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Why aren’t the New Orleans Saints playing in more primetime games?



June 30, 2017 by Treasure Washington

As the New Orleans Saints continue to prepare for their 2017 season, their Monday Night Football matchup against the Minnesota Vikings is only 73 days away.

Unfortunately for Saints fans, their team’s next primetime game will be on December 7 when they go on the road to face the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.

This will be the first time since 2000 that the Saints will not have a primetime game at home. A lot of memorable events for the Saints have happened in home primetime games.

For example, Drew Brees put on an aerial show against the New England Patriots by throwing five touchdown passes in a 2009 Monday Night Football game. The Patriots had a perfect season and went to the Super Bowl two years earlier, but they did not show up when it mattered and the Saints won the game easily, 38-17. That win eventually propelled the Saints to the NFC’s No. 1 seed and their first Super Bowl title.

Many of Brees’ records and milestones also took place on primetime television. In 2011, he made his mark on Dan Marino‘s single-season passing yard record in a Monday night game against the Falcons. On a Sunday night game against the then-San Diego Chargers a year later, he broke Johnny Unitas‘ record for the most consecutive games with a touchdown pass.

And finally, in a Sunday night game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2015, Brees threw his 400th touchdown pass on the very first play of an overtime win. Brees has thrown 65 touchdown passes since that game and is very close to hitting the 500 mark later this season.

In 2015, the number of primetime games that the Saints played in from the previous season reduced from 5 to 3. Last season, that number went down again to 2. It’s definitely a head-scratching moment, and many Saints fans want more answers of that being the case.

More here ...

SaintFanInATLHELL

Well that's simple: 7-9, 7-9, and 7-9.

Simple solution. Do better than 7-9. Get to the playoffs. Make some noise.

I'm looking to more Saints primetime games in the 2018 season.

BTW let's not forget that if the team is doing well in December, they could be flexed into primetime this season too.

SFIAH

skymike

because we're a 7-9 team.

jeanpierre

True, we are what our record says we are; but how many games were we in it to the last play of the game?

You can count the games the Saints were blown out of in Payton's era on one hand...

Here's the thing, there's a sliding scale of winning percentage vs market share...

Translated, Saints have to do it better, 12-4, vs a 9-7 Dallas, Philly, New York, etc...

Until last season, how many 7-9 ~ 9-7 records did Dallas post yet they still had as many if not more prime time slots as the Saints?

And don't get me started on Thanksgiving Day games...

I'd prefer they just have all games on Sunday with 12 cst and 4 cst starting times for division rivals or division leaders...

And one prime time night game that they could even float the teams that are hot to the prime time slot that evening to maintain their ratings...

But Goodell and his minions find it more compelling to have a 6-8 Eagles @ a 5-9 Redskins trying to get into the playoffs with a win and a tie between Minnesota and Detroit, right?

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...

K Major

AsylumGuido

WERE a 7-9 team. 0-0 right now.

halloween 65

Where's that 16-0 prediction from last year? Getting gunshy like most of us?

RaginCajun83

What a maroon, no one wants to see a team that's finished 7-9 for three straight years on primetime

Good grief I hate the offseason

K Major

A marquee team who will draw high ratings even if they played on Mars.

AsylumGuido

Nope. 19-0! Calling it right now. More confident than ever!