At seven up & nine down, the 1994 Saints were an average football team.  All
but one of the team's wins came against opponents that finished with losing
records, and all but one of the team's losses came against opponents that
that finished with winning records.  The offseason defensive defections were
painful, but the team's average age dropped considerably.  Jim Everett proved
that he is a top-notch QB.


The year was remarkably injury-free.  However, I think the team's two weak
spots were caused (at least in part) by injuries:

the running game- Mario's broken jaw and Brad's chronic hamstring problem
                  prevented the team's Joycelyn Elders backfield (Muster-Bates)
                  from becoming a reality.  Bates seems to have the goods, but
                  was unavailable for half the season.  Especially in light of
                  Lorenzo Neal's lack of contribution (as predicted by yours
                  truly), the team really missed Muster's talents.

the secondary- With the large-scale offseason dismantling of the secondary
               (Atkins, Cook, Taylor, Maxie left), Vince Buck & Reginald Jones
               were expected to lend valuable experience to a young set of DBs.
               Jones played in less than one game before getting hurt & being
               sent off to Cleveland.  We missed his coverage ability badly.


You've got to give the team's player evaluation people credit.  Remember the
free agents we picked up in the offseason:

Jim Everett was an absolute steal.
Michael Haynes didn't make big plays, but was a reliable receiver.
Wesley Walls helped reincarnate the TE's place in the Saint offense.
Jeff Uhlenhake was solid.
Darrion Conner was a pleasant surprise.

As for the draft picks, the top 3 contributed.  Joe Johnson was a starter.  He
didn't make the spectacular plays, but he did his job and will improve.  Mario
Bates looks like a good one.  Winfred Tubbs made James Williams expendable.


As far as the vets are concerned, Torrance Small seems to have filled Eric
Martin's shoes nicely.  Tyrone Hughes is (if nothing else) exciting to watch.
Sam Mills had a great year, as did Wayne Martin (who should've gone to the Pro
Bowl).  William Roaf continues to be fawned over by announcers (deservedly so).
It was a good year for Roafs- William was named to the Pro Bowl, and his mother
Andree was named to the Arkansas Supreme Court (no lie).


Now for the games.  The team was blown out in the 'Dome four times, by the
Chiefs, Redskins (ugh), Chargers, and 49ers.  On the positive side, the team
played some of its best ball against NFC "West" opponents (the ones that didn't
make the Superbowl).  Last year's division hierarchy is easy to figure out:

49ers swept Saints, Falcons, Rams
Saints swept Falcons, Rams
Falcons swept Rams
Rams left town


With some better 4th quarter play, the team could've made the playoffs.  Here
are four games in which the team couldn't score much-needed late TDs:

* @49ers, we were down by 4 and had two chances to take the lead-

  with 6:00 left, Saints start drive at own 26
  result: gained 44 yds before Hanks INT in endzone

  with 1:16 left, Saints start drive at 49ers' 45
  result: gained 2 yds before Sanders INT & 74 yd TD return


* @Vikings, we were up by 3 and had a chance to put the game away-

  with ~4:00 left, Saints start drive at Vikings' 28
  results: gained 9 yds before Andersen 35 yd FG, Vikings drive for winning TD


* @Raiders, we were down by 5 and could've finished a come-from-behind victory-

  with 1:25 left, Saints start drive at own 20
  result: gained 28 yds before Everett sacked, team runs out of time soon after


* Cowboys, we were down by 8 and could drive for a tying score-

  with ~4:00 left, Saints start drive at own 45
  result: gained 12 yds before Smith INT


Here's how the year went:

        /\            ............SAINTS 1994...........            /\
       /  \           17-30  Chiefs       20-21 @Vikings           /  \
   ___ \  / ___       24-38  Redskins     33-32  Falcons       ___ \  / ___
  /   \_\/_/   \      09-07 @Buccaneers   19-24 @Raiders      /   \_\/_/   \
 / /'\      /'\ \     13-24 @49ers        14-35  49ers       / /'\      /'\ \
|/'   (    )   '\|    27-22  Giants       31-15 @Rams       |/'   (    )   '\|
   |\__\  /__/|       07-17 @Bears        29-20 @Falcons       |\__\  /__/|
    \___  ___/        22-36  Chargers     16-24  Cowboys        \___  ___/
        \/            37-34  Rams         30-28 @Broncos            \/


To sum up: although 7-9 matches the team's worst record under Jim Mora (the
same as his first campaign in 1986), the year turned out OK considering all the
changes the team went through in the offseason.


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Frank Serpas III