{"id":899024,"date":"2026-05-23T11:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/899024\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T11:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:43:12","slug":"2026-saints-schedule-previewing-week-3-home-opener-vs-raiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/899024\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Saints Schedule: Previewing Week 3 home opener vs. Raiders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Saints<\/a> and Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> have played one of the most evenly balanced series on New Orleans<\/a>\u2019 schedule. The Raiders hold a narrow all-time edge, but the matchup has shifted back and forth enough over the years that no team has taken control. Their 2026 meeting holds extra weight since former Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak will return to the Caesars Superdome \u2014 this time as the Raiders\u2019 head coach.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas<\/a> got the best of New Orleans in the most recent meeting, which was in 2024. When the two teams meet again in Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season, the Saints will have an early opportunity to avenge that loss while testing themselves against a new-look Raiders team.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Upcoming game in Saints vs. Raiders<\/p>\n

When: Sunday, Sept. 27 (Week 3) at 3:25 p.m. CT<\/p>\n

Where: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, La.<\/p>\n

Record: Raiders lead 8-7-1.<\/p>\n

Last meeting in Saints vs. Raiders<\/p>\n

Raiders won 25-20 on Dec. 29, 2024.<\/p>\n

The Saints\u2019 last matchup against the Raiders was one of the final rough moments of the 2024 season, as they lost 25-10. The Raiders walked away with a win behind a steady performance from Aidan O\u2019Connell<\/a>, who threw for 242 yards and two passing touchdowns. Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson<\/a> made four field goals, and running back Ameer Abdullah<\/a> ran for 115 yards. Spencer Rattler<\/a> threw for 218 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions, while the Saints\u2019 lone touchdown came on a 30-yard completion to Foster<\/a> Moreau.<\/p>\n

Common connections in Saints vs. Raiders<\/p>\n

Newly-hired Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak spent the 2024 season as the Saints\u2019 offensive coordinator before becoming the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>\u2019 offensive coordinator in 2025. After Seattle won the Super Bowl, he was named the ‘Raiders’ head coach and will now return to New Orleans early in his tenure.<\/p>\n

Pass-rusher Tyree Wilson<\/a> was acquired by New Orleans during the 2026 NFL Draft in a trade with the Raiders. Las Vegas drafted him in the first round in 2023.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Notable changes since the last meeting in Saints vs. Raiders<\/p>\n

The Raiders moved on after the Geno Smith<\/a> experiment last season. They selected Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, while also signing veteran Kirk Cousins<\/a>. It\u2019s likely that the latter trots into the Superdome as the Raiders\u2019 starting quarterback.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas has also reshaped its offense around running back Ashton Jeanty<\/a>, the Boise State product that the Raiders selected in the first round last season. All signs point toward Kubiak and the Raiders\u2019 offense being focused on giving Jeanty a major workload in 2026.<\/p>\n

The Raiders made plenty of moves in free agency, signing former Ravens<\/a> center Tyler Linderbaum<\/a> (3-yrs, $81 million), former Colts<\/a> pass-rusher Kwity Paye<\/a> (3-yrs, $48 million, former Georgia linebackers Quay Walker<\/a> (3-yrs, $40.5 million), and Nakobe Dean<\/a> (3-yrs, $36 million). They gave Mendoza and Cousins another weapon by adding former Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor<\/a> on a three-year, $35.03 million deal.<\/p>\n

The big question of the offseason was what the Raiders would do with superstar Maxx Crosby<\/a>. Las Vegas opted to trade him to the Baltimore Ravens<\/a> in exchange for two first-round picks, but the trade was nixed after Crosby failed his physical. He\u2019s likely to remain with the Raiders in 2026.<\/p>\n

This game should be interesting for the Saints. The Raiders will be bringing back a former New Orleans offensive coordinator who will have a good understanding of the Saints\u2019 environment. For the Saints, the formula for winning starts with keeping Crosby from wrecking the game. Defensively, New Orleans will focus on slowing Jeanty early and forcing the Raiders\u2019 young offense into longer passing situations.<\/p>\n

1 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 2 at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Sept. 20, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Tommy Gilligan, Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

1 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 2 at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Sept. 20, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Tommy Gilligan, Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

2 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 3 vs. Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Sept. 27, 3:25 p.m. CT<\/p>\n

(Chris Graythen, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

3 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 4 vs. Atlanta Falcons, Monday, Oct. 5, 7:15 p.m. CT<\/p>\n

(Stephen Lew, Stephen Lew-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

4 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 5 vs. Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Oct. 11, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Chuck Cook, Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

5 \/ 17<\/p>\n

Pivot points: Six games that could decide Saints’ 2026 season<\/p>\n

Week 6 at New York Giants, Sunday, Oct. 18, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Brad Penner, Brad Penner-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

6 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 7 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (in Paris, France), 8:30 a.m. CT<\/p>\n

(ANDREJ ISAKOVIC, AFP via Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

7 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 8 on bye<\/p>\n

(Stephen Lew, Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

8 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 9 vs. Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Nov. 8, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Matthew Hinton, Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

9 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 10 vs. Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Nov. 8, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Matthew Hinton, Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

10 \/ 17<\/p>\n

Pivot points: Six games that could decide Saints’ 2026 season<\/p>\n

Week 11 at Chicago Bears, Sunday, Nov. 22, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(David Banks, David Banks-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

11 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 12 at Cincinnati Bengals, Nov. 29, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Aaron Doster, Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

12 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 13 vs. Green Bay Packers, Sunday, Dec. 6, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Sean Gardner, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

13 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 14 at Carolina Panthers, Sunday, Dec. 13, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(David Jensen, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

14 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 15 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, Dec. 20, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Nathan Ray Seebeck, Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

15 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 16 vs. Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Dec. 27, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Ella Hall, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

16 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 17 at Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Jan. 3, Noon CT<\/p>\n

(Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

17 \/ 17<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints 2026 schedule<\/p>\n

Week 18 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, TBD<\/p>\n

(Sean Gardner, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 Saints Schedule: Previewing Week 3 home opener vs. Raiders<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders have played one of the most evenly balanced series on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[10372,12303,1303,2005,8726,7,3670,1507,3973,294,8357,4996,1744,393,6563,477,896,55,2572,2571,6,12611,468,169,397,261,4085,5654,7427,7034],"class_list":["post-899024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-orleans-saints","tag-aidan-oconnell","tag-ameer-abdullah","tag-ashton-jeanty","tag-colts","tag-daniel-carlson","tag-football","tag-foster","tag-geno-smith","tag-jalen-nailor","tag-kirk-cousins","tag-klint-kubiak","tag-kwity-paye","tag-las-vegas","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-maxx-crosby","tag-nakobe-dean","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-neworleans","tag-neworleanssaints","tag-nfl","tag-offensive-coordinator","tag-quay-walker","tag-ravens","tag-saints","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-spencer-rattler","tag-the-raiders","tag-tyler-linderbaum","tag-tyree-wilson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116623718300012048","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}