New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Point spread: New Orleans -4.5 Over/Under: 49 |
The New Orleans Saints head down to Raymond James Stadium this upcoming Sunday afternoon for a crucial early-season divisional tilt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with first-place in the NFC South on the line. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast regionally on FOX.
You get the feeling that New Orleans is more than ready to make a serious run at the NFC title this season after a 4-1 start straight-up (3-2 against the spread). It needed some last minute heroics by Drew Brees and Co. this past Sunday to get by Carolina 30-27 as a 6.5-point road favorite, but still managed to secure its fourth straight win.
Brees is playing as well as ever with 1,769 yards passing and 12 touchdown throws, but the big difference this season in the Saints second-ranked offense is a running game led by rookie back Mark Ingram and former San Diego back Darren Sproles. These two have combined for 401 yards and three scores on the ground in the first five games.
Tampa Bay bounced back from a 27-20 opening-day loss to Detroit as a one-point home favorite with three straight wins, but last Sunday’s 48-3 collapse against San Francisco as a 2.5-point road underdog exposed some serious deficiencies on both sides of the ball.
The Buccaneers offense is ranked 20th overall and 28th in the league in scoring; giving up an average of 17.4 points a game, while their defense is ranked 23rd overall and 22nd in points allowed; giving up an average of 25 points a game.
The Saints are 4-10 their last 14 games against the NFC South and 2-6 ATS in their last eight games on the road. The total has stayed ‘under’ in 10 of their last 12 divisional games.
The Buccaneers are 4-1 ATS in their last five games in the division and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games as an underdog. The total has stayed ‘under’ in nine of their last 12 games against the NFC South.
Head-to-head, the road team is 13-3 ATS in the last 16 meetings and the total has stayed ‘under’ in the last five meetings.
New Orleans fully realizes it has a golden opportunity to put some early distance between itself and Tampa in the division and is just too good of a team not to capitalize on it. Be sure to go to BetAnySports.com to track the line on this game, but the Saints should easily cover the current 4.5-point spread.
The Pick: New Orleans 24 Tampa Bay 16
