

Most Seasons as a Saint: QB Drew Brees - 15

Most NFL seasons: QB Drew Brees - 20

Most consecutive starts: DE Cameron Jordan, 144

Consecutive games played: DE Cameron Jordan, 159

Most playoff experience: QB Drew Brees, 16 games

Heaviest Saint: OL Ethan Greenidge, 335

Tallest Saint: G/T, Andrus Peat, 6-7

Shortest Saint: Three at 5-10.

Former first round draft picks:11-DT Malcom Brown, DE Marcus Davenport, S Malcolm Jenkins, Jordan, CB Mar-shon Lattimore, T/G Andrus Peat, T Ryan Ramczyk, DT Sheldon Rankins, QB Jameis Winston and Ruiz.

Pro Bowlers:12-Brees, TE Jared Cook, CB Janoris Jen-kins, Malcolm Jenkins, Jordan, RB Alvin Kamara, Lat-timore, K Wil Lutz, P Thomas Morstead, Peat, WR Emman-uel Sanders and Winston.

Coaches who played in the NFL: 6 - Head Coach Sean Payton, Asst. Head Coach/Tight Ends Dan Campbell, Wide Receivers Coach Ronald Curry, Secondary Coach Aaron Glenn, Defensive Asst. Michael Wilhoite, Pass Rush Spe-cialist Brian Young

College with the most Saints: Southern Methodist - 3 (Morstead, Sanders and LS Zach Wood) and Florida State—3 (OL Derrick Kelly, CB P.J. Williams and Win-ston)..

IN THE NFC SOUTH

The Saints have the best record among NFC South teams since 2006, a time where they’ve won six division titles in-cluding three straight from 2017-19, the most in division history. They’ve posted a 56-33 division mark since 2006. On Jan. 3, 2021 at Carolina, the Saints will seek to become the first team since the NFC South debuted in 2002 to fin-ish the season 6-0 in the division. With a win on Christmas Day over Minnesota, New Orleans has joined the 2004-07 Seattle Seahawks and 2011-14 Green Bay Packers to be-come only the third NFC team since divisional realignment in 2002 to win four consecutive division titles.

REGULAR SEASON RECORDS OF NFC SOUTH TEAMS SINCE 2006

Team W L T Pct.

New Orleans Saints 149 90 0 .623

Atlanta Falcons 123 116 0 .515

Carolina Panthers 119 119 1 .500

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 94 145 0 .393

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TURNOVER RATIO LEADER

In 2020, the Saints are tied for ninth in the NFL in takea-way/giveawa