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After the offseason addition of former Las Vegas Raiders QB and four-time Pro Bowler, Derek Carr, the New Orleans Saints entered 2023 as favorites to win the AFC South title. After a season with considerable ups and downs, the Saints fell short of that goal — narrowly missing out on a playoff spot after a 9-8 campaign.
The 9-8 record does not tell the entire story. The offense sputtered through inconsistency, struggling to turn yards into points and the Superdome crowd frequently booed a frustrated Carr. Seven of the team's nine wins came against teams that finished with 10 or more losses, and the inability to beat future playoff teams like the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams in close contests kept this squad out of the postseason.
Fortunately for the Saints, the team has an easy schedule in 2024. New Orleans' slate of opponents is the easiest when calculating its opponents' 2023 winning percentage and the fifth-easiest when accounting for the projected win totals of its 2024 opponents. A weak NFC South accounts for much of this low level of difficulty. The division finished 27-41 in 2023 — the worst mark among any division in the NFL last year.
Yet despite a relatively smooth schedule, the Saints still have several challenges they must conquer in their 2024 slate. This is the Saints' scariest pitfall to overcome on their 2024 NFL schedule.
Four playoff teams in six weeks to begin the season
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Despite an easy schedule overall, the Saints have a divergent schedule that pits them against elite Super Bowl contenders or teams gunning for the number-one overall pick. The Saints have seven games against teams that finished in the bottom eight overall in the NFL last year but also four games against teams with at least 11 wins and two more games against squads that won a playoff game in 2023.
Most of these difficult contests are spread throughout the season, but one early-season stretch will be a key test for a New Orleans Saints team still looking to prove itself. After hosting the Carolina Panthers in Week 1, the Saints have a difficult away game against the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas is second in the NFL in wins since the start of 2021 but has just one postseason victory during that stretch. Like the Saints, the Cowboys will be out to prove themselves in 2024 after an underwhelming finish to 2023.
Then comes a home game against the Philadelphia Eagles — another 2023 playoff team that ended the season on a sour note after losing five of six games to close out the regular season and then falling in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. Next is a contest against an improve Atlanta Falcons squad before traveling to Kansas City for a Monday Night Football showdown against the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. That is three games in the first five weeks against teams in the top eight in odds to win Super Bowl LIX.
A Week 6 home contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — the 2023 NFC South champs — rounds out a fourth game against a playoff team in six games to open the season. The schedule becomes significantly easier after that, but the Saints face the distinct possibility of going 2-4 or even 1-5 after this opening stretch. With the significant pressure placed on Derek Carr and the Saints plus the fan base's reaction to the team's struggles last year, a poor record early on could spell doom for the Derek Carr era in New Orleans.
