Predicting the Saints Primetime Games

The Saints got three primetime games in 2022. Will they get any more this season? Here's our thoughts and picks for the matchups.

Author:
John Hendrix
Publish date:
May 5, 2023 9:13 AM EDT

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New Orleans Saints

In less than a week, the NFL Schedule is expected to drop. There's already rumors of the team playing in Germany against the Patriots, and we should find out about the International Series schedule ahead of the release. For the Saints, they're certainly looking forward to a better showing in 2023. We're waiting to see if New Orleans will be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks, but hopefully that goes to the Jets, Bears or Commanders.

Given how things stack up across the league and the state of the team, how many primetime games should the Saints get? As an absolute best-case scenario, we'd project a maximum of four. Three sounds about right, which is the amount they had last year. Here's our picks for this season.

Predicting the Saints Primetime Games

USATSI_19165136_168388561_lowres — Oct 2, 2022; London, United Kingdom; New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill (7) carries the ball against Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) during an NFL International Series game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Saints 28-25. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

ROAD OPPONENTS: Falcons, Panthers, Bucs, Packers, Texans, Colts, Rams, Vikings, Patriots

HOME OPPONENTS: Falcons, Panthers, Bucs, Bears, Lions, Jaguars, Giants, Titans

Giants - The Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley duo is always something to watch, but they only had a single primetime game last year when they took on the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. They were better than many predicted, and might see a little more love in 2023. Most eyes will be on the other team in that market, but I actually like this to be a Thursday Night matchup in the Superdome.
At Texans - Houston is looking to be a big contender after landing DeMeco Ryans and then hitting in the draft. C.J. Stroud is one of several rookie quarterbacks the Saints could face this year. These two teams kicked off the 2019 season, which was extremely entertaining. This might be a good way to do it in 2022 as a Monday Night doubleheader.
At Vikings - The past several matchups have all had some type of strong billing. Last year saw these two meet in London, but it wasn't a primetime game. The game before that was on Christmas, and then you had a playoff game which saw the Saints get upset, Sunday Night Football following the Minneapolis Miracle, and then the playoff game everyone remembers. It just makes sense.

OTHER POTENTIALS: The NFC South seemingly may be an alternate pick here in place of the Giants selection, which could either be the Panthers or Falcons for a Sunday Night Football matchup. If there's another home matchup to choose, the Titans or Bears would get a vote. It feels like this will be a year where New Orleans will have more road primetime games than home, similar to last year.

The league is expected to release the schedule on Thursday, May 11. We'll have a full breakdown and track it all here.