The New Orleans Saints have their 2023 schedule, and it's hard not to be optimistic.
Just ask Bobby Hebert, who had a pretty strong reaction on SportsTalk this week.
“I’m looking at this whole schedule, and I’ve watched a lot of Saints football … playing and evaluating where they’re at," Hebert said. "This might be the easiest damn schedule in Saints history. And I’m not talking about the 21st century, in Saints history and looking at the expectations.”
Listen to the full schedule breakdown on SportsTalk in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Now, why is the schedule so weak? It has a lot to do with the quarterbacks. The Saints face only four of the 14 teams that made the postseason last year, and that group includes two games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that now will be looking at starting either Kyle Trask or Baker Mayfield.
Other young or rookie quarterbacks could include: Bryce Young (Panthers); Jordan Love (Packers); C.J. Stroud (Texans); Anthony Richardson (Colts); Desmond Ridder (Falcons). It's possible Young, Stroud and Richardson aren't starting when the Saints play them, but the alternatives of Andy Dalton, Davis Mills and Gardner Minshew, respectively, don't exactly strike fear into anybody.
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“You’re playing these young quarterbacks. Well, you’ve got to give these young quarterbacks the business," Hebert continues. "If you’re a top defense, a young quarterback in today’s day and age should not beat you. … They should be like, OK, I think I’m doing this or they’re kind of overwhelmed. That’s why you want to play them the earlier the better. That’s why I look at Carolina, I don’t know, is Andy Dalton going to play Week 2, Sept. 19? Are you going to put Bryce Young out there? We should kick his ass."
What's the full schedule? Here ya go:
Preseason
- Week 1: Chiefs at Saints, time TBD, Saturday, Aug. 12
- Week 2: Saints at Chargers, time TBD, Sunday, Aug. 20
- Week 3: Texans at Saints, time TBD, Friday, Aug. 25
Regular season
- Week 1: Titans at Saints, noon, Sept. 10
- Week 2 (MNF): Saints at Panthers, Sept. 18, 7:25 p.m., ESPN
- Week 3: Saints at Packers, noon, Sept. 24
- Week 4: Bucs at Saints, noon, Oct. 1
- Week 5: Saints at Patriots, noon, Oct. 8
- Week 6: Saints at Texans, noon, Oct. 15
- Week 7 (TNF): Jaguars at Saints, 7:20 p.m., Oct. 19
- Week 8: Saints at Colts, noon, Oct. 29
- Week 9: Bears at Saints, noon, Nov. 5
- Week 10: Saints at Vikings, noon, Nov. 12
- Week 11: bye week
- Week 12: Saints at Falcons, noon, Nov. 26
- Week 13: Lions at Saints, noon, Dec. 3
- Week 14: Panthers at Saints, noon, Dec. 10
- Week 15: Giants at Saints, noon, Sunday, Dec. 17
- Week 16 (TNF): Saints at Rams, 7:20 p.m., Dec. 21
- Week 17: Saints at Bucs, noon, Dec. 31
- Week 18: Falcons at Saints, TBD, Sunday, Jan. 7
So, what are the expectations? In my game-by-game predictions yesterday, the crystal ball showed me a 4-0 start, followed by a skid in midseason and a strong finish for 10-7 and a return the playoffs. Check out that full post here, or in the player below.
Mike Detillier: “I would be very disappointed if this team did not get double-digit wins the way this schedule is laid out.”
But Hebert is far more optimistic. "If the stars are aligned," 13-4 isn't out of the equation, though it'd require a lot of things to go right. Still, 12-5 or or 11-6 are more than reasonable based on the competition.
"If they don't get to double-digit wins, fire everybody," Hebert continues. "Everybody's got to freaking go. Right now with this schedule ... if we have a 9-8 type team, 8-9, you talk about underachieving, it's not going to get any easier than this."
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