papz

Opponents for the New Orleans Saints 2005 preseason schedule have been finalized, the club announced today. The four preseason contests are highlighted by a prime-time, nationally-broadcast clash at the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots and the club also hosts the Seattle Seahawks, champions of the NFC West last season, and the Baltimore Ravens.

The Saints will kickoff the preseason slate in the Superdome against the Seattle Seahawks, who were 9-7 in 2004 and went to the NFC Wild Card playoff before falling to St. Louis. The game -- which will be scheduled between Aug. 11-15 -- marks only the fourth time in the last 14 years that the club has begun its exhibition schedule at home. Last year, the Saints opened the regular season against Seattle, with the Seahawks coming away with a 21-7 victory at the Superdome.

On Thursday, Aug. 18, the Saints travel to take on the Patriots at Gillette Field. The game will be broadcast nationally on FOX at 7 pm CT. New England was 14-2 in the regular season last year and went on to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21, in Super Bowl XXXIX.

In Week Three of the preseason (Aug. 25-29), the Baltimore Ravens will make their first trip to New Orleans and will play the Saints for the first time in the preseason. The Ravens were 9-7 last year. The Saints last played Baltimore in the regular season in 2002, earning a 37-25 victory at Ravens Stadium.

New Orleans closes the preseason with a trip to Oakland to take on the Raiders, who were 5-11 last year. In the 2004 regular season, New Orleans visited Network Associates Coliseum and posted a 31-26 victory on Oct. 24.

The Saints close with a preseason contest on the road for the first time since 2001.

As part of the television agreement finalized last year that made WUPL-TV the club's network partner for preseason contests, the Saints will have a TV broadcast team that will include Tim Brando on play-by-play, with Ron Jaworski and former Saints QB Archie Manning providing color commentary. WUPL is part of the Viacom Television Stations Group, which consists of 39 stations, including 20 CBS, 18 UPN and one independent station.

papz

Should be fun playing the Ravens and seeing Davey play against us along with all the other LSU alums.

FireVenturi

Looks like it will be a pretty challengin schedule, which is great.

spkb25

should be a good way in the first and second quarter in some games to see what were working with this year

LordOfEntropy

Preseason games are a wonderful thing....

where starters get injured and backups measure their NFL abilities... against other backups.

Can you tell I\'m in the \"make them all count\" camp? Preseason games have always been a waste of time to me. I\'d rather see 20 regular season games, where everything counts, all the time you\'re on the field.

Just my view on it.

papz

Colby did fantastic during preseason but not too many people noticed. I like going to these game to watch how the young talent we bring in develop... basically getting a glimpse of what the hype is all about.

Saint_LB

You got my vote.