Tag: opponents

Saints will play two teams coming off of bye weeks in 2024

The New Orleans Saints will play two teams coming off of bye weeks in 2024:

NFL teams always want more time to prepare for their next game, but the inverse is also true — it’s frustrating whenever an opposing team is getting more time to rest and plan for them. Fortunately for the New Orleans Saints, they’ll be playing just two teams coming off of bye week breaks in 2024. And both of those matchups are scheduled for kickoff at the Caesars Superdome.

The Cleveland Browns will be off in Week 10 before traveling to New Orleans in Week 11; last year, Cleveland limped into the playoffs with an 11-6 record after injuries sidelined starting quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back Nick Chubb, only to get shellacked by the Houston Texans in the wild card round. The Browns have built a playoffs-ready roster with plenty of talent on both sides of the ball.

As for the Washington Commanders? They’re visiting the Saints in Week 15 after resting during their Week 14 bye. Few teams have experienced as much turnover as Washington this offseason. They only won four games last season before cleaning house in the front office and on their coaching staff. They’re a bit of a wild card themselves with all these new pieces, including head coach Dan Quinn and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, but the Saints can’t take them lightly.

What about the Saints themselves? Their bye week this year is in Week 12, and they’ll come out of it hosting the same Los Angeles Rams team that embarrassed them last December. Head coach Dennis Alllen and his staff must come up with a better game plan than we saw last year, and they’ll have plenty of time to do so before this rematch in New Orleans.

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LOOK: The New Orleans Saints 2024 schedule is officially here

The New Orleans Saints 2024 schedule is officially here, with three prime time games and a lot of noon kickoffs:

Finally. The NFL announced its schedule of games for all 32 teams on Wednesday evening, including the New Orleans Saints — whose regular season slate includes three prime time games and a lot of noon kickoffs, as well as a well-placed bye week.

If the Saints are going to make some noise in 2024, it’ll be their own doing. They won’t get many high-profile national broadcasts to help draw outside attention. It’s past time for head coach Dennis Allen to prove he can get this squad to the playoffs after coming up short in each of his first two seasons on the job.

Here is the Saints’ complete 2024 schedule:

Week Date Opponent Time (CT)
1 Sept. 8 vs. Carolina Panthers Noon (FOX) Tickets
2 Sept. 15 at Dallas Cowboys Noon (FOX) Tickets
3 Sept. 22 vs. Philadelphia Eagles Noon (FOX) Tickets
4 Sept. 29 at Atlanta Falcons Noon (FOX) Tickets
5 Oct. 7 at Kansas City Chiefs 7:15 p.m. (ESPN) Tickets
6 Oct. 13 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Noon (FOX) Tickets
7 Oct. 17 vs. Denver Broncos 7:15 p.m. (Amazon Prime Video) Tickets
8 Oct. 27 at Los Angeles Chargers 3:05 p.m. (FOX) Tickets
9 Nov. 3 at Carolina Panthers Noon (CBS) Tickets
10 Nov. 10 vs. Atlanta Falcons Noon (FOX) Tickets
11 Nov. 17 vs. Cleveland Browns Noon (FOX) Tickets
12 Bye week
13 Dec. 1 vs. Los Angeles Rams 3:05 p.m. (FOX) Tickets
14 Dec. 8 at New York Giants Noon (FOX) Tickets
15 Dec. 15 vs. Washington Commanders Noon (FOX) Tickets
16 Dec. 23 at Green Bay Packers 7:15 p.m. (ESPN) Tickets
17 Dec. 29 vs. Las Vegas Raiders Noon (FOX) Tickets
18 Jan. 5 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers TBD Tickets

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Saints tied for the easiest strength of schedule again in 2024

Dennis Allen and Derek Carr couldn’t take advantage of the NFL’s easiest schedule last year, but they’re getting another shot in 2024:

Dennis Allen and Derek Carr couldn’t take advantage of the NFL’s easiest schedule last year, but they’re getting another shot in 2024. The New Orleans Saints are tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the easiest strength of schedule this season (.453), which is the same position they found themselves in a year ago.

And as we saw, it didn’t matter. Allen’s defense was beaten by backup quarterbacks like Joshua Dobbs and Desmond Ridder. Carr wilted in prime time matchups with the few playoff teams on their schedule, coming up short against the Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, and Los Angeles Rams.

Here’s where the Saints ranked in strength of schedule each year after Drew Brees retired, and where their final record landed:

  • 2021: 22nd (9-8)
  • 2022: 14th (7-10)
  • 2023: 1st (9-8)
  • 2024: 1st (to be determined)

But teams change from year to year. Games that look like cake walks can turn out to be challenging. Squads that look like Super Bowl contenders on paper may end up just being paper tigers. That’s true of the Saints, too. Right now they aren’t regarded too highly. It’s on Allen and Carr to turn things around, rebuild their reputation at the national level, and regain the confidence they’ve lost with the fanbase. Or else teams will be looking at them as easy wins in 2024, too.

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Green Bay Packers 2024 schedule: Full list of home and away opponents

Here are the opponents who will be on the Packers’ 2024 schedule, which will be released in full by the NFL on Wednesday.

The NFL will release the full 2024 regular season schedule on Wednesday, May 15.

The Green Bay Packers know their first opponent and location: vs. the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil on Friday night in Week 1.

The NFL’s opener will be between the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night in Week 1.

Overall, Matt LaFleur’s team will play nine games at home (NFC’s year to have nine home games) and eight on the road, although the Week 1 trip to Brazil counts as a “home” game for the Eagles — negating a road trip to play in Philadelphia.

The Packers get their annual six games against the NFC North, plus four games against the NFC West and four games against the AFC South. The other three games were determined by finish during the 2023 season.

Here are the Packers’ 2024 opponents:

Home (9)

Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings
Arizona Cardinals
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers

Away (8)

Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Rams
Philadelphia Eagles (in Brazil)
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans

The full schedule will be released by 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday. NFL Network and NFL.com will carry coverage.

Packers Wire will track all the reported games throughout the week.

Broncos will face these opponents in 2024 NFL season

Before the schedule is announced in May, here is a look at the Broncos’ opponents for the 2024 NFL season.

Welcome to the NFL offseason.

We do not have the Denver Broncos’ 2024 schedule yet (that will arrive in May), but we do know all of the team’s opponents.

Intriguing matchups on the team’s schedule will include tough road matchups against the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, plus coach Sean Payton’s return to Louisiana to face his old team, the New Orleans Saints.

After going 8-9 in his first season with the Broncos in 2023, Payton will aim to get Denver back into the playoff hunt in 2024. The Broncos have not returned to the postseason since they won Super Bowl 50 in 2015.

Here’s a look at the team’s list of 2024 opponents.

Home Away
Kansas City Chiefs Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Chargers
Cleveland Browns Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburgh Steelers New Orleans Saints
Atlanta Falcons Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carolina Panthers Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks

 

Ranking all 32 teams (including the Saints) by their 2024 strength of schedule

Ranking all 32 teams (including the New Orleans Saints) by their 2024 strength of schedule, from toughest to easiest:

The New Orleans Saints had an easy schedule on paper in 2023 but weren’t able to do much with it. They’ll have another shot at it this season as they have the easiest schedule in the league.

A big reason for that ranking is the fact that the NFC South was as weak as it was last season, which includes the Panthers having the worst record in the league. In addition to the NFC South, the Saints also face the NFC and AFC West.

Here is every team ranked by their strength of schedule in 2024, based on their opponents’ combined records during the 2023 season according to pro football researcher Ivan Urena, from toughest to easiest:

What went right, what went wrong for the Saints in 2023

What went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints in 2023? And what’s the bottom line? Taking a look back before moving on to 2024:

You can’t move forward without learning from the mistakes in your past — and at the same time, the New Orleans Saints made some good decisions and did enough things well to end the 2023 season with a winning record. That can’t be overlooked (though it can certainly be overrated, which we’ll get to in a bit).

So with the calendar turning over to 2024, we’re taking a look back at the 2023 campaign to see what went right, what went wrong, and settle on the bottom line; as well as previewing what comes next for a Saints team that insists they’re closer to making some noise in the playoffs than many critics believe:

Once again, the Saints have the easiest strength of schedule going into 2024

Once again, the Saints have the easiest strength of schedule going into 2024. But Dennis Allen’s team has yet to show that matters:

This might sound familiar: the New Orleans Saints are going to enjoy the NFL’s easiest strength of schedule once again in 2024, after having played the weakest slate of opponents in 2023. They’re tied with the division-rival Atlanta Falcons with a 2024 strength of schedule at .453 (131-158). We’ve previewed their full list of opponents here.

But how much does this matter? Saints head coach Dennis Allen couldn’t guide his team to a division title or even a playoff berth despite facing so many bad teams and backup quarterbacks this season. The quality of opponents might not be a big deal when the team is poorly coached and underperforming.

Still, the Saints did finish the 2023 campaign with a winning record (by a single game, admittedly, at 9-8), and internally they’re looking at that as reason for optimism. And frankly they aren’t entirely wrong to do so. Derek Carr finally hit his stride in the final six weeks of the season and led the league’s best scoring offense down the stretch. If the Saints can carry that momentum into 2024 and start strong, maybe it can buoy them to greater success while addressing their weaknesses in the offseason.

Playing in such a vulnerable division helps. All four NFC South teams rank inside the five easiest schedules of 2024. And they’re all mired in mutual mediocrity. Both the Falcons and Carolina Panthers will be introducing new head coaches this year, and it’s still uncertain whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a sure thing at quarterback in Baker Mayfield.

But this projection of an easy schedule might not be what it appears. On top of that, the Saints are going to match up with eight teams who made the playoffs in 2023. They went 1-5 against this year’s playoff teams. And a new head coach can turn a bad organization around in a hurry (just look at what DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud have accomplished with the Houston Texans). New Orleans will kick off with teams led by first-year head coaches in at least seven games in 2024.

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2024 Cowboys schedule: List of opponents set

The Cowboys have some tough opponents on their 2024 schedule, as the regular season’s conclusion sets things in stone. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys’ regular season has reached its conclusion, and now the focus shifts to the playoffs for the boys in silver and blue. For the 20th season in a row, the NFC East has a new reigning champion as the Philadelphia Eagles were unable to defend their 2023 title. Dallas’ reached 12 wins for the third consecutive season, and earned the division title outright thanks to their 38-10 drubbing of Washington while the Eagles fell flat against New York.

Finishing first in the NFC East finalizes the list of opponents Dallas will face in 2024. The actual schedule won’t be revealed until March, but here’s a look at the 14 different opponents the club will square off with.

Now we know the New Orleans Saints opponents for 2024 season

Now we know the New Orleans Saints opponents for 2024 season, including matchups with the second-place Rams, Packers, and Browns:

The dust is beginning to settle on the 2023 NFL season, meaning we now know which teams the New Orleans Saints will be playing in 2024. Because the Saints finished the year in second-place in the NFC South, they’ll face a couple of other second-place squads from around the league.

New Orleans will host the second-place Los Angeles Rams (NFC West) and Cleveland Browns (AFC North) while visiting the Green Bay Packers (NFC North), despite having made the trip to Green Bay already this year. Look at it as an opportunity for payback after the Packers rallied to overcome a 17-point lead earlier this season and eventually eliminate the Saints from the playoffs altogether.

Here is every team on the 2024 schedule and their 2023 record: