Chargers vs. Saints NFL-X Pick / Gambling Preview (Aug. 27)

NFL Betting – Pre-season Week 3

The longest Mardi Gras celebrations ever to take place in the city of New Orleans began last February when the Saints bested the Indianapolis Colts to win their first-ever Super Bowl down in Miami.

After watching the way the team performed last week in their preseason opener against the New England Patriots, it seems as though the hangover from those celebrations may still exist among at least a few of those players.

Now, the Saints return home to the Louisiana Superdome where fans will welcome them back as they get set to face the San Diego Chargers in a match up of high-powered offenses, and opportune defenses.

San Diego Chargers (1-1) @ New Orleans Saints (1-1)
Friday, August 27th, 2010 – 8:00 PM EST
Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

INTRO

It’s always interesting to see these two teams match-up, and it’s not only because they boast two of the most explosive offenses in the league. Ever since the Chargers cut Brees at the end of the 2005 season and gave the team to Phillip Rivers, the two franchises have been connected in one of the biggest “What If” games in recent NFL memory.

What if the Chargers never cut Brees? Would they be the defending Super Bowl Champions? And what if New Orleans never signed their franchise quarterback?

Would the teams lack of success cause the franchise to move out of New Orleans by this point? But it’s irrelevant, because Brees did sign with New Orleans and the Saints are the defending champions. Pre-season or not, that’s a handful for the Chargers.

Quarterback Rotation

If you’re betting NFL, you know that this game will showcase two of the best quarterbacks in the league; at least for the first quarter. Phillip Rivers looked good in last week’s loss against Dallas, going 11-for15 for 125 yards. His only blip was an interception early in the first quarter, but other than that it was a solid start for Rivers. Billy Volek played the majority of the game for the Chargers, as he will for most of the pre-season.

The veteran was a little shaky against the Dallas backups, completing only 41% of his passes. However, he didn’t create any turnovers and made a few impressive plays. Third string quarterback Jonathon Crompton had mop-up duties.

The rookie went 3-for-6 for 8 yards and threw an interception.

Drew Brees looked alright in limited time against Houston last week.

He went 5-for-10 for only 36 yards, but didn’t throw any interceptions and wasn’t showing any rust from the offseason. The story of the game was backup Chase Daniel. The second-year pro looked fantastic playing against the Texans, going 15-for-21 for 182 yards and three touchdowns. The former Mizzou star probably won’t see any action this year, although New Orleans management can probably breathe a little easier knowing they have a capable backup.

Motivation To Win

If you’re betting on NFL, don’t assume that Drew Brees wants to beat his former team in the pre-season; there’s just no gratification in that. However, the Saints would like to enter the regular season with as much momentum as they could, as their opening match-up is against Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings.

The Chargers, as a whole, are more worried about finding replacements for Marcus McNeill and Vincent Jackson then they are about winning in the pre-season.

They need a left tackle and wide receiver to emerge in these next two games so they can feel confident going into the season. If that leads to a win, then so be it.

Outlook & Prediction

Since both teams will rest their starters after the first quarter, this game will rest on the backups. The Saints backup quarterback had three touchdowns; San Diego’s backups threw zero. San Diego’s loss last week was mainly because of the lack of production by the backups; New Orleans won because of the second-stringers.

I’m betting the Saints.

Pick: New Orleans Saints

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Poolside Rants hails from beautiful Bozeman Montana by way of Toronto, Canada. (Blame his wife for the move). He’s a Dallas Cowboys football honk. But please….don’t hold that against him. The man knows his sports and has uncanny knowledge when it comes to picking games.