Saints All-Time Record After a Bye Week
Fans of the New Orleans Saints may have enjoyed a relaxing Sunday of football without their team on the field this weekend. The Saints are one of four teams on a bye, the first on the NFL schedule this season.
New Orleans returns to action on Monday, Oct. 25, when they visit the Seattle Seahawks. The Saints will enter that game with a 3-2 record, and expect to get up to 10 starters or major contributors that have missed most or all of the season over the next few weeks.
Bye weeks have been a part of the NFL schedule since the 1990 season. The Saints have a 17-14 all-time record in games following a bye week. That includes a 7-11 all-time record on the road after a bye.
New Orleans has fared better after a bye since Sean Payton took over as head coach in 2006. The Saints have a 9-6 record following a bye since Payton took over, including a 2-4 mark in road games. Their record would be even better if not for an 0-3 post-bye record in Payton's first three years on the sidelines.
Payton's Saints are actually 1-4 on the road after an off week. A 2012 win at Tampa Bay came during a season when Payton was serving a ridiculous yearlong suspension from the NFL ‘‘commissioner’’.
The only post-bye road win New Orleans notched with Payton on the sidelines was during the 2018 season, a 24-23 victory at Baltimore. The Saints have won 4 of the last 5 games after a bye week since 2016. Their only defeat was a 26-9 loss at home to the Atlanta Falcons.
Despite their recent success after returning from the off week, history also shows that Saints fans might witness a nail-biter.
Of their four post-bye wins since 2016, two were by just a field goal and the other by one point. The fourth, a 52-38 home win over Detroit in 2017, saw the Saints ahead by just a touchdown late in the fourth quarter until a game-clinching defensive touchdown by DE Cam Jordan in the final minutes.
New Orleans has gone to the playoffs nine times in Sean Payton's 14 years on the sidelines. During those nine playoff runs, the team has a 7-2 record in games after a bye.
History obviously doesn't guarantee that a win against Seattle means a playoff berth. Recent history does tell us to expect Payton's Saints to come out well-prepared against the Seahawks in a crucial conference battle.