Saints Versus Lions: The History of the Matchup

The Saints head to head record with the Lions is 11-11-1. The tie was the first game in which they faced each other in 1968. Last years game, 12-21-15 was a 35-27 loss for the Saints. The Saints alternated their first 5 games between Tiger stadium in Detroit and the old Tulane Stadium. Their first home game in the Dome was 11-14-76.

This will be the sixth game overall for Head Coach Sean Payton vs. the Lions since he was hired in 2006. The Saints captured the first four contests, three in the regular season and a 45-28 win in the NFC Wild Card Playoff at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Jan. 7, 2012. New Orleans will be seeking their first win since that contest.

The regular season series has the series deadlocked at 11-11-1, with the first game ending in a 20-20 tie on Nov. 24, 1968 at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. The two clubs split all 10 meetings from 1970-89. 13 contests have been decided by eight points or less. The Saints are 9-3 against the Lions in New Orleans:

Date Score Site Att.

11/24/68 T, 20-20 @ Tiger Stadium 46,152

11/8/70 W, 19-17 Tulane Stadium 66,910

11/19/72 L, 14-27 @ Tiger Stadium 53,752

10/14/73 W, 20-13 Tulane Stadium 57,810

11/3/74 L, 14-19 @ Tiger Stadium 43,256

11/14/76 W, 17-16 Superdome 42,048

9/25/77 L, 19-23 @ Silverdome 51,458

10/21/79 W, 17-7 Superdome 57,428

10/12/80 L, 13-24 @ Silverdome 78,147

9/18/88 W, 22-14 @ Silverdome 32,943

12/3/89 L, 14-21 @ Silverdome 38,550

10/28/90 L, 10-27 Superdome 64,368

10/4/92 W, 13-7 @ Silverdome 66,971

9/19/93 W, 14-3 Superdome 69,039

9/21/97 W, 35-17 Superdome 50,016

9/3/00 L, 10-14 Superdome 64,900

9/29/02 L, 21-26 @ Ford Field 60,023

12/24/05 L, 12-13 Alamodome 63,747

12/21/08 W, 42-7 @ Ford Field 49,309

9/13/09 W, 45-27 Superdome 69,719

12/4/11 W, 31-17 Superdome 73,042

1/7/12* W, 45-28 Superdome 73,038

10/19/14 L, 23-24 @ Ford Field 62,371

12/21/15 L, 27-35 Superdome 73,017

With our season hopes on the line, the New Orleans Saints lead by Drew Brees and our much improved defense, are in a must “win now” situation. We pretty much need to run the board in this last stretch and Atlanta and Tampa Bay need to both stumble a little. First order is to take care of our own business. We can’t count on outside help.