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This New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons Monday Night Football betting preview is courtesy of our friends at Sportsbook.com, where the line was Atlanta -2.5 and the total came in at 49.
The red-hot Falcons look to win the NFC South for the first time in six years and earn home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs when they host New Orleans Monday night. The Saints are still holding out hope of winning the division, and will have a chance if they leave the Georgia Dome victorious. That won’t be easy against an Atlanta team that has won eight straight games, covering the spread in seven of those wins. New Orleans could be without its top RB Chris Ivory, who is questionable with a hamstring injury.
New Orleans is looking to avenge its Week 3 home loss to Atlanta when kicker Garrett Hartley missed a 29-yard field goal in overtime, and the Falcons eventually won 27-24. QB Drew Brees (294 pass YPG, 31 TD, 19 INT this year) has loved the Monday Night spotlight, winning four straight games on Monday night. In these four games, he completed 76% of his passes for an average of 314 YPG, 13 TD and just one interception. For the Saints to win this game, the run defense will need to play better than it did in Week 3 when it surrendered 202 yards to Atlanta. New Orleans allowed a season-high 208 yards in last Sunday’s loss at Baltimore.
The Falcons have been perfect at home this year, going 6-0 SU (5-1 ATS) and outscoring their opponents by an average score of 28 to 19. They have been on the road for three straight games, so the crowd will be extra charged up for the team’s first home game since Nov. 28. Matt Ryan (237 pass YPG, 25 TD, 9 INT) and Michael Turner (1,256 rush yds, 11 TD) did not play against the Saints the last time they met. Ryan has been virtually unbeatable at home. He has won 15 straight home games and is 19-1 in his career at the Georgia Dome. In his six home games this year, Ryan has thrown for 1,545 yards (258 per game) with 12 TD and 3 INT. Turner is averaging 105 rushing YPG with five scores in his past five games. He also has 422 rushing yards and 4 TD in four games against New Orleans in a Falcons uniform.
65% of action on the spread at Sportsbok.com is backing the Falcons.
NEW ORLEANS is 8-0 ATS (+8.0 Units) off a road loss over the last 3 seasons. The average score was NEW ORLEANS 34.6, OPPONENT 19.4.
