Roger Goodell wanted Falcons-Saints MNF game to mark 20 years since return from Katrina

One of the most memorable games in Monday Night Football History took place in Week Three of the 2006 season, when the Saints beat the Falcons in their return to New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. Twenty years later, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wanted a Falcons-Saints Monday night game in New Orleans on the 2026 schedule. NFL VP of broadcasting planning Mike North says the 2026 schedule has a Week Four Monday night game between the Falcons and Saints at the Superdome because Goodell himself requested that it happen around the time of the 20th anniversary.

"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. Some in New Orleans wanted the 2026 game played in Week Three, as the 2006 game was, but North said playing the game in Week Four proved to be a better fit for the NFL's overall schedule.

"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.