With the full New Orleans Saints 2025 schedule released, the matchups are set, and some of them are extremely exciting. This excitement could be due to rivalries or the quality of the opponent, but storylines are a main driving force when looking at these games. Yes, the easy choice of fun matchups are the NFC South games, but looking outside of those matchups, one sticks out to me: The New England Patriots in Week 6.
New England Patriots v Buffalo Bills Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images
In recent years, the Saints have had the Patriots’ number in these games, even with New Orleans dealing with an egregious number of issues. Back in 2023, the Saints traveled to New England and won 34-0. If you recall, this was the Week 5 matchup that was expected to be the bounce-back game for the Saints' offense. At this time, Pete Carmichael was heavily scrutinized for his play calling, and this game was supposed to be the game that showed some changes to the scheme. That did happen against the Patriots, but after this game, the offense struggled mightily, and Carmichael was fired at the end of the season. Since that game, these two franchises have seen massive changes to their respective teams.
After the 2023/24 season, the Patriots selected QB Drake Maye in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. After sitting during the start of the season, Maye was finally named the starter and shined throughout the games. The Patriots roster was bad last season, and their rookie QB was really set up for failure, but he showed enough to make New England confident about the future. For the 2025 offseason, their focus was upgrading as many positions as possible and finding the franchises next head coach.
New England Patriots Introduce New Head Coach Mike Vrabel Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images
After firing Jerod Mayo at the end of his first season as head coach, the search was on for the Patriots, but it always felt like there was one real candidate: Mike Vrabel. The former Titans head coach and Patriots linebacker felt like the obvious choice and New England felt similar. Vrabel was also one of the best coaches in the NFL before getting fired from the Titans, mainly due to a strained relationship with the ownership. This hire was the perfect first step of the Patriots offseason, but next was upgrading this horrible roster. In free agency, the Patriots worked towards revamping the trenches. New England made some smaller moves on the offensive line but invested heavily on the defensive line. They made a big swing by signing top defensive tackle Milton Williams and continued with the signing of EDGE/OLB Harold Landry. Going back to offense, the Patriots also made the massive move of signing Stefon Diggs. Other smaller moves were made to upgrade the roster, but the focus can now be moved to their draft moves.
In the first round, it always felt like the Patriots would go with offensive line, and that is exactly what they did with the selection of Will Campbell. This selection just seems like the most Mike Vrabel selection you can have. Campbell will risk his health for the success of the team, will be a borderline captain year one, and plays with aggression. In the second round, New England continued on offense and selected TreVeyon Henderson. The Ohio State RB will be an immediate upgrade for this offense and is once again another move to take pressure off of Drake Maye. The last extremely notable pick in the Patriots draft class was WR Kyle Williams in the third round. New England really focused on upgrading this offense early and Williams will be a great weapon for Maye.
2025 NFL Draft - Round 1 Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images
The New England Patriots made massive upgrades everywhere this season, and although there is still work to do, this is not the same team that went 4-13 last season. This game is going to be a challenge for the New Orleans Saints in week 6, but it may be the best test of the season. Both teams’ rosters are very similar levels of talent, but the Patriots separate themselves for two reasons: Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel. Starting with the QBs, Maye proved himself last season that the Patriots can believe in him. Regarding the Saints’ QB situation, projected starter Tyler Shough is only a rookie and still needs to prove himself so the Saints can have that level of confidence. By week 6, this may happen, and being 26, it may be more expected. If Shough can show potential and ability to make a difference already in the league, this game against the Patriots is much closer. The only issue is that cannot be guaranteed. Now with the coaches, Mike Vrabel and Kellen Moore are both first year coaches on their respective teams, but Vrabel has already proven he can be a great head coach in this league. Moore has never been a head coach and needs to prove this, so Vrabel has the advantage in this game.
Both of these rosters have issues and talent throughout. The Patriots may be in a bit of a better situation compared to the Saints, but it isn’t enough to make this an unlikely win for New Orleans. This game is actually one of the games this season that the Saints could win. This game is going to really go down to if the roster is healthy and if Tyler Shough can prove to be a starting QB in this league. This is going to be a recurring theme with many of the Saints’ games this season, but it is emphasized in a game the Saints have a better chance of winning.
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