The NFL announced its 2009 schedule on Tuesday, and the New Orleans Saints drew one of the league’s roughest slates.The Saints will face opponents who won a combined 55.7 percent of their games in 2008 — the eighth highest winning percentage for teams’ 2009 schedules.New Orleans will open the season at home against Detroit on Sept. 13 before traveling to Philadelphia and Buffalo in consecutive weeks. The Saints will then host the Jets before a Week 5 bye.The Giants will visit New Orleans for Week 6, and the Saints will travel to Miami in Week 7 before hosting Atlanta and Carolina in back-to-back division games.The Saints-Falcons game will be the first of two Monday Night Football games for the Saints.New Orleans will play in consecutive road games at St. Louis and Tampa Bay on Nov. 15 and 22, respectively.The Saints close their November at home against New England on Monday Night Football before beginning December with road games at Washington and Atlanta.They will then close their home schedule against Dallas and Tampa Bay before finishing the season on the road at Carolina on Jan. 3, 2010.While the Saints face the league’s eighth toughest schedule, they also face the NFC South’s easiest.
The Panthers’ schedule ranks second toughest in the league with opponents having won a combined 59.2 percent of their games.The Falcons’ and Buccaneers’ schedules rank fourth and fifth in the league, respectively.The Falcons’ opponents won a combined 58.8 percent of their games in 2008. The Bucs’ opponents won a combined 58 percent.The Miami Dolphins earned the league’s toughest schedule. The Dolphins’ opponents won a combined 59.4 percent of their games in 2008.The NFC North’s Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears earned the league’s easiest 2009 schedules.The Packers’, Vikings’ and Bears’ opponents won a combined 42. 8 percent, 42 percent, and 41.4 percent of their games in 2008, respectively.The defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers will face a schedule that won a combined 43.4 percent of games in 2008. The defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals face a schedule that won a combined 44.1 percent of games.