New Orleans Saints Schedulegami: Opponents Never Faced in Primetime

Every Saints opponent by scheduling window, 1967–2025

Each number shows how many times New Orleans has faced that opponent in the listed window. “Never” means the matchup has not happened there yet; “2026 first” means this season will be the first.

2026 Saints schedulegamis

• Week 7 — Saints vs. Steelers

  First-ever Saints–Steelers International meeting. Final: Steelers 16, Saints 10.

Saints venue-first matchups, 1967–2025

Schedulegami vs. venue first: A schedulegami means the teams have never met in that scheduling window. A venue first means they have met in the window, but one team has never hosted it.

Some matchups have appeared in a primetime window several times, but always with the same team hosting. The table below shows where the other team has never hosted that matchup in the same window.

2027 Saints matchups that could become schedulegamis

These are New Orleans’s projected 2027 opponents and the scheduling windows where each matchup has never happened. Three opponents still depend on Week 18 standings. The full projection is on the Saints team page.

Saints schedulegami FAQ

What is a schedulegami?

MockSlate calls it a schedulegami when two teams meet in a scheduling window they've never shared before. The Saints have faced the Cardinals 32 times, but never on Monday night. If they were scheduled there, that would be a schedulegami, their first-ever Monday night meeting.

How many opponents have the Saints never faced in primetime?

New Orleans has never faced 3 of its 31 possible opponents in primetime. Those teams are the Browns, Bengals, and Bills. Counted one window at a time, the Saints have never faced 6 opponents on Monday night, 11 on Sunday night, and 23 on Thursday night; the 3 above are the ones missing from all three.

Which teams have the Saints never played on Monday night?

The Saints have never played the Cardinals, Browns, Bengals, Bills, Broncos, and Jaguars on Monday night. That's 6 of their 31 possible opponents through the 2025 season.

Which Saints matchups have only happened on Sunday afternoons?

One Saints matchup has occurred only in Sunday afternoon windows: Cincinnati. That opponent is among the 3 opponents New Orleans has never faced in primetime. Nothing on the 2026 schedule changes that.

Which Saints games are schedulegamis in 2026?

One: Week 7 vs. Pittsburgh in an international game. That matchup will appear in that window for the first time.

What is the difference between a schedulegami and a venue first?

A schedulegami is the first time two teams meet in a scheduling window. A venue first means they have met in that window before, but one team has never hosted it.

About the data

MockSlate calls it a schedulegami when two teams meet in a scheduling window they have never shared before. The order of the two teams does not matter, and neither does the venue: two teams that have only ever met on Sunday night in one city have still met on Sunday night, so the same game in the other city is a venue first, not a schedulegami. Sunday afternoon windows never count. A game counts in every window it fits, so a Monday night game in Mexico City is both a Monday night game and an international game. Primetime here means Monday, Sunday, and Thursday night. Two levels are tracked: the first time two teams meet in one window, and the first time they meet anywhere but a Sunday afternoon.

Game history is the same record as Primetime & Holiday History, regular season only, with franchises carried forward under their current names; Monday night counts every Monday game the way that tool counts it. Coverage by window: Monday night: since 1970, every Monday game as Slot History counts it; Sunday night: since 1987; Thursday night: all Thursday games since 1966 as Slot History counts them; the first non-Thanksgiving Thursday game in the data is 1978; the weekly package began in 2006; Thanksgiving: since 1966; Christmas: since 1966; Saturday: since 1966; Kickoff Game: since 2002; International: since 2005; Friday: since 1966; Wednesday: all-time. A Sunday international game with a verified 8 PM ET or later kickoff counts as International and Sunday night; two games count, the 2005 49ers at Cardinals game in Mexico City and the 2026 Vikings at 49ers game in Mexico City. Schedulegami is a MockSlate term, first published September 2026.

Related reading

• 20 College Stadiums Built for an NFL Game

  The 20 biggest college stadiums that have never hosted an NFL regular-season game, each paired with a regional NFL matchup, plus the 15 that already have.

• 21 NFL Matchups That Have Played Monday Night in Only One City

  21 NFL matchups have met 3+ times on Monday night, every game in one city. See all 21, host records, and the 2026 games that end or extend a run.

• 47 NFL Matchups Have Never Been Played Outside a Sunday Afternoon

  Through the 2025 season, 47 NFL matchups have been played only on Sunday afternoons — never on Monday night, Sunday night, Thursday night, a holiday, Saturday, or abroad. See the full list, led by Cardinals–Lions at 32 games.

• The Saints Are Quietly 17–5 on Sunday Night Football Since 2002 — the Best Win Rate Nobody Talks About

  New Orleans has the best Sunday night win rate in football since 2002 — .773 — and ranks just 17th in appearances. Inside the strangest gap between performance and primetime.

• When the Schedule Moves a Game: Every Hurricane, Blizzard, and Emergency Relocation Since 2002

  Roof collapses, hurricanes, lake-effect snow, and a pandemic. The complete record of NFL games forced out of their stadium or off their date since 2002 — and why Detroit keeps ending up as the league's spare room.

• When Does the 2027 NFL Schedule Come Out? Release Date History and What to Expect

  The full 2027 NFL schedule will almost certainly drop in the second week of May 2027 — here's the release-date history since 2018 and the pattern behind it.

• NFL Opponents 2027: Every Team's Confirmed Matchups, Division by Division

  224 of the 272 games in the 2027 NFL season are already locked — here's how the rotation sets them, division by division, with a link to every team's full opponent list.