A pair of 1-1 teams meet for an interesting inter-conference battle when the Saints take on the Patriots Sunday afternoon in Foxboro. New Orleans opened this season with a big win over Green Bay, then laid an egg against Carolina. New England, meanwhile, opened with a home loss to Miami, then won at the Jets. So these teams’ bio-rhythms are off. The Patriots are only favored by the standard home-field advantage here; how are we playing this game with our free NFL pick?
NFL Betting Lines
Week 3 NFL betting odds opened the Patriots at -3 over the Saints, with an over/under of right around 43. Early betting action then kept the spread where it and while the total has moived around it bit it is holding at msot sportsbooks at 43.
Saints-Patriots NFL Betting Preview
New Orleans is 1-1 on the season after losing pathetically at Carolina last week 26-7. The Saints, coming off that great season-opening performance against Green Bay, allowed the Panthers to drive the opening possession of the game 75 yards to a touchdown and were never in it from there. New Orleans trailed 17-0 at the half, got within 17-7 early in the fourth quarter but faded in a classic letdown effort, losing outright as a three-point favorite. The Saints managed just 128 total yards and six first downs offensively last week and lost time of possession by a huge 39:21 split. As mentioned above, New Orleans opened this season with that 38-3 romp over the Packers. The Saints hit the scoreboard on their first three possessions of the game and eventually won the turnover battle 3-0, creating at least a +10 points differential.
More Picks: Get Jay’s Falcons vs. Giants Spread Play
New England, meanwhile, is also 1-1 on the season after beating the Jets in New Jersey last week 25-6. The Patriots, coming off that tough season-opening loss to Miami, scored the first 10 points of the game last week and led 13-3 at the half. New England then turned a takeaway into a touchdown five minutes into the second half and eased to victory from there, covering the spread as a six-point favorite. The Patriots actually got out-gained by New York 336-260 and out-rushed 152-101 but won the turnover battle 4-0, creating a +20 points differential. As mentioned above, New England opened this season with a 17-16 loss to the Dolphins. The Patriots actually out-gained Miami that day 393-259 but lost a fumble inside the Dolphins’ 10-yard line with three and a half minutes to go, then let Miami run the clock out. These two teams met most recently four seasons ago, a 36-20 New England victory at the Superdome. But that was a quarterback ago for both teams.
- Get more details: New Orleans at New England 9/26/21 Match-up Stats
NFL Betting Trends
Home teams are just 15-17 SU, 12-20 ATS in the NFL this season. Favorites are 19-14 SU but just 12-21 ATS in the NFL this season.
Totals Report
Unders are 2-0 in Saints games this season, which are averaging 37 total points. Unders are 2-0 in Patriots games this season, which are averaging 32 points.
