2021 New Orleans Saints season

55th season in franchise history

The 2021 season was the New Orleans Saints' 55th season in the National Football League and the 15th and last under head coach Sean Payton.

2021 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerGayle Benson
Head coachSean Payton
General managerMickey Loomis
Home fieldCaesars Superdome
TIAA Bank Field[A]
Results
Record9–8
Division place2nd NFC South
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
AP All-ProsLB Demario Davis (2nd team)
ST J. T. Gray (1st team)
Uniform
2021 New Orleans Saints Draft
Round Selection Player Position College Notes
1 28 Payton Turner DE Houston
2 60 Pete Werner LB Ohio State
3 76 Paulson Adebo CB Stanford from Denver
4 133 Ian Book QB Notre Dame
6 206 Landon Young OT Kentucky from Indianapolis
7 255 Kawaan Baker WR South Alabama

Regular season

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Schedule

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The Saints' 2021 schedule was announced on May 12.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 12 Green Bay Packers W 38–3 1–0 TIAA Bank Field[A] Recap
2 September 19 at Carolina Panthers L 7–26 1–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap
3 September 26 at New England Patriots W 28–13 2–1 Gillette Stadium Recap
4 October 3 New York Giants L 21–27 (OT) 2–2 Caesars Superdome Recap
5 October 10 at Washington Football Team W 33–22 3–2 FedExField Recap
6 Bye
7 October 25 at Seattle Seahawks W 13–10 4–2 Lumen Field Recap
8 October 31 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 36–27 5–2 Caesars Superdome Recap
9 November 7 Atlanta Falcons L 25–27 5–3 Caesars Superdome Recap
10 November 14 at Tennessee Titans L 21–23 5–4 Nissan Stadium Recap
11 November 21 at Philadelphia Eagles L 29–40 5–5 Lincoln Financial Field Recap
12 November 25 Buffalo Bills L 6–31 5–6 Caesars Superdome Recap
13 December 2 Dallas Cowboys L 17–27 5–7 Caesars Superdome Recap
14 December 12 at New York Jets W 30–9 6–7 MetLife Stadium Recap
15 December 19 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 9–0 7–7 Raymond James Stadium Recap
16 December 27 Miami Dolphins L 3–20 7–8 Caesars Superdome Recap
17 January 2 Carolina Panthers W 18–10 8–8 Caesars Superdome Recap
18 January 9 at Atlanta Falcons W 30–20 9–8 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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Division

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NFC South
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 4 0 .765 4–2 8–4 511 353 W3
New Orleans Saints 9 8 0 .529 4–2 7–5 364 335 W2
Atlanta Falcons 7 10 0 .412 2–4 4–8 313 459 L2
Carolina Panthers 5 12 0 .294 2–4 3–9 304 404 L7

Conference

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# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV STK
Division winners
1[a] Green Bay Packers North 13 4 0 .765 4–2 9–3 .479 .480 L1
2[a] Tampa Bay Buccaneers South 13 4 0 .765 4–2 8–4 .467 .443 W3
3[b] Dallas Cowboys East 12 5 0 .706 6–0 10–2 .488 .431 W1
4[b] Los Angeles Rams West 12 5 0 .706 3–3 8–4 .483 .409 L1
Wild cards
5 Arizona Cardinals West 11 6 0 .647 4–2 7–5 .490 .492 L1
6 San Francisco 49ers West 10 7 0 .588 2–4 7–5 .500 .438 W2
7[c] Philadelphia Eagles East 9 8 0 .529 3–3 7–5 .469 .350 L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
8[c] New Orleans Saints South 9 8 0 .529 4–2 7–5 .512 .516 W2
9 Minnesota Vikings North 8 9 0 .471 4–2 6–6 .507 .434 W1
10[d] Washington Football Team East 7 10 0 .412 2–4 6–6 .529 .420 W1
11[d][e] Seattle Seahawks West 7 10 0 .412 3–3 4–8 .519 .424 W2
12[d][e] Atlanta Falcons South 7 10 0 .412 2–4 4–8 .472 .315 L2
13 Chicago Bears North 6 11 0 .353 2–4 4–8 .524 .373 L1
14 Carolina Panthers South 5 12 0 .294 2–4 3–9 .509 .412 L7
15 New York Giants East 4 13 0 .235 1–5 3–9 .536 .485 L6
16 Detroit Lions North 3 13 1 .206 2–4 3–9 .528 .627 W1
Tiebreakers[f]
  1. 1.0 1.1 Green Bay finished ahead of Tampa Bay based on conference record.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Dallas finished ahead of LA Rams based on conference record.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Philadelphia finished ahead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Washington finished ahead of Atlanta and Seattle based on head-to-head sweep.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Seattle finished ahead of Atlanta based on win percentage in common games.
  6. When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.
  1. 1.0 1.1 Due to Hurricane Ida, the Saints' Week 1 game vs. the Green Bay Packers was relocated to TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.[1] While Caesars Superdome did not receive any direct damage, power outages were not expected to be resolved within the city of New Orleans by the day of kickoff.[2]

References

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  1. "Packers-Saints to play at Jacksonville's TIAA Bank Field Week 1". nfl.com. September 1, 2021.
  2. "Saints, NFL, and City Face Dilemmas After Hurricane Ida". SI.com.