If you just look at the saints game schedule 2024 on paper, you’d think it was a cake walk. Seriously. Before the season kicked off, analysts were calling it one of the easiest paths in the NFL. But as any New Orleans fan knows, "easy" is a cursed word in the Big Easy. What actually happened was a chaotic, injury-riddled rollercoaster that basically turned the franchise upside down.
Honestly, the season didn't just go off the rails; it exploded.
We saw a team that looked like Super Bowl contenders for exactly two weeks before falling into a historic seven-game nosebleed. If you're looking for the raw dates and who they played, I've got you. But the real story is how that schedule actually broke the team's spirit—and then sparked a weird, gritty rebirth under an interim coach who looks like he'd run through a brick wall for a po-boy.
The Brutal Reality of the Saints Game Schedule 2024
The year started with a bang. September 8th. The Caesars Superdome was rocking. The Saints absolutely demolished the Carolina Panthers 47-10. Then they went to Dallas and hung 44 points on the Cowboys. People were losing their minds. Klint Kubiak was a genius. Derek Carr was the MVP.
Then reality hit.
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Week 3 against the Eagles was a 12-15 slog that felt like a punch to the gut. It started a slide that nobody saw coming. Between September 22 and November 3, the Saints didn't win a single game. Not one. They lost to the Falcons on a last-second field goal. They got bullied by the Chiefs on Monday Night Football. They even lost to the Panthers in the rematch, which was basically the final straw for the front office.
Every Single Game: The Wins and The (Many) Losses
- Week 1 (Sept 8): vs Panthers. W 47-10. The high point. It was all downhill from here.
- Week 2 (Sept 15): at Cowboys. W 44-19. Alvin Kamara looked like he was 22 again.
- Week 3 (Sept 22): vs Eagles. L 12-15. The offense finally got figured out.
- Week 4 (Sept 29): at Falcons. L 24-26. A heartbreaking divisional loss.
- Week 5 (Oct 7): at Chiefs. L 13-26. Primetime embarrassment at Arrowhead.
- Week 6 (Oct 13): vs Buccaneers. L 27-51. A total defensive collapse.
- Week 7 (Oct 17): vs Broncos. L 10-33. Sean Payton came back and embarrassed his old team.
- Week 8 (Oct 27): at Chargers. L 8-26. The offense was officially broken.
- Week 9 (Nov 3): at Panthers. L 22-23. Losing to Bryce Young was the end of the Dennis Allen era.
- Week 10 (Nov 10): vs Falcons. W 20-17. Darren Rizzi’s first game. Pure chaos.
- Week 11 (Nov 17): vs Browns. W 35-14. Taysom Hill had the game of his life.
- Week 12: Bye Week. Everyone needed a drink.
- Week 13 (Dec 1): vs Rams. L 14-21. A close one, but not enough.
- Week 14 (Dec 8): at Giants. W 14-11. A win is a win, I guess?
- Week 15 (Dec 15): vs Commanders. L 19-20. Jayden Daniels was just too much.
- Week 16 (Dec 23): at Packers. L 0-34. A Monday night shutout in the freezing cold.
- Week 17 (Dec 29): vs Raiders. L 10-25. A flat performance at home.
- Week 18 (Jan 5): at Buccaneers. L 19-27. Ending the season with a thud.
Why the Schedule Difficulty Was a Lie
So, why did a "soft" schedule result in a 5-12 record? Injuries are the easy excuse, but they’re the real one too. At one point, the saints game schedule 2024 was being played by a roster that looked more like a preseason Week 4 lineup.
Erik McCoy went down. Then Chris Olave. Then Rashid Shaheed.
When your Pro Bowl center and your two best deep threats are out, your offense turns into a pumpkin. Derek Carr was forced to check down to tight ends and backup running backs constantly. It wasn't just that they played tough teams; it's that the timing was miserable. They played four games in 18 days during that mid-season stretch. That’s enough to kill any team’s momentum, and for the 2024 Saints, it was the knockout blow.
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The Darren Rizzi "Culture" Shift
When Dennis Allen got fired after the Week 9 loss to Carolina, Darren Rizzi stepped in. The vibe changed instantly. It wasn't always pretty—the loss to the Packers was a disaster—but there was a spark. The Week 10 win over the Falcons was electric. Rizzi, the special teams coordinator, brought an energy that the team had been missing for years.
He even got Taysom Hill more involved, which is always the right answer in New Orleans. In the Week 11 win over Cleveland, Taysom was everywhere. Rushing touchdowns, catches, even a few passes. It reminded everyone that when this team is healthy and creative, they’re still fun to watch.
What This Means for 2025
Looking back at the saints game schedule 2024, you realize that this was a transition year masked as a "win-now" year. The front office tried to squeeze one more run out of a veteran core, but the NFL is a young man's game.
The 5-12 finish is ugly. There’s no sugarcoating that.
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But it gave us a look at the future. Spencer Rattler got some starts. We saw what the defense looks like without the veteran safety nets. Now, the Saints head into the 2025 offseason with a top-10 draft pick and a massive decision to make at head coach. Do they keep Rizzi? Or do they go for a big-name hire to reset the culture?
Basically, the 2024 season was a painful lesson in expectations. If you’re a fan, you’ve learned to never trust a "strength of schedule" stat ever again. The NFL doesn't care about your projections.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check the final 2024 NFL standings to see where the Saints landed in the draft order; that pick is going to be crucial.
- Keep an eye on the head coaching search updates—the decision to keep Rizzi or go external will define the next three years of the franchise.
- Watch the injury recovery timelines for Chris Olave and Erik McCoy, as their health is the only way this offense functions in 2025.