Saints vs. Packers Point Spread: NFL Week 3 Odds, Prediction
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Edgar Chaput
Dennis Allen’s Saints ensemble was involved in the less thrilling of the two Monday night games last week, but they didn’t care. All that mattered was the 20-17 win over the Carolina Panthers which put the team at 2-0. The Green Bay Packers finally get to play at home after two weeks on the road. They fell to the surprising Atlanta Falcons 25-24.
The NFL odds give a slight edge to Matt Lafleur’s Packers, perched as -2.0 favourites.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
It’s a new era of Saints-Packers clashes. For over a decade seeing these two clubs meet on the calendar meant a battle between iconic quarterbacks Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Brees retired a couple of seasons ago and Rodgers is now with the New York Jets. Hello, Derek Carr vs. Jordan Love.
The teams have split the last six meetings, with three of the last four going New Orleans’ way. Their most recent tête-à-tête was a memorable Week 1 game in 2021 that was displaced to Jacksonville due to violent weather in Louisiana. Jameis Winston led the Saints to a stunning 38-3 thrashing of the Packers that day.
New Orleans is 0-1-1 ATS through two weeks, the push coming on Monday night as they were -3.0 favourites to defeat the Panthers.
Green Bay has started 2023 promisingly with a 2-0 record against the spread. Of note, they were slight underdogs both times, including last week in Atlanta, but losing by a single point helped their cause.
New Orleans Saints
It felt like a lot more people were talking about the Browns-Steelers contest on Monday night. To be fair, it featured more fireworks than the Saints-Panthers match. All the same, the Saints got a big win, 20-17, and spoiled number one overall pick Bryce Young’s home debut.
A lot of ink was spilled this past offseason about how QB Derek Carr could take the Saints’ offence to the next level. He’s eighth right now in yards passing, which is solid, but New Orleans’ main calling card through two weeks is the defence. It made the Titans look mediocre in Week 1 and manhandled the Panthers in Carolina on Monday night. The upstart Panthers were limited to 14 first downs and 239 total yards, many of those coming late in the contest when the outcome was all but decided. WR Chris Olave had two monster catches that helped pave the way for a couple of red zone TDs courtesy of ball carrier Tony Jones Jr.
The Saints aren’t necessarily what one would describe as an exciting team, but as long as they win their fans won’t care.
TE Foster Moreau and RB Jamaal Willians are listed as questionable.
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers were 15 minutes away from assuring their fans that all was well with Jordan Love leading the way. A bad ending to the game against the Atlanta Falcons shouldn’t diminish what has been a promising start but serve as a reminder that there is still work to be done.
Up 24-12, Green Bay looked to be in control of the contest in Georgia. Love didn’t put up tremendous numbers (14-for-25, 151 yards), but still threw three touchdowns. The biggest problem the Packers had was getting the ball back from the Falcons, who rushed for a sizeable 211 yards and earned an impressive 27 first downs to Green Bay’s 17. It wasn’t as if the Packers allowed their opponents to score a ton of TDs, but the Falcons were always close enough for kicker Younghoe Koo to put up three more points and chip away at the deficit. As the fourth quarter wound down, Love and company slow down on offence, ergo a 24-12 devolved into a 24-25 loss.
RB Aaron Jones and WR Christian Watson are listed as questionable.
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