On September 25, 2006, the Atlanta Falcons took on the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome, the first NFL game played there since 2004, following the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Saints’ 23-3 victory was seen as a symbol of the city’s recovery from the devastating disaster that killed almost 1,400 people and caused billions in damage.
2o years later, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear to the schedulemakers that he wanted a Falcons-Saints Monday night game in New Orleans on the 2026 schedule around the time of the 20th anniversary.
NFL VP of broadcasting planning Mike North told the media Friday that the Week Four Monday Night Football contest between the Falcons and Saints at the Superdome is the result of that request.
“It’s really to the Commissioner’s credit, it was, ‘We’re gonna play Falcons at Saints on Monday night this year, fit it in in that kind of three-week window.’ So, it wasn’t a requirement it had to land in a special week, but it was a requirement, straight from the boss, that it landed on our schedule,” North said.
Ideally, the game would have been scheduled for Week 3, aligning perfectly with the 2006 version. However, North said that Week 4 turned out to be a better fit overall.
“Relative to the exact date of the anniversary, honestly, we figured if we were within a couple of weeks, we were in good shape,” North said. “Fans remember that moment, the electricity, the excitement. If we were a week early, or closer to the day, or a week later, weren’t gonna throw away our best schedule just by being off a couple days. Plus, as you know, there’s a lot of events going on in that region. I don’t have the stadium availability off the top of my head, but relative to the Dome itself, the arena across the street, there’s concerts, there’s basketball games, there’s other things going on at times. It wasn’t a, ‘This game has to be in this week.’”
The Saints-Falcons rivalry goes beyond just that one game and, according to one Saints insider, Atlanta didn’t want to take part in an anniversary game, but the NFL scheduled it anyway.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.