Saints Schedule: Way too early game-by-game predictions for 2022

The 2022 New Orleans Saints schedule has officially been released and it should be a fun one for the black and gold! Let’s take a look at how the season might play out. 

With the 2022 schedule now released, Saints fans know the path the team will have to take if it wants to get back into the playoffs this year. It’s Dennis Allen’s first year coaching a team since he was the head coach of the Raiders in 2014 and that adds intrigue to this year’s Saints squad.

Now that we know the order in which the games will be played, we can start attempting to predict how we think the season might go for the black and gold as they enter year 1 of the post-Sean Payton era.

Let’s get it started.

Week 1 @ Falcons (Sept. 11 — 12 CST)

A hated rivalry kicks off the 2022 campaign with the Saints traveling to Atlanta for a date with the Falcons. While New Orleans hasn’t fared well against the Falcons in Week 1, this is a whole new team.

This game will pit former No. 1 (Jameis Winston) and No. 2 (Marcus Mariota) picks in the 2015 draft against each other as the two now both call the NFC South home. The Falcons weren’t good last year but they managed to take one of two games against NOLA.

I know the expression is cheesy but you truly can throw the records out the window when these two teams face each other. With no records to be had in Week 1, I’ll go with a narrow Saints win.

Prediction: Saints win 24-21 (1-0)