NFL watering online anticipation continues to build for the big NFC South Division showdown between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons from the Super Dome. Kickoff Sunday is at 1:05PM Eastern and the game will be broadcast by FOX. Sbg global opened with New Orleans as a 4-point home favorite and with an over/under of 50.
Improved Saints Defense
The defending Super Bowl champion Saints have a record of 2-0 straight up and 1-1 against the spread with a 1-1 split on totals. What has been most impressive about the Saints thus far has been their defense as they rank 10th in the NFL for points permitted. Defense was considered to be the weakness of the team and many handicappers believed that the Saints won the Super Bowl despite the stop unit but that has not been the case in 2010.
Which Falcons Will Show Up?
The Atlanta Falcons are coming off a dominant performance in which they destroyed the Arizona Cardinals 41-7 for an easy NFL bet payout as 7-point favorites. That was a far better result than the opener at Pittsburgh in which they lost 15-9 in a flat effort as 1-point road favorites. The consistency issue has long been the problem with Atlanta and handicappers will have to try and figure out which version of the Falcons they will get on Sunday.
Interesting Matchup and Contrast
The Falcons rush defense has really struggled thus far as it ranks 26th in the NFL. The problem for New Orleans is that their ground game has been even worse as they rank 31st in the NFL for rushing yardage as Pierre Thomas has a team best 3.2 yards per carry and will have to carry more of the burden now that Reggie Bush is out with a knee injury until November. While Saints quarterback Drew Brees looks as sharp as ever with a 105 QB rating he cannot be expected to carry the entire burden and the Saints must jump start the ground attack.
Back and Forth Series
The Saints and Falcons have been going at it since 1967 and often play the most exciting games listed on the NFL wagering online board. Atlanta got the money in both matchups last year despite losing both games straight up as double digit dogs. The teams have gone over the total in 4 out of their last 5 matchups.