Saints 2022 Top 10 Regular Season Matchups - Number 2

The 2021-22 NFL regular season in is the books, with the Los Angeles Rams having claimed the Super Bowl LVI trophy. Unfortunately for the New Orleans Saints, the season ended on January 9, 2022, without a playoff berth, and our eyes now turn to the 2022-23 NFL season.

The Saints’ opponents for next regular season as well as the games’ venues have now all been disclosed, with the only missing information being the dates and times of the games. So, we now know that the Saints’ 2022 home opponents will, as expected, include their division rivals (Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers). In addition, New Orleans will face the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders and Minnesota Vikings. If you counted with me, yes, the Saints have nine home games in 2022. It remains to be seen which one of these games will be played on a neutral site (New Orleans is expected to play a game in England in the 2022 season).

As we are in this new 17-game format in the NFL regular season, the Saints will play eight games on the road in 2022, their three divisional opponents as is customary, plus the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles.

In this top 10, we will focus on the appeal of the matchup. With most NFL squads far from being finalized for 2022, it would be difficult to assess all individual matchups at this point. However, we look at factors such as: teams that the Saints do not play very often, or teams that have prominent players with ties to either the Saints or the state of Louisiana.

At Number 10 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the Cleveland Browns, which you can read about here.

At Number 9 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the Arizona Cardinals, which you can read about here.

At Number 8 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the Seattle Seahawks, which you can read about here.

At Number 7 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the San Francisco 49ers, which you can read about here.

At Number 6 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which you can read about here.

At Number 5 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons, which you can read about here.

At Number 4 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the Baltimore Ravens, which you can read about here.

At Number 3 in our matchups countdown was the game between the Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles, which you can read about here.

Today we focus on:

Number 2: The Cincinnati Bengals (Home)

When the defending AFC champions Cincinnati Bengals descend on the Caesars Superdome next season to play the New Orleans Saints, it will be only the fifth time that both teams have faced each other since 2006. In the four contests that took place in that 12-year span (the last game was in 2018), the Bengals and Saints split the games evenly, with both teams winning once at home and once on the road.

The all-time series has been just as balanced, with Cincy and NOLA splitting their 14 meetings with seven wins apiece. So, when the Bengals play the Saints next season, one team will take an 8-7 lead over the other one, an advantage that will last for four years, which is the normal interval between meetings for the two teams in the regular season.

What will make this game really exciting however, is the player under center for Cincinnati: Ohio-native-but-Louisiana-adopted-son Joe Burrow will make his first return to the stadium where he won the national championship with the LSU Tigers in 2019. That day three years ago, Burrow and the Tigers overcame a second quarter 10-point deficit to the Clemson Tigers to win the title game 42-25. LSU crushed Clemson’s defense to the tune of 628 yards of total offense. The LSU quarterback threw for 463 yards and five touchdowns, with 221 of those passing yards going to Burrow’s current teammate wide receiver Jamarr Chase.

After being drafted first overall in the 2020 NFL draft, all Burrow did was lead the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in his second year as a pro, proving that his meteoric rise at LSU was no fluke. Suffice it to say that Dennis Allen and the Saints’ defensive coaching staff will have their work cut out for them to stop Burrow, Chase, and the plethora of offensive weapons that the Bengals boast, like wide receiver Tee Higgins (who featured on that Clemson’s 2019 national champions runner-up squad), wide receiver Tyler Boyd and running back Joe Mixon.

For Saints fans however, a fanbase comprised of a large contingent of LSU fans, the game will be a chance to see a player that is a sports hero in Louisiana up close, and cheer for the Saints to win, while also rooting for Burrow to play well in his first competitive football game in The Boot since he orchestrated what is arguably the greatest college football season in the history of the sport right in our backyard at LSU. This should be a fun one!

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