NFL Football Betting – Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints
The NFC playoff picture will get a lot clearer on Sunday afternoon, and two teams with aspirations of joining the final 12 teams standing en route to the Super Bowl will hook up in the Superdome when the New Orleans Saints (6-6, 8-4 ATS) host the Atlanta Falcons (8-4, 8-4 ATS).
This will be the second meeting of the year between these two NFC South squads. Atlanta took the first meeting of the season at the Georgia Dome by two touchdowns, breaking New Orleans’ four-game winning streak in the series. The Saints are 6-3 ATS in the L/9 meetings between these divisional rivals, and haven’t lost to the Falcons in New Orleans since 2005.
For a team that was picked to win just 4.5 games by the oddsmakers at the start of the season, the Falcons continue to impress. On Sunday, they assure themselves of at least a .500 season by beating the Chargers 22-16 in San Diego. RB Michael “The Burner” Turner rolled for 120 yards on 31 carries. The offense held the ball for nearly 35 minutes to dominate in time of possession. The rush defense was simply amazing, holding perennial All-Pro RB LaDainian Tomlinson to 24 yards on 14 carries.
Sports betting fans backing the Falcons have had an amazing run of late. They’ve covered back-to-back games, and are now 6-2 in their L/8 games overall. Since October 2nd, ‘total’ bettors have alternated ‘overs’ and ‘unders’ in each game.
With 375 passing yards, rookie QB Matt Ryan will reach the 3,000-yard plateau. The Boston College product is a mortal lock for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and could get some MVP consideration. Even though he has only thrown 13 TD passes on the year, there’s no doubting Ryan has changed the football mentality in the city of Atlanta for the better.
If the Saints hadn’t already been eliminated from the playoffs before that, Sunday’s 23-20 loss to Tampa Bay probably did them in. It was the fifth straight game for the Saints in which they scored at least 20 points, but they are only 3-2 in that stretch. Saints bettors don’t mind though, as they have covered the football betting line in three straight games after beating the spread by the hook in Week 13.
At 6-6, the only thing worth rooting for in New Orleans may be the success of QB Drew Brees. He threw for 296 more yards on Sunday, bringing his total for the season to 3,870 on the season. He’s still on pace to break Dan Marino’s single season passing record, but will need to put up some lofty numbers in his final four games to pull off the feat. The Saints dropped to 0-3 SU and ATS within division play since beating the Bucs 24-20 in the opening weekend of the season.
BetUS Sportsbook currently has New Orleans as three-point favorites in this NFC South clash, with the ‘total’ sitting at 52.
Will the Falcons sweep the season series and cement themselves as a serious post-season contender, or will the Saints “cowboy up” to keep their slim playoff chances above ground?
