Saints announce 2020 schedule

The New Orleans Saints announced today their 2020 schedule by SeatGeek, for which the regular season kicks off on Sunday, September 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and features four prime time games and the team playing on Christmas day for the first time in franchise history.

The Saints will open their season at home for the third consecutive season, when they host the Buccaneers (3:25 p.m. CT). It will be the fourth time that the Saints have opened their season against Tampa Bay (2002, 2008 and 2018) and the second time in the past three seasons.

After opening at home, the Saints will play in two consecutive prime time games. New Orleans will travel to Las Vegas for the first time to play at the Raiders on Monday Night Football (7:15 p.m.) and then host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football on September 27 (7:20 p.m.). New Orleans will then go back on the road to play at the Detroit Lions on October 4 for their first 12:00 p.m. kickoff of the season. The Detroit tilt will be followed when they host the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football (October 4), followed by a Week 6 bye.

After the bye, the Saints will host the Carolina Panthers (October 25; noon) and then will travel to Soldier Field for a matchup at the Chicago Bears (November 1), which will have a 3:25 p.m. CT kickoff. New Orleans will then travel to Tampa for a November 8 Sunday Night Football matchup at Raymond James Stadium (7:20 p.m.). The Saints will play the Buccaneers in a prime time contest for the first time in 18 years, the only other being a December 1, 2002 Sunday night 23-20 New Orleans home victory. The Saints will then return to New Orleans for back to back home contests on November 15 vs. the San Francisco 49ers (3:25 p.m.) and on November 22 vs. the Atlanta Falcons (12:00 p.m.).

Following the Falcons tilt, New Orleans will play a three-game stretch of road contests for the second time in three seasons, winning two of three in 2018. The Saints will travel to the Denver Broncos on November 29 (3:05 p.m.), play at Atlanta on December 6 (12:00 p.m.) and finish up the road trip at Philadelphia on December 13 (3:25 p.m.)  The Saints will then face two consecutive playoff participants at home, starting when they host the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on December 20 (3:25 p.m.), followed by the nationally televised Christmas afternoon tilt against the Minnesota Vikings (3:30 p.m.). New Orleans will close out the 2020 regular season on January 3, 2021 at Carolina (12:00 p.m.), ending their regular season against the Panthers for the third consecutive campaign.

Six of the Saints’ 16 games will be against teams that finished with a winning percentage of .500 or better in 2018, with contests against five 2019 playoff clubs – Green Bay, Kansas City, Minnesota, Philadelphia and San Francisco. New Orleans will play each of their NFC South rivals twice, one game each against each of the NFC North and AFC West teams and will play the 2019 first place teams in the NFC East (at Philadelphia) and NFC West (vs. San Francisco).

New Orleans’ eight road games in 2020 will have the team travel 15,882 miles (roundtrip) away from home after they traveled a total of 19,960 miles (roundtrip) in 2019. The longest trip will be the Week 2 trek to Las Vegas (3,426 miles roundtrip).

Thanks to an away schedule that includes road contests at NFC South foes Carolina, Tampa Bay and Atlanta and at the Raiders, Lions, Bears, Broncos and Eagles, the Saints will leave the Central Time Zone seven times over the course of the season to play five contests in the Eastern Time Zone, one in the Mountain Time Zone (Denver) and one in the Western Time Zone (Las Vegas).

All New Orleans Saints games can be heard on WWL Radio (870 AM and 105.3 FM).

SeatGeek, the Official Primary Ticketing Partner of the Saints, will be donating a suite to a 2020 home game to a group of essential workers who have been serving our community during COVID-19. For information on buying and transferring tickets, please visit www.seatgeek.com.

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2020 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PRESEASON SCHEDULE PRESENTED BY SEATGEEK
(All times CENTRAL)
Date Opponent Kickoff TV _
Aug. 13-17 (TBD) at Los Angeles Rams TBD FOX 8/Gray
Aug. 23 at Pittsburgh Steelers 7:00 p.m. FOX
Aug. 27-30 (TBD) HOUSTON TEXANS TBD FOX 8/Gray
Sept. 3-4 (TBD) MIAMI DOLPHINS TBD FOX 8/Gray

2020 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE PRESENTED BY SEATGEEK
(All times CENTRAL)
Date Opponent Kickoff TV_______
Sept. 13 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 3:25 p.m. FOX
Sept. 21 at Las Vegas Raiders (Monday) 7:15 p.m. ESPN
Sept. 27 GREEN BAY PACKERS 7:20 p.m. NBC
Oct. 4 at Detroit Lions Noon FOX
Oct. 12 LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (Monday) 7:15 p.m. ESPN
Oct. 18 BYE
Oct. 25 CAROLINA PANTHERS Noon FOX
Nov. 1 at Chicago Bears 3:25 p.m. FOX
Nov. 8 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers* 7:20 p.m. NBC
Nov. 15 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 3:25 p.m. FOX
Nov. 22 ATLANTA FALCONS Noon FOX
Nov. 29 at Denver Broncos 3:05 p.m. FOX
Dec. 6 at Atlanta Falcons Noon FOX
Dec. 13 at Philadelphia Eagles 3:25 p.m. FOX
Dec. 20 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 3:25 p.m. CBS
Dec. 25 MINNESOTA VIKINGS (Friday) 3:30 p.m. FOX/NFLN/Amazon**
Jan. 3 at Carolina Panthers Noon FOX
*-Sunday night games in Weeks 5-16 subject to change; Week 17 game TBD
**NFL Network and Amazon simulcast subject to change

A look at the Saints’ 2020 regular season opponents, and dates:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. September 13, at November 8): New Orleans holds a 35-21 edge in the all-time series against the Buccaneers, the club’s best winning percentage (.625) versus an NFL opponent that they have played more than 11 times…New Orleans is 19-12 all-time at home against Tampa Bay and 16-9 in contests played at Tampa…The November 8 Sunday Night Football tilt at Raymond James Stadium will be the first time, the Saints have played the Buccaneers in prime time since a 23-20 victory in the Superdome on December 1, 2002 and the first time the Saints have played a prime time game at Tampa Bay…In 2019, the Saints swept the Buccaneers for the first time since 2014…The series will feature two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Drew Brees and Buccaneers signal-caller Tom Brady, who signed with the team in the offseason. The two quarterbacks are the top-two all-time leaders in completions (Brees-6,867, Brady-6,377), passing yards (Brees-77,416, Brady-74,571) and touchdown passes (Brees-547, Brady-541)…The season opener will be the first meeting where the two starting quarterbacks are both aged 40 or older…The September 13 opener will mark the third consecutive season the Saints have started the season at home.

at Las Vegas Raiders (September 21): The all-time series is tied 6-6-1 as the Saints will travel to Las Vegas for the first time to play the relocated Raiders in Allegiant Stadium…The Saints and Raiders will face off on Monday Night Football for the third time and the first time since 1991, with the clubs having split the first two matchups…New Orleans currently has a four-game winning streak on Monday Night Football, having won each of their two meetings in 2018 and 2019…New Orleans has won the last three road contests over the Raiders dating back to 1997, all taking place in Oakland…Saints Head Coach Sean Payton served on the same offensive coaching staff with Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden in Philadelphia in 1997, when Gruden was the Eagles offensive coordinator and Payton coached quarterbacks…The two coaches then faced off twice annually when Payton first took over the Saints and Gruden coached the Buccaneers from 2006-08 with the two splitting their six meetings…New Orleans has won 11 consecutive inter-conference contests, dating back to a 20-0 shutout over Miami in London’s Wembley Stadium on October 1, 2017.

vs. Green Bay Packers (September 27): Green Bay owns a 16-9 advantage in the series, but Payton has a 4-1 record against the Packers…New Orleans has a 6-5 record against the Packers in contests played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome…The last time the clubs met in New Orleans was October 26, 2014 Sunday Night Football contest at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in a 44-23 Saints win where Brees completed 27-of-32 passes (84.4%) for 311 yards, three touchdowns and a 138.4 passer rating…Three of the last five Saints-Packers matchups have been on prime time…New Orleans has a 20-15 record on Sunday Night Football, including 11-1 under Payton…The contest is the first of four matchups against NFC North opponents.

at Detroit Lions (October 4): The regular season series is tied 12-12-1 after a 52-38 Saints win at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on October 15, 2017…In that contest, New Orleans scored three defensive touchdowns in a single game for the first time in franchise history…The contest will be the second consecutive against an NFC North opponent and the Saints’ first trip to Ford Field since 2014.

vs. Los Angeles Chargers (October 12): The Chargers lead the all-time series against the Saints 7-5, but New Orleans has captured the last three matchups in games played in London (2008), New Orleans (2012) and San Diego (2016)…This will be the first Monday Night Football matchup between the Saints and Chargers…Brees was originally selected by the Chargers in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft and played for them his first five seasons until signing with New Orleans as an unrestricted free agent in 2006…Even though the Saints and Chargers haven’t played each other in the regular season since a 35-34 win at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium on October 2, 2016, the two clubs have played each other the last three preseasons in Southern California, preceded by joint practices.

Carolina Panthers (vs. October 25, at January 3): The regular season series is tied 25-25 with the Saints capturing the only playoff meeting between the two clubs…In 2019, New Orleans swept Carolina for the second time in three seasons, as 34-31 win at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 24 and a 42-10 victory to close out the regular season on December 29…The Saints are 13-12 all-time on the road against the Panthers and 12-13 at home in the regular season…This will be the third consecutive year the Saints and Panthers close out the regular season and the eleventh time since Carolina entered the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1995…In the offseason, the Panthers signed QB Teddy Bridgewater, who played for New Orleans from 2018-19 and went 5-0 as a starter last season during a five-game stretch when Brees was sidelined with a right thumb injury.

at Chicago Bears (November 1): New Orleans has a 16-13 edge in the series, riding a five-game winning streak against the Bears, including a 36-25 win at Soldier Field on October 20, 2019…New Orleans has a 9-8 regular season road record against the Bears, including a three-game winning streak at Soldier Field dating back to 2013…Brees and Bears quarterback Nick Foles both attended Austin (Texas) Westlake High School, joining Peyton and Eli Manning (Newman High School-New Orleans) as the only two Super Bowl-winning quarterback duos from the same high school…Brees, the Super Bowl XLIV MVP, has posted a 2-0 record against Foles, the Super Bowl LII MVP, in two playoff contests when the was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, including the January 13, 2019, 20-14 NFC Divisional Playoff win.

vs. San Francisco 49ers (November 15): The 49ers hold a 48-26-2 edge in the all-time series, but Payton has a 6-2 regular season record against San Francisco…As members of the NFC West from 1970-2001, the clubs played two times a season during that period…Playing the Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City Chiefs on December 20, New Orleans will play both the Super Bowl champion and finalist (49ers) in the same season for the eighth time overall and the first time since 2017 (New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons)…Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, an offseason unrestricted free agent signing of New Orleans spent the second half of the 2019 season with the 49ers.

Atlanta Falcons (vs. November 22, at December 6): This marks the first time since 2014 that one of the meetings between the Saints and Falcons isn’t currently scheduled for prime time…The clubs split their meetings in 2019, each winning their road matchup…Atlanta holds a 52-49 regular-season advantage in the all-time series, although New Orleans has won 19 of 28 meetings since 2006…The Saints have played the Falcons 101 times in the regular season, more than any other opponent…The Saints are 25-25 all-time against the Falcons at home…New Orleans is 24-27 all-time in games played in Atlanta.

at Denver Broncos (November 29): The Broncos lead the all-time series 9-2…Payton will be looking for his first victory against the Broncos, as he seeks to have victories against all 31 opponents in his head coaching career….New Orleans will be looking for their first win against Denver since December 24, 1994, the longest current stretch without a victory against an opponent…Denver Head Coach Vic Fangio was a defensive assistant with the Saints from 1986-94…Sanders played for the Broncos from 2014-19, a period when he had three 1,000-yard receiving seasons and was selected to the Pro Bowl twice.

at Philadelphia Eagles (December 13): The series with the Eagles resumes after New Orleans defeated Philadelphia both in the regular season and postseason in 2018. Philadelphia owns a 16-12 regular season advantage in the series, with the Saints winning three of four postseason contests…Safety Malcolm Jenkins, who re-signed with New Orleans in the offseason after playing for the Black and Gold from 2009-13, played for the Eagles from 2014-19, tenure where he was a team captain and was named to three Pro Bowls.

vs. Kansas City Chiefs (December 20): New Orleans has posted a 5-6 record against the Chiefs, 2-3 record in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome…The Saints will be playing a defending Super Bowl champion for the first time since they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in both the regular season and postseason in 2018…When facing a defending Super Bowl champion in the regular season and postseason combined, the Saints have posted a 10-21 all-time record, 5-11 at home…The Kansas City contest is currently the only Saints game scheduled to be broadcast on CBS.

vs. Minnesota Vikings (December 25): Minnesota has a 19-11 edge in the regular season series and 4-1 in the postseason, after the Vikings defeated New Orleans in the NFC Wild Card Playoff on January 5, 2020, 26-20 in overtime…Including two playoff games, the Christmas contest will be the fifth consecutive nationally televised contest between the Saints and Vikings…New Orleans has a 7-7 regular season home record vs. Minnesota…The game will be the first matchup scheduled on a Friday since a December 25, 2009 meeting between the Tennessee Titans and the Chargers.

A look at the Saints’ 2020 preseason opponents:

at Los Angeles Rams (Week One-Date and kickoff time TBD): New Orleans is scheduled to open the preseason on the road for the fifth time in the past six seasons…The Saints at 26-27 in preseason openers all-time and the Rams preseason series is tied 2-2.

at Pittsburgh Steelers (August 23): The Sunday night contest will be nationally televised on FOX (FOX WVUE locally)…The Steelers hold the edge in the preseason series 9-3, but New Orleans has a 9-7 edge in the regular season…The contest will mark the first time that the Saints have played at Pittsburgh in the preseason since a 24-13 Steelers win at Three Rivers Stadium on September 6, 1975.

vs. Houston Texans (Week Three-Date and kickoff time TBD): After playing their first two preseason games on the road, New Orleans will be the home team for the first time in 2020 to host the Houston Texans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints and Texans have played each other ten times in the preseason with the series knotted at 5-5. New Orleans defeated Houston 30-28 in the 2019 regular season opener.

vs. Miami Dolphins (Week Four-Date and kickoff time TBD): The Saints will close out the preseason at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome against the Dolphins prior to the roster cutdown to 53 players. It will be the fifth consecutive year that New Orleans finishes the preseason at home. The Dolphins lead the all-time preseason series 15-7. The 22 meetings between the two teams in the preseason is the second-most by a Saints preseason opponent to the 30 with the Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers franchise.

The Rams, Texans and Dolphins preseason contests will be broadcast regionally on the Gray Communications network of stations on the Gulf Coast, available in the New Orleans area on FOX 8 WVUE, with dates and times to be announced in the near future. The nationally televised Pittsburgh game on August 23 will also be broadcast locally on FOX 8.

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