The NFL’s 2023 schedule is set to be released in a sprawling two-day rollout, and one of the big questions New Orleans Saints are searching to answer lies in the number of primetime games their team will get. After a couple of down years, how often will the Saints get to shine in front of a national audience?
Not including last year’s early-morning showing in London, the Saints were featured on three night games (twice on Monday nights, one Thursday night) and one late-afternoon spot. All of their other matchups were held in the usual 1 p.m. ET/noon CT time slot. A year earlier, the Saints were shown in five primetime games and twice in the late afternoon.
So what can Saints fans expect coming off their team’s 9-8 and 7-10 finishes? Here’s our best guess before the schedule is announced:
The Vikings are the only team on the Saints’ schedule that won double-digit regular season games last year, and they have a history of drawing the bright lights whenever they kick off with New Orleans. Minnesota drew playoff games against the Saints in 2019 and 2017, they were featured in the Christmas Day game in 2020, and of course the London game last season. The Saints also visited Minnesota for night games in 2018 (Sunday night) and 2017 (Monday night). It makes a lot of sense for these two teams to square off in primetime again especially if they’re making competitive postseason bids.
Prediction: Saints at Vikings on Thursday Night Football
The Saints have visited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in primetime in each of the last three seasons, but that’s because Tom Brady was their quarterback. Now he’s out of the picture and a power vacuum has opened up in the NFC South. There doesn’t seem to be much belief that the Atlanta Falcons can fill it with Desmond Ridder at quarterback, so we’ll guess the schedule makers buy the hype behind the Carolina Panthers and first-overall draft pick Bryce Young. Carolina has played against the Saints in the final weeks of the regular season often in recent years, so it makes sense to put that rivalry on a bigger stage — if both teams are good.
Prediction: Saints vs. Panthers on Sunday Night Football
There has been a lot of smoke linking the Saints to the New England Patriots for a game in Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park — including local reporting from German news outlets, so this appears to be happening. Of course we’ll have to wait and see until the official International Series slate is announced on Wednesday. It’s unfortunate that the Saints may have to fly overseas in back-to-back years, but other teams have done this before, and at least this is already an away game for them. They’ll still receive eight home games at the Caesars Superdome if this Patriots game is moved to Germany.
Prediction: Saints at Patriots on Sunday early-morning
Wait, that's it?
Yeah, that’s it. The Saints bombed in their two Monday night games last year (losing 27-13 to the Baltimore Ravens and later collapsing against the Bucs in a 17-16 defeat), and that may turn the league off of them. But you never know. There’s added flexibility in moving games into primetime these days and if the Saints start the season hot, they could get flexed into more prominent time slots throughout the year. Getting two night games and an early-morning kickoff in Germany is probably fair given how poorly they’ve played in recent years.
