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Edgar Chaput
Saints vs. Patriots Point Spread: NFL Week 5 Odds, Prediction
After a strong start to the campaign, the Saints have cooled off, having lost twice in a row. Their most recent defeat came at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 26-9. The Patriots are facing something that hasn’t happened in the Bill Belichick era: genuine, cold adversity. The 38-3 stomping suffered at the boots of the Dallas Cowboys made New England look lost.
Even so, the NFL odds award the host Patriots status as slim -1.0 favourites.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Even though these franchises operate in distinct conferences, they met just two years ago, which was Patriots QB Mac Jones’ rookie season. It was in Louisiana and the Saints marched confidently that day, winning 28-13. Prior to that was an emphatic win by the Pats at Foxborough 36-20 in 2017, but of course that was a vastly different epoch of Saints and Patriots football.
New Orleans is one of the few teams to not cover a single spread through four weeks. They have one push, but otherwise three defeats. What’s more, they’ve been favoured every single week.
The Patriots haven’t fared much better. At 1-3, their only success came against who else but the Jets. Then again, they always beat the Jets. Perhaps more concerning is that their regular underdog status hasn’t been by alarmingly wide margins, yet they lose by a lot more.
New Orleans Saints
All week leading up to the match at home to the Buccaneers, it looked as if Saints quarterback Derek Carr would be out of the lineup due to a shoulder injury suffered the previous Sunday. The product on the field made one wonder if he should have on the sideline.
New Orleans’ passing attack was a muted affair, with Carr throwing 23-for-37 for only 127 yards. The Saints as a team only garnered 197 total yards. Their defence, which has been lauded for its effort in the first two weeks, allowed Baker Mayfield to keep his naysayers quiet with a good 246 yards and three touchdowns. In a testament to the sort of day it was for the Saints, the secondary snared an INT deep in its own zone, only for the offence to fumble the ball immediately afterward, which allowed the Bucs to score a TD. Alvin Kamara saw a return to action from suspension, and although his 4.6 yards per tote was all right, he only had 11 touches. Chris Olave was a ghost, catching one ball for four yards.
S Jordan Howden is questionable, as is TE Foster Moreau.
New England Patriots
Bill Belichick’s acumen is undisputable, but everyone has a bad day. His New England Patriots have rarely looked as helpless as they did in the 38-3 defeat to the Cowboys in Dallas last Sunday afternoon.
Although no one expects the Pats to lose by final scores like that every Sunday, it spoke to how far off the club is from attaining anything it can be truly proud of. Following a win over the Jets, whom they defeat all the time regardless, they suffered humiliation. Another week, another ferocious display by the Cowboys’ defence, who allowed New England only 10 first downs and at times made Mac Jones look so bad he was mercifully benched in the third quarter. New England is actually a middle-of-the-pack offence as far as yards per game go (320.3) but scoring is a big issue (13.8). In this huge mess of a match, safety Kyle Dugger had a great 15 tackles, 12 of them solo efforts.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson (thigh) and WR Ty Montgomery are questionable.
NO
NE