The New Orleans Saints kick off the 2025 season in just a couple months now. There aren’t a whole lot of expectations for the Saints, who have a brand-new coaching staff, a new quarterback and an aging roster, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some intriguing storylines heading into the season.
Outside of the obvious big ones against Buffalo, Tampa, Atlanta, etc., here are some of the matchups on the Saints schedule that I think are the most intriguing.
Week 7 at Chicago
The Saints’ week seven matchup at the Chicago Bears is one of the more intriguing matchups they’ll have all season for a few reasons.
The first is, I think the Bears offense will be pretty good with Ben Johnson calling plays and all their weapons. As long as the offensive line is decent, they should be one of the better offenses in the league, especially through the air. I want to see how the Saints’ secondary can hold up against Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden.
In my opinion, outside of Buffalo, this will be their first real test against an offense that has a very good quarterbacks and receiving core (You can argue a few other teams, but this will be their biggest challenge outside of Josh Allen early on). I want to see how Alontae Taylor, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Ugo Amadi and Quicey Riley can hold up against these receivers. Can Taylor turn things around after a couple tough seasons? Is Kool-Aid the player we think he can be? Can Riley become a starter in the future? This game will tell us a lot.
The second and most obvious reason is Dennis Allen’s revenge game. The former Saints head coach is the defensive coordinator in Chicago and won’t have to wait long to face his former team. I still think he’s an excellent defensive coordinator, and with some of the pieces Chicago has on defense, especially in the secondary, they could and probably will give the Saints’ offense some fits.
Week 17 at Tennessee
Week 17 at Tennessee probably won’t be the most anticipated game on the schedule, but it’s going to be really fun to potentially see two of the three highest drafted quarterbacks go head-to-head.
Cam Ward is going to be the Titans’ day one starter, and I believe Tyler Shough will be the Saints’ starter (if he isn’t, it will still be intriguing to see Ward and Rattler go head-to-head). Both guys will have virtually an entire season under their belt by week 17 and neither team has a top-tier defense, so we should see some fireworks from the two youngsters.
The same could be said about the Giants game, but I think Cam Ward vs Tyler Shough is more interesting than Jaxson Dart vs Tyler Shough. Both games will be fun from a quarterback perspective.
Week 2 vs San Francisco
The Saints’ week two matchup against the 49ers will be their first real test of the season. This is no knock-on Arizona, but I don’t think they’re going to be all that great and openers are weird, so I view the 49ers as this team’s first real test.
San Fran comes to New Orleans, led by Brock Purdy, and while they may not be the same team that went to the Super Bowl two years ago, they still have a ton of talent on both sides of the ball and will test the offense and defense.
Tyler Shough or Spencer Rattler and the receivers will go up against a secondary that’s probably the weakest unit on the 49ers team. The Saints’ new offensive line will get a good test against the likes of Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams while also trying to open holes in the run game with guys like Fred Warner at linebacker.
Defensively, the secondary will be challenged with facing Brock Purdy, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle while the front seven will have to stop a Christian McCaffrey-led rushing attack. The 49ers offensive line isn’t what it used to be, but Trent Williams and Co. will give the Saints’ pass rushers, who have been a tad disappointing the past two years, an early test as well.
If the Saints get blown out in this game, we’re probably looking at a five-ish win team. If they can hang around or maybe even win, then there’s hope that maybe they can get to that eight-win territory.