2020 New Orleans Saints season

The 2020 season was the New Orleans Saints' 54th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 45th playing home games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It was also their 14th under head coach Sean Payton.

2020 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerGayle Benson
Head coachSean Payton
General managerMickey Loomis
Offensive coordinatorPete Carmichael Jr.
Defensive coordinatorDennis Allen
Home fieldMercedes-Benz Superdome
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st NFC South
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Bears) 21–9
Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Buccaneers) 20–30
Pro Bowlers
AP All-Pros
Uniform
NO saints uniforms19.png

Draft

2020 New Orleans Saints Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 24 Cesar Ruiz C Michigan
3 74 Zack Baun LB Wisconsin
3 105 Adam Trautman TE Dayton
7 240 Tommy Stevens QB Mississippi State

Notes

  • The Saints traded their second-round selection (No. 56 overall) to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the Dolphins' 2019 second-round selection.
  • The Saints traded their seventh-round selection, along with their 2019 fourth-round selection to the New York Giants in exchange for cornerback Eli Apple.
  • The Saints traded their third-round selection (No. 88 overall) and their 2021 third-round selection to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for the Browns' 2020 third-round selection (No. 74 overall) and the Browns' seventh-round selection (No. 244 overall).
  • The Saints traded their fourth-round selection (No. 130 overall), fifth-round selection (No. 169 overall), sixth-round selection (No. 203 overall) and their seventh-round selection (No. 244 overall) to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the Vikings' 2020 third-round selection (No. 105 overall).
  • The Saints traded their 2021 sixth-round selection to the Houston Texans in exchange for the Texans' 2020 seventh-round selection (No. 240 overall).

Staff

2020 New Orleans Saints staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Final roster

2020 New Orleans Saints final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 10 inactive, 16 practice squad (+1 exempt)

Preseason

The Saints' preseason schedule was announced on May 7, but was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Week Date Opponent Venue Result
1 August 14 at Los Angeles Rams SoFi Stadium Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2 August 23 at Pittsburgh Steelers Heinz Field
3 August 29 Houston Texans Mercedes-Benz Superdome
4 September 3 Miami Dolphins Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Regular season

Schedule

The Saints' 2020 schedule was announced on May 7.[1]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34–23 1–0 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
2 September 21 at Las Vegas Raiders L 24–34 1–1 Allegiant Stadium Recap
3 September 27 Green Bay Packers L 30–37 1–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
4 October 4 at Detroit Lions W 35–29 2–2 Ford Field Recap
5 October 12 Los Angeles Chargers W 30–27 (OT) 3–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
6 Bye
7 October 25 Carolina Panthers W 27–24 4–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
8 November 1 at Chicago Bears W 26–23 (OT) 5–2 Soldier Field Recap
9 November 8 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 38–3 6–2 Raymond James Stadium Recap
10 November 15 San Francisco 49ers W 27–13 7–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
11 November 22 Atlanta Falcons W 24–9 8–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
12 November 29 at Denver Broncos W 31–3 9–2 Empower Field at Mile High Recap
13 December 6 at Atlanta Falcons W 21–16 10–2 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Recap
14 December 13 at Philadelphia Eagles L 21–24 10–3 Lincoln Financial Field Recap
15 December 20 Kansas City Chiefs L 29–32 10–4 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
16 December 25 Minnesota Vikings W 52–33 11–4 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
17 January 3 at Carolina Panthers W 33–7 12–4 Bank of America Stadium Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Division

NFC South
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) New Orleans Saints 12 4 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 6–0 10–2 482 337 W2
(5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11 5 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 4–2 8–4 492 355 W4
Carolina Panthers 5 11 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 1–5 4–8 350 402 L1
Atlanta Falcons 4 12 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 1–5 2–10 396 414 L5

Conference

# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV STK
Division leaders
1 Green Bay Packers North 13 3 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 5–1 10–2 .428 .387 W6
2[a] New Orleans Saints South 12 4 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 6–0 10–2 .459 .406 W2
3[a] Seattle Seahawks West 12 4 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 4–2 9–3 .447 .404 W4
4 Washington Football Team East 7 9 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 4–2 5–7 .459 .388 W1
Wild cards
5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers South 11 5 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 4–2 8–4 .488 .392 W4
6 Los Angeles Rams West 10 6 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 3–3 9–3 .494 .484 W1
7[b] Chicago Bears North 8 8 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 2–4 6–6 .488 .336 L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
8[b] Arizona Cardinals West 8 8 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 2–4 6–6 .475 .441 L2
9 Minnesota Vikings North 7 9 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 4–2 5–7 .504 .366 W1
10[c] San Francisco 49ers West 6 10 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 3–3 4–8 .549 .448 L1
11[c][d] New York Giants East 6 10 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 4–2 5–7 .502 .427 W1
12[d] Dallas Cowboys East 6 10 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 2–4 5–7 .471 .333 L1
13[e] Carolina Panthers South 5 11 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 1–5 4–8 .531 .388 L1
14[e] Detroit Lions North 5 11 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 1–5 4–8 .508 .350 L4
15 Philadelphia Eagles East 4 11 1 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 2–4 4–8 .537 .469 L3
16 Atlanta Falcons South 4 12 0 Expression error: Unexpected = operator. 1–5 2–10 .551 .391 L5
Tiebreakers[f]
  1. 1.0 1.1 New Orleans finished ahead of Seattle based on conference record.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Chicago finished and clinched the 7th and final playoff spot ahead of Arizona based on better win percentage in common games (against Detroit, the NY Giants, Carolina, and the LA Rams, Chicago finished 3–2, while Arizona finished 1–4).
  3. 3.0 3.1 San Francisco finished ahead of the NY Giants based on head-to-head victory. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Dallas (see below).
  4. 4.0 4.1 NY Giants won tiebreaker over Dallas based on division record.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Carolina finished ahead of Detroit based on head-to-head victory.
  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.

Postseason

Playoff round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap
Wild Card January 10 Chicago Bears (7) W 21–9 1–0 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
Divisional January 17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5) L 20–30 1–1 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap

References

Other websites