NFL schedule leaks: Saints to visit Raiders on MNF in Week 2
The 2020 NFL schedule will be released on Thursday night, but several games have already been leaked, including an early primetime battle between the New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders.
Although they stumbled out of the playoffs earlier than they hoped, the New Orleans Saints are one of the Super Bowl 55 favorites. They only increased their chances of making it to Drew Brees’ second Super Bowl when they signed veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who was a catalyst for the San Francisco 49ers run to the NFC Championship.
Close eyes will be trained on the NFL schedule announcement for the Saints, because the exact layout of their challenges in 2020 could have an impact on their trajectory to the playoffs.
According to The Athletic’s Saints reporter Jeff Duncan, New Orleans will have an early Monday Night Football clash with the Las Vegas Raiders.
While the Raiders have question marks on both sides of the ball, they are a playoff-caliber team with an interesting quarterback competition between Derek Carr and former playoff quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Facing the Raiders out west on Monday night isn’t easy, especially early in the season. The Raiders could be a trap game for the Saints, because it’s hard to tell which version of Jon Gruden’s team will show up – least of all under the bright lights of Monday Night Football.
Next. The Saints will have a wild Week 1 matchup. dark
The Saints should be heavy favorites with Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Jared Cook, Sanders, and possible breakout star Tre’Quan Smith running the show. Las Vegas’ defense could give up plenty of points, but the Saints won’t want to let their guards down either.
A Week 2 clash with Las Vegas also means an increased chance that the Saints will have more tough rivalry games backloaded into their schedule in 2020, increasing the late-season playoff seeding stakes for the NFC’s Super Bowl favorites.