Punished New Orleans Saints Still Get 4 Nationally-Televised Games in 2012

Even though the New Orleans Saints were punished handily by the NFL because of a three-year, “pay-for-pain” bounty program, the league still handed out four nationally-televised games to the Saints in 2012.

Here are the Saints prime-time games in 2012:

Week 5: Oct. 7 vs. San Diego Chargers (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

Week 8: Oct. 28 at Denver Broncos (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

Week 9: Nov. 5 vs. Philadelphia Eagles (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Week 13: No. 29 at Atlanta Falcons (8:20 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

The NFL also pulled its punch by going very easy on New Orleans during its first six weeks of play, the time period when both head coach Sean Payton and interim head coach Joe Vitt will be suspended.

The Saints first six opponents are Washington, Carolina, Kansas City, Green Bay, San Diego and Tampa Bay. The combined 2011 record of these six teams was 45-51 (greatly enhanced by the Packers 15-1 record) and only Green Bay had a winning record.

The Atlanta Falcons were also handed four nationally-televised games in 2012, three at home:

Week 2: Sept. 17 vs. Denver Broncos (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Week 9: Nov. 4 vs. Dallas Cowboys (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)

Week 13: Nov. 29 vs. New Orleans Saints (8:20 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

Week 16: Dec. 22 at Detroit Lions (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Another oddity for the Falcons’ schedule is that they never play consecutive games on the road or at home.

The Carolina Panthers, and their second-year quarterback Cam Newton, will play on national television twice in 2012:

Week 3: Sept. 20 vs. New York Giants (8:20 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

Week 12: Nov. 26 at Philadelphia Eagles (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The Panthers weren’t given any gifts at the beginning of their schedule. Carolina starts off on the road against division rival Tampa Bay, then has to play three 2011 playoff teams in the Saints, Giants and Falcons, respectively.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers play one nationally-televised game in 2012, and that’s because every team in the NFL gets at least one:

Week 8: Oct. 25 at Minnesota Vikings (8:20 p.m. ET, NFL Network)

The first thing that popped out at me about Tampa Bay’s schedule is the string of quarterbacks it will face at the beginning of the season.

The Buccaneers start the season off by playing Cam Newton (Carolina), and then face Eli Manning (Giants), Tony Romo (Cowboys), either Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III (Washington), Matt Cassel (Kansas City) and then Drew Brees (New Orleans). That’s not great news for a Tampa Bay team that gave up 30 touchdown passes (tied for 29th in the NFL) in 2011.