The New Orleans Saints will open up the defense of their Super Bowl XLIV title with a rematch of the 2009 NFC Championship, starting their 2010 season with two consecutive nationally-broadcast, prime-time contests, it was announced by the NFL on Tuesday. The Saints will kick off the NFL regular season on Thursday, September 9, when they host the Minnesota Vikings on NBC (7:30 p.m. ) at the Louisiana Superdome.

After taking on the Vikings, the Saints will be featured in prime-time in back-to-back contests for the first time in franchise history when they travel to face the San Francisco 49ers on ESPN Monday Night Football (7:30 p.m. ) on September 20.

The Saints then return home to open their NFC South slate when they host the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 26 for a noon contest.

The Saints will take on their second divisional opponent the next week on October 3, when the Carolina Panthers come to town.

The Saints then make their first regular season trip to University of Phoenix Stadium on Oct. 10, when they play the Arizona Cardinals (3:05 p.m.) as they Saints face another opponent from the 2009 postseason.

The Saints then remain on the road as they travel to Raymond James Stadium to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at noon on Oct. 17.

New Orleans will then host two of the four AFC North foes that are on their schedule, starting with a contest against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 24 at noon.

On Halloween night, the Super Bowl XLIV champions will face the winner of Super Bowl XLIII, when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a contest nationally televised by NBC (7:20 p.m. CT).

The following Sunday on Nov. 7, the Saints will travel to Bank of America Stadium for a rematch with Carolina, before enjoying a bye the following week.

The Saints will return from their bye and host the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 21. The game, which falls on the 11th week of the NFL season, marks the beginning of the NFL’s flex scheduling format and the game, as well four other contests are subject to be moved to different time slots. The game is slated to be kicked off at 3:05 p.m.

The Black-and-Gold will return to the national spotlight in their first trip to Cowboys Stadium, the site of Super Bowl XLV, when they play Dallas (3:00 p.m.) for their first appearance on Thanksgiving.

New Orleans then travels to Cincinnati to play the 2009 AFC North champion Bengals in a game scheduled for noon on Dec. 5, followed by a home matchup vs. former NFC West foe St. Louis, Dec. 12.

The Saints will then travel to Baltimore for a Dec. 19 game against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium before closing the regular season against two straight NFC South opponents.

On Monday, Dec. 27, the Saints will travel to Atlanta for an ESPN-broadcast showdown with the Falcons (7:30 p.m. CT). The game will mark the second-straight year that the Saints will face the Falcons on Monday Night Football, the fifth such occurrence in the last six seasons.

New Orleans will then close out their regular season on Jan. 2, hosting Tampa Bay at the Superdome (Noon CT).

2010 SAINTS REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Kickoff TV

Sept. 9 MINNESOTA VIKINGS (Thursday) 7:30 pm NBC

Sept. 20 at San Francisco 49ers (Monday) 7:30 pm ESPN

Sept. 26 ATLANTA FALCONS Noon FOX

Oct. 3 CAROLINA PANTHERS Noon FOX

Oct. 10 at Arizona Cardinals 3:05 pm FOX

Oct. 17 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Noon FOX

Oct. 24 CLEVELAND BROWNS Noon CBS

Oct. 31 PITTSBURGH STEELERS 7:20 pm NBC

Nov. 7 at Carolina Panthers Noon FOX

Nov. 14 BYE

Nov. 21 SEATTLE Noon FOX

Nov. 25 at Dallas Cowboys (Thursday) 3:00 pm FOX

Dec. 5 at Cincinnati Bengals Noon FOX

Dec. 12 ST. LOUIS RAMS Noon FOX

Dec. 19 at Baltimore Ravens Noon FOX

Dec. 27 at Atlanta Falcons (Monday) 7:30 pm ESPN

Jan. 2 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS Noon FOX