Which matchups look most challenging on the New Orleans Saints’ 2024 schedule? Everyone knows that their Monday night meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs is going to be daunting, but how heavily does Sean Payton’s presence matter into the perception of the Saints’ Thursday night game against a bad Denver Broncos team? And what about the NFC South rivalry games?
It’s true that the Saints have been given an easy (on paper) strength of schedule again in 2024, even if the soft matchups pitched to them last year still resulted in nearly as many wins as losses. But Dennis Allen must prove he can take advantage of those vulnerable opponents to stack up wins before taking on the more challenging matchups. He hasn’t shown yet that he can do that.
Here is our take. We ranked all 17 games from easiest to toughest:
The Panthers have added a lot this offseason, including a new head coach and supporting cast for Bryce Young. But they’re still one of the worst teams in the league until proven otherwise. Dennis Allen has started each of his first two seasons with a Week 1 win, and he should repeat that feat this year.
The Raiders aren’t a bad team, but they don’t have a quarterback, and that means a lot late in the season — especially on the road, after they’ve likely been eliminated from playoff contention in the highly competitive AFC West. Las Vegas should be playing for draft positioning by the team they visit the Saints, and Derek Carr is going to be motivated to get one over on his old team.
The Panthers may be more of a challenge by midseason, once Young has learned a lot while working in Dave Canales’ offense. And the Saints are going to be entering a hostile environment. This should be a much tougher matchup in Week 9, away from the Caesars Superdome, than in the regular season kickoff game. We’ll see if Carolina learned anything in this rematch.
No one knows how competitive Washington might be this year, but Jayden Daniels should make them dangerous. And we can’t overlook all of their offseason additions in free agency as well as the draft. But this is a team that will need time to get all those new pieces used to working together. They might figure it out by Week 15, but this is a game the Saints should be favored to win.
The Giants would be a much tougher matchup if they had a quarterback. But whether it’s Daniel Jones or Drew Lock starting under center, the Saints ought to be able to confuse and rattle them. New York is hoping the addition of two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Brian Burns can elevate their defense. If the Saints’ offensive line is a mess this late in the year, and they might be, Burns and his tag-team partner Kayvon Thibodeaux might take over.
Sean Payton is on the way, and his presence is going to bowl over every other narrative surrounding this game. But just how high can he take this team? The Broncos are a mess on both sides of the ball, and rookie quarterback Bo Nix is far from a finished product. He’s also the first rookie QB that Payton will be asking to run his offense from Week 1. Call it a hot take, but we like the Saints in this matchup, even if Payton is going to use every trick in his playbook to try and leave New Orleans with one last win.
Are the Bucs going to be good this year? They had to pay a ton of money to keep Baker Mayfield at quarterback and Antoine Winfield Jr. at safety, and it cost them a lot of depth — plus their best cornerback, Carlton Davis III, who was traded to the Detroit Lions. It might be tough for Tampa Bay to rally back from those departures, but they did beat the Saints in New Orleans last year.
The Bucs don’t enjoy a strong homefield advantage like other teams in the NFC South, and this game being the regular season finale does help with the weather, but it’s still a road game with all the interruptions and challenges those present. If the Saints drop an early-season loss to them, there’s a good chance it may happen again in Tampa Bay.
The Saints and Falcons always play each other tough, but if we had our pick every game would be in Louisiana. There’s nothing like watching two teams that really, truly dislike each other compete in front of a raucous crowd, and that’s always the case at the Superdome. But that doesn’t mean we can take the Falcons lightly.
The Browns are in the place the Saints hope to reach soon — a playoff team that leans on its strong defense to make up for its shortcomings on offense. They just have the talent stacked up and the coaching in place to get that job done. This should be a great barometer for where the Saints are at, especially falling so close to midseason.
The Falcons’ fickle fanbase doesn’t show up for many games, but they do bring a great atmosphere when the Saints are in town, and this should go no differently. Meeting so early in the year will give both teams an opportunity to make a statement and establish the NFC South hierarchy. Atlanta is riding a ton of momentum after signing Kirk Cousins and they’ll want some payback after the Saints embarrassed them to end the 2023 season.
Are the Chargers going to be a problem this year? They’re one of several teams falling in a gray area of uncertainty. They might be Super Bowl contenders with Jim Harbaugh running the show. They might be pushovers who lack the personnel to run the offense he wants, and without enough firepower in the receiving corps to compete with the league’s best passing attacks. But we don’t like the matchup of a run-first and Harbaugh-coached team against a Saints run defense that’s fallen apart in big moments.
The Saints had their way with the Packers through three quarters last season, at least until Derek Carr was knocked out of the game with an injury. They need to seal the deal this time, and in front of a national audience in prime time, too. The talent gap between New Orleans and Green Bay isn’t that significant. We’ll see how great a factor the weather becomes in late December at Lambeau Field, but the Saints have won outside in the cold before. If the Saints are getting to the playoffs, they’ll need to compete with teams like the Packers.
The Rams were hardly challenged by the Saints last year in L.A., but bringing the game to New Orleans (while leaving Aaron Donald on a beach somewhere in retirement) doesn’t make it any less challenging. It’s still the same Sean McVay offense that gave Dennis Allen fits. Maybe Donald’s departure is exactly as big a loss as it looks, and it’s possible Allen learned a lot of painful lessons in that loss. But we’re not picking the Saints to win this one.
This is going to be a tough one — the Eagles have gotten the better of the Saints in recent years, though they did take care of business when Gardner Minshew, not Jalen Hurts, was under center late in the 2022 season. But Philadelphia sees itself as a Super Bowl contender. They’ve built a strong roster with talent in the trenches to challenge the Saints on both sides of the ball, and Hurts’ ability to run will be dangerous against a team that has struggled to stop him before.
The Cowboys are another team that’s lost a lot this season, but their expectations are to be right in the thick of the playoffs, and they see the Saints as a speed bump on that journey. New Orleans needs to prove they’re closer than that. Dallas can run the ball and pass on any defense, and they have the pass rushers to get after the quarterback themselves. They’ll challenge the Saints in every phase. Are the Saints up to the task? We’ll see. An early-season upset would be huge for Dennis Allen’s team.
It kind of feels like the NFL schedule-makers are serving the Saints up to the Chiefs on a silver platter. A night game at Arrowhead Stadium in prime time is intimidating for anyone. For it to happen this early on when the Saints might still be figuring themselves out, well — that’s extremely challenging. Taking on Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, and all of their Super Bowl champion teammates is a tall order. Maybe the Saints can shock the world and return to New Orleans with a win.