The New Orleans Saints meet the Atlanta Falcons this week in a game that will feature the NFL’s third-leading passer, Drew Brees (4,358 yards, 31 TDs), and second-leading receiver, Julio Jones (1,428 yards, 6 TDs). New Orleans (6-8) has won two of their last three, showing signs of life in what has been a relatively disappointing season. The game will air Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
The Saints and Falcons last met in Week 1. New Orleans suffered a narrow defeat against Atlanta 37-34. Jimmy Graham had a good performance in that game, recording eight catches for 82 yards. Brandin Cooks had a great game as well, adding 77 yards and a TD on seven receptions. Matt Ryan had a great outing passing for Atlanta, completing 31 of 43 passes for 448 yards and three TDs.
The Falcons are a six-point underdog against the Saints and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 56 points. Sitting at 6-8 both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS), the Saints will look to improve as they head into Week 16. Over their last five games, the Saints have records of 2-3 both SU and ATS. They average 26.0 points per game and will look to expose the weak Atlanta defense. The Falcons are one of the worst-scoring defenses in the NFL, giving up 26.4 points per game. Chances are New Orleans will keep the ball in the air. They have the league’s third-ranked passing attack, averaging 301.8 yards per game. New Orleans usually finishes games strong, averaging 9.4 points in the fourth quarter. Fast is the name of the game for New Orleans’s offense. They rank third in the NFL with an average of 68.7 offensive snaps per game.
As for their opponent, the Falcons have a record of 6-8 ATS and 5-9 SU. In the previous five games, Atlanta has a record of 2-3 both SU and ATS as well. Offensively, they should be able to find paydirt quite often against the Saints, who are one of the worst-scoring defenses in the league at 26.7 points allowed per game. If earlier games are any indication, the Falcons will throw the ball a lot on offense. They average 286.1 passing yards per game, good enough for fifth in the NFL. Moving on to the Atlanta defense, there are certain areas where it measures up well against the Saints. The Falcons need to capitalize on strip opportunities against the often careless Saints, who rank 26th in the league in fumbles lost with 0.8 per game. There is no feeling-out process to start a game for the Falcons, who average 6.6 points in the first quarter.
Predictions: SU Winner – ATL, ATS Winner – ATL, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Atlanta’s last 10 games.
The total has gone OVER in 8 of New Orleans’s last 11 games.
Atlanta is 3-8 SU in its last 11 games.
New Orleans is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games.
Atlanta is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games on the road.
New Orleans is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Atlanta’s last 5 games on the road.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Orleans’s last 6 games at home.
Atlanta is 3-12 SU in its last 15 games on the road.
New Orleans is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Atlanta is 4-13 SU in its last 17 games when playing New Orleans.
New Orleans is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games at home.
Atlanta is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games when playing on the road against New Orleans.
New Orleans is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta’s last 6 games when playing on the road against New Orleans.
New Orleans is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games when playing Atlanta.
Atlanta is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against New Orleans.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Orleans’s last 6 games when playing at home against Atlanta.
New Orleans is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Atlanta.
New Orleans is 8-17 ATS in its last 25 games when playing at home against Atlanta.
Atlanta is 4-3 SU when leading at the half this season. New Orleans is 5-3 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Atlanta is 5-3 SU when leading at the start of the fourth quarter this season. New Orleans is 5-1 SU when leading after three quarters.
Atlanta is 5-3 SU in games where it wins the turnover battle this season, and 0-5 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
This season, New Orleans is only 1-6 SU in games where it loses the turnover battle.
Since the beginning of last season, New Orleans is 7-3 SU against NFC South opponents, while Atlanta is an even 5-5 SU against division foes.
The New Orleans passing attack is ranked third in the league, while the Atlanta pass defense is only ranked 32nd. The Falcons’ passing game is ranked fifth, compared to the 26th-ranked pass defense of the Saints.
The New Orleans rushing attack is ranked ninth in the league, while the Atlanta run defense is only ranked 21st. The Falcons’ rushing game is ranked 24th, compared to the 29th-ranked run defense of the Saints.
Atlanta has allowed 28.7 points per contest on the road, which is ranked only 28th in the league. New Orleans has put up 24.6 points per game at home (ranked 12th overall).
New Orleans has given up 27.4 points per game at home this year, which is ranked only 30th in the league. Atlanta has scored 21.1 points per game on the road (ranked 15th overall).
