When is Saints bye week in 2024, and how will it impact season?

With the official release of the NFL schedule, the New Orleans Saints learned that their bye week in 2024 falls on Week 12 of the NFL Season. This is practically the perfect place for their bye. A late week of rest will prepare the Saints for an uber-important final stretch for the playoffs.

The Saints are likely to be battling for a playoff spot during their final stretch after the bye week, if they aren’t, then the season went horribly wrong. One big factor in deciding ties for the playoff is a team's record against conference opponents; it is key that New Orleans is able to defeat their opposing NFC teams.

In those remaining six weeks post-bye week, five of the games are against NFC opponents. That includes the Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Green Bay Packers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints being able to string together these wins would have a tremendous impact on their chances of making the playoffs.

Saints set up perfectly with Week 12 bye

The bye week will allow New Orleans a chance to evaluate, heal, and mentally prepare for the finish of the season. The team will likely to be pretty beat up and mentally worn down after 11 weeks of NFL football. The bye week will rejuvenate the players and coaches.

This rejuvenation will be important, because there are going to be some challenging games for the Saints in those last couple of matchups. The game that the Saints should have highlighted as a key one is their Week 16 matchup against the Packers in Green Bay. The Packers are likely to be in the running for a playoff position. Additionally, the game is in Green Bay, which will most likely be a freezing atmosphere. This will be a challenging game, but getting a win against a conference opponent and one that they may be battling with for a position would be massive.

If all goes to plan, this bye week could give the Saints the final push they need to avoid missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

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