Ranking the 5 toughest games on the Saints' schedule for 2025

USA Today

17-05-2025

When you're standing at the foot of the mountain, every step on the trail to the summit looks challenging. But the New Orleans Saints have some matchups that look more daunting than others on their 2025 regular season schedule. Stuck in a yearslong playoff drought and coming off a five-win season without a proven head coach or quarterback to lead them, the Saints are being written off by a lot of fans, analysts, and observers around the league.
So which games are their best opportunities to silence the critics? Which matchups could give the Saints the most trouble? Here are our picks for the toughest outs on their schedule, not counting their annual home-and-away series with the division-rival Atlanta Falcons (which really deserves its own article).
Honorable mention: Week 7 at Chicago Bears
This one is low given how uncompetitive the Saints-Bears series has gotten; New Orleans has won the last eight in a row, and the Bears haven't beaten them in Chicago since the 2008 season. Obviously things are different now. Caleb Williams has a highly-regarded play caller and head coach in his ear with Ben Johnson, who has made an effort to improve the supporting cast for his young quarterback. Ex-Saints coach Dennis Allen is running the Chicago defense now, too, adding some extra drama to the afternoon. The stakes may not be as high in this game as others, but it's still one to circle on your calendar.
5. Week 14 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Saints visit Tampa Bay once a year, every year, and even if the Bucs haven't built much of a homefield advantage it's still not a game to overlook. These annual visits to Raymond James Stadium have resulted in a 2-2 split since Drew Brees retired, including a 9-0 upset in 2021 and a 27-19 loss to end the 2024 season. The Buccaneers defense limited Spencer Rattler to 26 completions on 42 passes that day, gaining 240 yards while taking a pair of sacks. And 60% of those yards came after the catch compared to just 18% from the Tampa Bay offense. The Bucs have developed a defense that's stingy against the pass. If the Saints are going to pull off another upset win here they'll need all hands on deck. They were without Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed back in January. It's a short flight from New Orleans to, well, anywhere in Florida but this will be the second road game in as many weeks for the Saints.
4. Week 13 at Miami Dolphins
It's been a long time since the Saints played in South Florida (the last time they made the trip was the year they went to the Super Bowl), but that isn't what makes this game so challenging. If you include two playoff games, both losses on the road, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel's team is 18-7 when playing in front of their home crowd but just 10-18 when playing as visitors. Miami's offense averages four more points per game while the defense allows 7.9 fewer points per game at home. Those are some pretty big swings. On top of that, the Dolphins will be coming off their bye week (and, before that, an international game in Madrid) when the Saints come to town. They have to be desperate to return to the playoffs and make some noise this year. For their part, the Saints will be coming off an always-physical rivalry game with the Falcons a week earlier.
3. Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco is just a more talented team than the Saints, when healthy, and their defense got a big boost when they drafted Mykel Williams in the first round (who the Saints also considered before going with Kelvin Banks Jr.). Williams and Nick Bosa rushing off the edge is going to give New Orleans' young bookend tackles fits, whether it's Banks, Taliese Fuaga, or Trevor Penning anchoring each side of the line. This is exactly the kind of playoff opponent the Saints would be drawing if they manage to shock the world and make it to the postseason. Proving they can hang tough at this early stage would do a lot to build confidence in Kellen Moore's team, but we aren't holding our breath.
2. Week 9 at Los Angeles Rams
Did you know the Saints were supposed to be the first team to play at SoFi Stadium when it opened, in a 2020 preseason game with the Los Angeles Rams? That never materialized but they've made two trips to L.A. since then, and they've lost both times (getting blown out 26-8 by the Chargers last year while getting outplayed and outcoached by the Rams in 2023's 30-22 loss). They're still searching for a win at one of the NFL's newest venues, but this isn't looking like a good time to find it. The Rams have hemorrhaged household names like Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp in recent years but still managed to go 10-7 in each of the last two seasons. They've become a team that drafts well and can score on anyone. Like the Dolphins, the Rams will also be coming off their bye week for this game with New Orleans. The Saints will need to bring their A game to keep this competitive.
1. Week 5 at Buffalo Bills
Where were you when the Bills came to New Orleans in 2021 and ran the Saints off their own field? A Saints roster hammered hard by injuries was outscored 31-6 on Thanksgiving Day's nightcap, with backup QB Trevor Siemian only driving the offense past the Buffalo 49-yard line once all evening; he scored an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nick Vannett to open the fourth quarter, but that was it. Josh Allen threw four touchdowns and ran for 43 yards. Hopefully things go better this time around, but the Saints will be playing in Buffalo for the first time since 201, and we're a long ways off from Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara running for 237 yards in a 47-10 blowout. The Saints will have their hands full guarding the reigning league MVP and a roster featuring several Pro Bowlers. These teams are just in two different places right now with the Bills picked as Super Bowl favorites and the Saints stuck with the longest odds of reaching the title game.