First-year coach Kellen Moore, New Orleans Saints open 2025 regular season with consecutive home games

Kellen Moore can bank on a friendly reception for his debut season as head coach in New Orleans, with the Saints opening the 2025 season with consecutive home games in the Caesars Superdome against Arizona and San Francisco on Sept. 7 and 14.

The Saints, who finished 5-12 last season (3-6 in the Caesars Superdome) will play four of their first six games at home in a schedule that includes three playoff opponents from 2024 (Buffalo, the Rams and Tampa Bay), but excludes any nationally televised, prime-time games.

New Orleans will play eight homes games and nine road games this season, with the bye week coming in Week 12, following a Week 11 home game against the Falcons.

The glut of opening home games not only will help the acclimation of the rookie coach, but also could be beneficial for the season-opening quarterback: Either second-round draft pick Tyler Shough, second-year vet Spencer Rattler or third-year pro Jake Haener, who will compete this offseason for the starting job.

It will be the first time the Saints have opened the season with a new head coach and starting quarterback since 2006; Rattler started six games last season and Haener started once, but neither entered the season as the starter. Derek Carr, who held that role, retired May 10 after serving as the starter for two seasons and leading the team to a 14-13 record.

The Saints won't face a playoff team until Week 4, when they travel to Buffalo to face the defending AFC East Division champs in the second of two straight road games (at Seattle on Sept. 21).

Two more home games follow – the Giants (3-14 last season) and Patriots (4-13) – on Oct. 5 and 12, before a three-of-four-games-on-the-road stretch, during which the Saints will play their second and third playoff teams from '24.

New Orleans is in Chicago on Oct. 19, returns home to face NFC South Division champion Tampa Bay on Oct. 26, then heads out for road games against the NFC West Division champion Rams on Nov. 2 and Carolina a week later.