Saints have a strength of schedule that should help the team return to the playoffs

The NFL schedule hasn’t officially been released yet. The league recently announced that will happen on Wednesday, May 15. However, everyone knows who they will play and if the game will be at home or on the road. Teams just don’t know the order of the games, what day they’ll be played, and what time the games will kickoff.

However, knowing your opponents is most important. That’s how you figure out strength of schedule. Fortunately for the New Orleans Saints, who are hoping to break a three-year playoff drought, they have one of the easiest strength of schedules. In fact, New Orleans is tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the easiest strength of schedule.

Saints have the easiest strength of schedule in 2024

As everyone prepares for the schedule release, the analyzing of opponents has started, which means determining strength of schedule. Since the 2024 season hasn’t started, the only way to currently determine strength of schedule is to look at last season’s records. Doing that determined that the opponents of the Saints will have a combined record of 131-158, a .453 winning percentage. Again, that’s tied for the lowest with Atlanta.

New Orleans and the Falcons will play similar teams, as will all of the NFC South. That’s why the Carolina Panthers strength of schedule is one spot ahead with opponents having a .467 winning percentage, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a spot ahead of that with their opponents having a .478 winning percentage.

The Saints will, of course, face the rest of the NFC South, which is arguably the weakest division in the league. They’ll also face the AFC West and the NFC East. On paper, it’s a schedule that should aid New Orleans on its climb back to the postseason. However, the games aren’t played on paper, they have to be won on the field.

Additionally, each NFL season is it’s own entity. Teams that were good last season could be bad in 2024 and vice versa. That means we won’t actually know the strength of schedule until the end of the regular season. Either way, the Saints need to be prepared for everyone.

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