The New Orleans Saints announced Wednesday, April 17 their 2019 regular season schedule, which kicks off at home on Monday night, September 9 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome against the Houston Texans and features four prime time games.

The Saints will open their season at home for the second consecutive season, when they play the Texans on "Monday Night Football" (6:10 p.m. CT), marking the first time they open at home on Monday night since 1990 (September 10, 1990 vs. San Francisco).

After opening at home, the Saints will take play at a pair of NFC West rivals for the next two contests, starting in Week 2 when they play the Los Angeles Rams on September 15 and then go up the coast to face the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on September 22, both contests with a 3:25 p.m. CT kickoff. New Orleans will return home for a "Sunday Night Football" contest against the Dallas Cowboys on September 29 (7:20 p.m. CT). New Orleans' first four games of the season are against 2018 playoff qualifiers. The Dallas tilt will be followed by their first NFC South matchup and noon kickoff contest of the season, when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (October 6).

After the Week 4 Buccaneers matchup, the Saints will move into a stretch of two consecutive road games at Jacksonville (October 13; noon) and a matchup at 2018 NFC North champion Chicago (October 20), which will have a 3:25 p.m. CT kickoff. New Orleans will close out the month of October by returning to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, where they will host the Arizona Cardinals on October 27 with a noon kickoff.

Following a Week 9 bye, New Orleans will play four consecutive NFC South contests in the month of November. In Week 10, New Orleans will host the Atlanta Falcons (November 10), followed by the road matchup to close out the 2019 slate against Tampa Bay (November 17). The Saints will host the Carolina Panthers on November 24. The Saints will then play on Thanksgiving night for the second consecutive season when they play Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Week 13 (November 28, 7:20 p.m. CT). The NFC South rivalry game will be nationally televised on NBC. This will be the fourth time in franchise history that the Saints will play four consecutive division games, joining October, 1976 as only the other time they have occurred in the same month.

The Saints will begin the month of December with a home matchup against an old NFC West rival when they host the San Francisco 49ers (December 8). In Week 15, New Orleans will host the Indianapolis Colts in their final home regular season contest of the season (Monday, December 17, 7:15 p.m. CT). The Saints will close out their regular season with two straight road games for the first time since 1996 and for only the fourth time in franchise history. The Saints will play at the Tennessee Titans on December 22 and will close out the 2019 regular season with a Week 17 home contest at Carolina (December 29), with both contests having noon kickoffs.

Seven of the Saints' 16 games will be against teams that finished with a winning percentage of .500 or better in 2018, with contests against six 2018 playoff clubs – Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Seattle. New Orleans will play each of their NFC South rivals twice, one game each against each of the NFC West and AFC South teams and will play the 2018 first place teams in the NFC East (vs. Dallas) and NFC North (at Chicago).

New Orleans's eight road games in 2019 will have the team travel 16,960 miles (roundtrip) away from home after they traveled a total of 13,734 miles (roundtrip) in 2018. The longest trip will be the Week 3 trek to Seattle (5,428 miles roundtrip). In 2017, the Saints traveled 24,004 miles with the longest trip being a Week 4 contest against Miami in London's Wembley Stadium (9,274 miles roundtrip).

Thanks to an away schedule that includes road contests at NFC South foes Carolina, Tampa Bay and Atlanta and at the Rams, Seahawks, Jaguars, Bears and Titans, the Saints will leave the Central Time Zone six times over the course of the season to play four contests in the Eastern Time Zone and two in the Western Time Zone.

All New Orleans Saints games can be heard on WWL Radio (870 AM and 105.3 FM). PRIMESPORT, the Official Fan Travel and Hospitality Partner of the New Orleans Saints, has exclusive home and away game packages for Saints fans. For more information, please visit PRIMESPORT.com.

2019 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PRESEASON SCHEDULE (All times CENTRAL)

2019 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE (All times CENTRAL)

A look at the Saints' 2019 regular season opponents, and dates:

vs. Houston Texans (September 9): The series is tied 2-2, with Houston having won the last meeting at NRG Stadium on November 29, 2015, 24-6…New Orleans has won both home meetings against the Texans...With New Orleans' first inter-conference matchup of 2019, the Saints will look to have the same success they had in 2018 when they swept their AFC North slate…New Orleans has won their last seven inter-conference matchups…It will be the first time that the Saints have opened the season hosting a team on Monday Night Football since a 13-12 loss to San Francisco on September 10, 1990…New Orleans will be looking to break a five-game losing streak in season openers.

at Los Angeles Rams (September 15): The Rams lead the regular season series 41-33 after a 45-35 Saints win at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 4, 2018…In that contest, wide receiver Michael Thomas had a fourth quarter 72-yard touchdown reception on a day where he finished with 12 receptions for a franchise-record 211 yards… New Orleans has an 11-15 record in contests against the Rams played in Southern California…The Saints and Rams have split their two postseason matchups, including a 26-23 Saints overtime loss in the NFC Championship game on January 20…Including that matchup, the Saints and Rams will meet for the eighth time in the last 10 years…The contest is the first of four matchups against NFC West opponents

at Seattle Seahawks (September 22): The Saints will face the Seahawks for the 14th time in the regular season, with New Orleans leading the series 7-6 and Seattle having captured both playoff contests…The Saints have a 3-4 record in regular season contests played in Seattle…New Orleans will be looking for their first win in Seattle since a 28-17 victory on October 14, 2007.

vs. Dallas Cowboys (September 29): Dallas owns a 17-12 advantage in the series, but the Saints have won five of eight meetings since Sean Payton, who served on the Cowboys coaching staff from 2003-05, became head coach in 2006…New Orleans has a 7-3 record against the Cowboys in contests played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome…The last time the clubs met in New Orleans was October 4, 2015 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in a 26-20 Saints win where Brees tossed an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage of overtime…The last three Saints-Cowboys matchups have all been on prime time…New Orleans has a 20-14 record on Sunday Night Football, including 10-1 under Payton.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. October 6, at November 17): New Orleans holds a 33-21 edge in the all-time series against the Buccaneers, the club's best winning percentage (.611) versus an NFL opponent that they have played more than 11 times…New Orleans is 18-12 all-time at home against Tampa Bay and 15-9 in contests played at Tampa, including a 28-14 win on December 9, 2018, with which they clinched the NFC South for the second consecutive season…In 2018, the Saints and Buccaneers split the season series for the fourth consecutive season with each club winning the road contest.

at Jacksonville Jaguars (October 13): The Saints lead the all-time series 4-2, following a 38-27 win at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 27, 2015…New Orleans has won the last three contests over Jacksonville, all under Payton…Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone served as offensive coordinator/offensive line on Payton's coaching staff in New Orleans from 2006-08…Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles, who both attended Austin (Texas) Westlake High School, joining Peyton and Eli Manning (Newman High School-New Orleans) as the only two Super Bowl-winning quarterback duos from the same high school…Brees has posted a 2-0 record against Foles in two playoff contests when he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, including last season's 20-14 NFC Divisional Playoff win.

at Chicago Bears (October 20): Chicago has a 15-13 edge in the regular season series and 2-0 in the postseason, but New Orleans rides a four-game winning streak against the Bears…New Orleans has an 8-8 regular season record against the Bears.

vs. Arizona Cardinals (October 27): The Saints have a 14-15 regular season record against the Cardinals and captured the playoff meeting between the two clubs…New Orleans has a 6-3 regular season record against the Cardinals in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and also have a 45-14 win in the NFC Divisional Playoff on January 16, 2010…Cardinals Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury spent the 2004 season on the Saints practice squad at quarterback and went to training camp with the club in 2005.

Atlanta Falcons (vs. November 10, at November 28): The Saints and Falcons will face off on Thanksgiving night for the second consecutive season, following a 31-17 Saints win on November 22 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome…New Orleans swept the season series against the Falcons for the 15th-time in the series in 2018, the seventh time under Payton as head coach…It will be the 13th time in 15 years that the Saints and Falcons will play on prime time after the two clubs did so only three times between 1967-2004, with New Orleans holding an 9-6 edge in the 15 prime time contests between the two clubs…It marks the third consecutive year and the fourth time in five seasons that the Saints and Falcons play each other on Thursday night…Atlanta holds a 51-48 regular-season advantage in the all-time series against the Saints, although New Orleans has won 18 of 26 meetings since 2006…The Saints have played the Falcons 99 times in the regular season, more than any other opponent…The November 10 meeting will be the 100th regular season matchup between the clubs…The Saints are 25-24 all-time against the Falcons at home…New Orleans is 23-27 all-time in games played at Atlanta.

Carolina Panthers (vs. November 24, at December 29): The Panthers lead the regular season series 25-23 with the Saints capturing the only playoff meeting between the two clubs….The Saints are 12-12 all-time on the road against the Panthers and 11-13 at home in the regular season…This will be the second consecutive time the Saints and Panthers close out the regular season and the tenth time since Carolina entered the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1995.

vs. San Francisco (December 8): The 49ers hold a 47-26-2 edge in the all-time series, but Payton has a 6-1 regular season record against San Francisco… As members of the NFC West from 1970-2001, the club's played two times a season during that period.

vs. Indianapolis Colts (December 16): New Orleans has posted a 7-5 record against the Colts in the regular season and also defeated Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17 on February 7, 2010 in South Florida…The Saints have a 4-1 edge over the Colts in contests at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome…New Orleans will play on Monday Night Football in Week 15 for the second consecutive season, following up on a 12-9 victory at Carolina on December 17, 2018.

at Tennessee Titans (December 22): The Titans lead the all-time series 8-5-1…New Orleans had a 2-1-1 record at the Astrodome when the franchise was the Houston Oilers and have split two meetings in Tennessee since the club relocated to Nashville.