Falcons vs. Saints Prediction
Will the New Orleans Saints avenge their loss to the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago when the rivals meet again Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET?
Who Oddsmakers Like: New Orleans. According to oddsmakers from online sports book Bovada.lv, the Saints are 5.5-point home favorites to beat the Falcons, who opened as a 6-point underdog before the line was bet down slightly. As for the total, the number currently sits at 52.5 points after hitting the board at 53.
Who the Public Likes: New Orleans. As of Sunday morning, 54% of public bettors favor the Saints to cover the spread while 65% of the money is also on New Orleans.
Who the Trends Like: The underdog and the over. In the last eight meetings between these two teams, the underdog is a near-perfect 7-1 against the spread. The over is also 6-2-1 in the last nine meetings between these two teams in New Orleans.
Who We Like: New Orleans. These two teams usually play games that go down to the wire but I hate the spot for Atlanta. They’re coming off a short week of rest and preparation after playing in Tampa on Monday night. Now the Falcons have to travel to New Orleans to face a pissed off Saints team that feels as though it was robbed of a win in Atlanta two weeks ago.
The Falcons also look out of rhythm again offensively. They ran the ball well against the Bucs on Monday night but that was a depleted Tampa defense that was without several key starters. Even though Atlanta picked up yards in chunks, Matt Ryan never seemed comfortable in the pocket and the Falcons passing game sputtered. If that happens again today then New Orleans will roll.
In the first meeting between these two teams, the Saints lost Alvin Kamara on the first possession of the game, had several 50-50 calls that went against them, and still had an opportunity to win the game before Drew Brees was intercepted by linebacker Deion Jones in the end zone. Today will be a much cleaner game for the Saints.
NFL WEEK 16 PREDICTIONS: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS -5.5