An old-fashioned NFC South rivalry highlight’s this week’s Monday night game when the Atlanta Falcons invade the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to square off against the New Orleans Saints. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
The Falcons have split their first two games starting with a 31-24 loss to Tampa Bay as 2.5-point home favorites. Last week they went on the road to Oakland and came away with a 35-28 victory as four-point underdogs. The total went well OVER the closing line in each game with Atlanta establishing itself as the sixth-highest scoring team in the NFL, while falling all the way to 27th in points allowed.
It has been business as usual on offense with Matt Ryan connecting with Julio Jones nine times for 172 yards and two scores. Ryan has put the ball up 73 times in his first two games with 53 completions for 730 yards and five touchdown throws. Tight end Jacob Tamme has also been a big part of the offense with 11 receptions for 126 yards and one score. The Falcons’ defense has been a whole other story and it comes into Monday night allowing an average of 412.5 yards of total offense a game.
New Orleans is facing a steep hole early in the season following losses to Oakland and the New York Giants in its first two games. After falling to the Raiders 35-34 as 2.5-point home favorites, the Saints went on the road and lost to the Giants 16-13 as 3.5-point underdogs. The total went OVER 51.5 points in Week 1 before staying UNDER the closing 53.5-point line in last Sunday’s loss. They come into this game with a 4-9-1 record ATS in their last 15 home games.
With Drew Brees still at the helm at quarterback it is no big surprise that New Orleans is ranked fourth in the league in passing yards (333.0) through the first two weeks, but it continues to be plagued with a running game that has accumulated a total of just 129 yards so far. The Saints’ defense has also had its issues the first two weeks stopping both the pass and the run to give up an average of 451.5 yards a game. It did not help that their top cornerback Delvin Breaux broke his leg in the loss to Oakland.
- The Falcons have failed to cover the spread in 11 of their last 14 games and they are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games on the road. The total has stayed UNDER in five of their last six road games.
- The Saints have lost seven of their last 10 games SU, but they are 5-2 ATS in their last seven outings. The total has gone OVER in their last five games played at home.
- Head-to-head in this division clash, New Orleans has a SU 15-5 edge in the last 20 meetings and it is 4-1 both SU and ATS in its last five home games against Atlanta. The total has stayed UNDER in five of the last seven meetings in New Orleans.
