The season started off poorly for the Saints. After going 1-5-1 in the first seven games, Fears was fired and replaced by J.D. Roberts on November 3. In Roberts' first game as coach, New Orleans trailed the Detroit Lions 17-16 with time winding down, but Tom Dempsey kicked an NFL-record 63-yard field goal as time expired to win the game. The record would stand through 2013 (43 years later), when Matt Prater of the Denver Broncos broke it with a 64-yard field goal. Dempsey's achievement is made all the more remarkable by the fact that he was born without toes on his right foot (which he kicked with). This Saints victory, however, would be the last for the season; they lost their last six games to finish 2-11-1, the worst record in the young history of the franchise.