The NFL Paris game opens a huge Week 7 Sunday — the league’s first regular-season game in France, at 9:30 a.m. ET on NFL Network.
By The Beat Writer — CelebnMusic247
The NFL Paris game is not just the first kickoff of Week 7 — it is a first, period. The Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) meet the New Orleans Saints (2-4) on Sunday at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, the league’s first regular-season game ever played in France, per USA Today and NBC Sports. Kickoff is 9:30 a.m. ET on NFL Network, streaming on NFL+, and it owns its window alone before the 1 p.m. ET slate begins.
That staging is the point. The league did not tuck this game into a crowded Sunday. It gave Paris the morning to itself, the same way it has built London and Dublin into events, and it sent two franchises with real history of traveling: Pittsburgh played in Ireland in 2025, while New Orleans’ three previous international games were all in London, most recently in 2022, per the New York Post.
Rodgers’ short game against a leaky defense
On form, Pittsburgh brings the cleaner story. Aaron Rodgers has settled into a short passing attack that, over the past four games, has produced 11 touchdowns against just three interceptions, per USA Today. The matchup suits it: New Orleans enters Week 7 ranked last in the NFL in scoring defense, allowing 29.7 points per game, per USA Today.
Flip it around and the test sharpens for the Saints. Pittsburgh’s pass defense ranks seventh, allowing 204.3 passing yards per game, per USA Today, which puts the pressure squarely on second-year quarterback Tyler Shough to run the ball well enough that he is not throwing into that defense all afternoon. USA Today’s preview made the same point: if the Saints cannot run it like they did against New York, Shough’s day gets long, fast.
Preparation split the week, too. The Saints traveled to Paris immediately after their Week 6 game against the Giants, settling in early, while the Steelers flew Thursday and used the quick in-country turnaround they deployed in Dublin a year ago, per USA Today. Two routines, one historic stage — and Rodgers, asked Friday about outside noise around the trip, backed playing the game: “This game means a lot to the NFL. If it was unsafe, then I’m sure we wouldn’t be here,” per the New York Post.
Sunday then bookends itself. After Paris in the morning, the day closes with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs at the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, per NBC Sports. First game in France at breakfast, 5-0 Kansas City at night — Week 7 was built to be remembered at both ends.
The 247 Take — Expansion games only matter if the football holds up, and this one has a real edge: a 4-2 Steelers team finding its identity against a desperate 2-4 Saints team that cannot afford another loss. Paris gets the history either way. The winner gets something more useful — momentum in a division race that will not wait for jet lag.
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Sources: USA Today | NBC Sports | NorthJersey.com | New York Post
