Tag: Games

NFL announces kickoff time for Week 18 Saints-Falcons game

The NFL announced its kickoff time for Week 18’s penultimate Saints-Falcons game, along with other matchups fans should be monitoring:

There it is: the NFL announced that the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons will kick off in Week 18 at noon CT on Sunday, Jan. 7. There are a couple of paths the Saints can take to get to the playoffs, but everything starts with a win at the Caesars Superdome. The game will be broadcast on CBS.

So what other games should be on Saints fans’ radar? The most important matchup is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Carolina Panthers tilt which will be broadcast in the same window on FOX. If the Saints and Panthers both win, New Orleans clinches the NFC South and a home playoff game.

But if the Buccaneers win, they’ll take the division for themselves and send the Saints scurrying for a wild-card seed. If that’s the case, here are the games to watch, and who fans should be rooting for marked in bold text:

  • Chicago Bears (7-9) vs. Green Bay Packers (8-8); 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS
  • Seattle Seahawks (8-8) vs. Arizona Cardinals (4-12); 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX

If the Packers win and the Seahawks lose, Green Bay gets the seventh playoff seed. The reverse is also true. Both teams need to lose for the Saints to clinch that seventh playoff seed. The Saints dug themselves quite a hole. They’ll  need help getting out of it, but their season isn’t over just yet.

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Each team’s remaining schedule in the crowded NFC South title race

The Saints are tied with the Falcons and Buccaneers at the top of the NFC South. Let’s look at each team’s remaining schedule:

Mutually mediocre. That’s how our John Sigler described the NFC South. 13 games through the season it’s difficult to describe them in any other way. The Carolina Panthers are out of the playoff race altogether, but the other three teams still have a chance at the division title and a wild card spot. If each team continues their trajectory, it’s unlikely the NFC South will get two teams into the playoffs.

Despite how underwhelming the division has been the last two seasons, someone has to win. The Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are all tied at the top of the division at 6-7. New Orleans still plays both the Falcons and Buccaneers before the season is over.

But those aren’t the only games left to play. Let’s look at each team’s remaining schedule:

New Orleans Saints’ known opponents for 2024 season (so far)

Here are the New Orleans Saints’ known opponents for the 2024 season (so far). One advantage of a poor finish is a better schedule the next year:

One silver lining for a poor finish is knowing you’ll land a better schedule next year — a slate of opponents for a third-place team is, presumably, easier to knock down than a series of first-place squads.

That didn’t matter for the New Orleans Saints in 2023; head coach Dennis Allen had the easiest schedule in the league and still opened December in third place, the same spot he finished with in the NFC South a year ago. But hope springs eternal. Whether or not Allen is coaching the Saints in 2024 is unknown.

What we do know is the matchups and locations for all but three of New Orleans’ games next year, with two home games against the same-ranked teams in the AFC North and NFC West as well as a road trip for the same-ranked NFC North team waiting to be decided.

Another thing known in advance: the Saints will have nine home games in 2024, the first time they’ll enjoy that benefit of the 17-game schedule after relocating their season opener in 2021 to Jacksonville in the wake of Hurricane Ida and playing a “home” game in London in 2022. With extensive renovations to the Caesars Superdome progressing well, fans will finally get the full experience next season. Hopefully the team can give them something to cheer about.

But if current standing hold, here are the teams the Saints will see in 2024:

Saints 2023 game-by-game season predictions

We’re making our 2023 season season predictions for the New Orleans Saints game-by-game. Is Dennis Allen’s squad a playoff team?

It’s finally here: the start of the 2023 NFL season, with the New Orleans Saints set to kick it all off with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. And the schedule looks, at least on paper, very favorable.

Just one of their opponents this year won 10 or more games last season — the Minnesota Vikings, who the Saints took down to the wire in London a year ago. Of the other teams lined up against them, only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who they’ll play twice), New York Giants, and Jacksonville Jaguars are returning from the playoffs. A benefit to finishing third-place is you’ll have to face other also-rans around the league the next season.

But can the Saints actually go the distance? Here are our game-by-game predictions for the 2023 season:

Cameron Jordan is on track to join Drew Brees in Saints’ exclusive 200 Club

Cameron Jordan is on track to join Drew Brees in the Saints’ exclusive 200 Club. Find some wood and knock on it, just to be safe:

Sports bring out superstitions in a lot of fans, so if you’re more than a little stitious, find some wood and knock on it. But it’s worth noting that Cameron Jordan is in rare air. The big defensive end has been his team’s best defender for a generation, and he’s on pace to join Drew Brees in the New Orleans Saints’ exclusive 200 Club.

That’s right — Brees is the only player in franchise history to wear black and gold into 200 or more regular season games (having done so 228 times). Jordan is entering 2023 with 192 regular season games played in a Saints uniform, so he needs just eight more to achieve it. If you’re curious, that makes Week 8’s Indianapolis Colts road game the one to watch.

But what about postseason games? If you count the playoffs, Jordan (203) has already joined Brees (245). But so have a couple of other all-time greats, and Jordan has some work to do to catch up on No. 9. Here are the members of the Saints’ 200 Club* and those who came close to making the cut:

*Including the playoffs

NFL announces key dates for New Orleans Saints’ 2023, 2024 seasons

The NFL announced key dates for the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 and 2024 seasons. Here’s everything you need to know, and every date to circle on your calendar:

We’re set to turn another page in the New Orleans Saints’ offseason calendar, with the NFL announcing a number of important dates for both the 2023 and 2024 seasons on Tuesday.

Here are the dates to mark on your calendar (you know, in addition to this year’s Saints games) for every month from Saints training camp in July to Super Bowl LVIII and the 2024 NFL draft:

Ranking every 2023 Saints game from easiest to toughest

Ranking every 2023 New Orleans Saints game from easiest to toughest. Which matchups look like the most challenging? via @DillySanders:

One of the biggest conversations surrounding the New Orleans Saints since the NFL schedules dropped for the 2023 season, is that the Saints have one of the easiest schedules on paper. With the state of the NFC South and some people having doubts about the NFC North.

With the weaker schedule, the Saints are not going to have much of a leash if they follow up last year with another disappointing showing. The addition of Derek Carr should also make things easier as well.

To have a better understanding of what to expect this year, we took a look at every game and ranked them from easiest to hardest:

New Orleans Saints finalize times and dates for 2023 preseason games

The New Orleans Saints finalized the times and dates for their three-game 2023 preseason series:

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The New Orleans Saints finalized the times and dates for their three-game 2023 preseason series, having previously announced the matchups while waiting on the NFL to set the schedule for these exhibition games. Their first two games will be broadcast locally on FOX with the third and final game getting a national broadcast.

Here’s the Saints’ preseason schedule:

  • Aug. 13: Saints vs. Kansas City Chiefs, noon CT (FOX 8)
  • Aug. 20: Saints at Los Angeles Chargers, 6:05 p.m. CT (FOX 8)
  • Aug. 27: Saints vs. Houston Texans, 7 p.m. CT (FOX)

New Orleans will make the most of that one road trip to Los Angeles by scheduling a couple of joint practices with the Chargers in the days leading up to the preseason game, just like they did last summer with the Green Bay Packers.

We’ll see how often the Saints play their starters and other high-profile rookies, but this should be a good opportunity for fans to get a look at the many competitions brewing for training camp as players work to lock down a limited number of roster spots.

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These four games come at the perfect time for the Chiefs in 2023

Our @goldmctNFL names four games that come at the perfect time for the #Chiefs during the 2023 NFL season.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ 2023 NFL season schedule has officially been revealed.

With six prime-time games, two games on holidays and an international game, the Chiefs have quite the slate ahead of them. They’re also playing a championship schedule after winning Super Bowl LVII. With a tough schedule ahead of them, which games are coming at just the right time for the team in 2023?

Four particular games stuck out:

 

Win-loss predictions for every game on the 2023 Saints schedule

Our win-loss predictions for every game on the 2023 New Orleans Saints schedule calls for a rough road back to the postseason:

Alright — we’ve had time to look at the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 schedule to get an idea of how the season might play out. We’ve known the opponents and venues for a while now, but the week-to-week grind of the NFL season matters a lot, and how these matchups are all laid out changes some things.

Back-to-back road trips matter. So do long homestands, games against 2022 playoff teams, and matchups with high-profile rookie quarterbacks. The bye week is a critical point on the calendar. We’re probably not going to come close in individual score predictions (we sure missed the mark last year), so we’re keeping it simple this time and dialing in on winners and losers each week: