We’ve had some time to look over the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 schedule and process how each individual matchup impacts the overall outlook, so here are our immediate takeaways from the slate now that we know when and where every game is going to kick off:
1
Finally, a well-placed bye week
Let’s start with a positive. The Saints are going to get a well-earned break in mid-November after having played 10 games in a row, meaning they’ll come out of the bye with 7 matchups left on their schedule. It’s arguably the most favorable bye week placement New Orleans has seen in years:
- 2023: Week 11
- 2022: Week 14
- 2021: Week 6
- 2020: Week 6
- 2019: Week 9
- 2018: Week 6
- 2017: Week 5
After a quick flight to beat the Atlanta Falcons in Week 12, they’ll return for a three-game homestand against the Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, and New York Giants before flying out west for a prime-time game with the Los Angeles Rams. That’s a Thursday night game, meaning the Saints will have another mini-bye before they visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on New Years’ Eve and return home for the regular season finale against the Falcons.
2
Two Thursday night games?
Sure, the Saints have done this before (though Thanksgiving Day games are not officially counted, for whatever reason), but the NFL is making a big deal out of some teams playing multiple Thursday night games this year. The Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New York Jets are each going to make multiple appearances in the midweek time slot.
First, the Saints are going to host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 19 at the Caesars Superdome. That’s looking like a great game between one upstart team that reached the postseason last year and got better this spring against a New Orleans squad that’s eager to show they’re just as competitive. It’ll be a short week for both teams, though the Saints are visiting the Houston Texans while the Jaguars host the Indianapolis Colts four days prior.
Later, the Saints will go out to the West Coast for a Thursday night game at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 21. They were supposed to play the Los Angeles Rams there in the 2020 preseason as the venue’s very first NFL game (even if it was just an exhibition), but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this will be their long-awaited debut. This follows the three-game home series for New Orleans we talked about earlier, while the Rams will have played a home game themselves the previous Sunday.
So it’s going to have been a short week for each team in both Thursday night games.
3
Early-season road games are plentiful, but not necessarily a problem
Four of the Saints’ first six games will be on the road, and seven of their first eleven contests will be played away from New Orleans. That’s going to be challenging especially for a team prone to slow starts — the Saints started the 2022 season at 1-3 before finding their second win, following 2-2 starts in 2021 and 2020. They haven’t exited the first four weeks with a winning record since 2019.
So it’s understandable to see all those road games lined up and start worrying. But New Orleans has played better football away from the Caesars Superdome than inside of it in recent years. They’re 22-11 in road games since 2019 and are built to take control in hostile environments as an offense that wants to run the football and control the pace of play while smothering opponents with their aggressive defense.
It’s an effective strategy when it works. Things kind of went sideways last year when the offense lost its composure in turnover-heavy defeats to:
- The Carolina Panthers in Week 2 (which started with an Alvin Kamara fumble recovered by the defense and returned 44 yards for an early score; the Saints lost 22-14)
- The Arizona Cardinals in Week 7 (where a couple of Andy Dalton interceptions were returned for defensive touchdowns; New Orleans lost 42-34)
- The Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10 (Dalton threw two interceptions and fumbled twice)
- The San Francisco 49ers in Week 12 (Kamara lost a pair of fumbles). If ball security is still a problem in 2023, it won’t matter where the games are played.
4
A third-place schedule has its benefits
Look, these aren’t exactly the most challenging opponents. The only 2023 Pro Bowl quarterbacks lined up against New Orleans are Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings), Jared Goff (Detroit Lions), and Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars). Even if they start as rookies, first-year pros like Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers), CJ Stroud (Houston Texans), Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis Colts), and Will Levis (Tennessee Titans) are going to be experienced hurdles of their own.
And the Vikings, who were a long field goal away from going to overtime with the Saints in London last year, are the only team on their schedule with double-digit wins. There isn’t a single instance on this schedule of the Saints playing back-to-back games against teams that finished the 2022 season with winning records. Finishing in third place and getting more matchups with teams that didn’t quite meet expectations last year has its perks. Hopefully the Saints can take advantage of that.
