The New Orleans Saints will play the Houston Texans in a preseason game NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Saturday night.
The New Orleans Saints were 9-8 during the regular season last year and did not make the playoffs. New Orleans will have a new head coach for this season after Dennis Allen replaced Sean Payton. It doesn’t sound like too many starters will play in this game for the Saints, including quarterback Jameis Winston. New Orleans will lean on Andy Dalton, Ian Book, and K.J. Costello under center in this game. One position battle to watch on the Saints is at running back, where Tony Jones Jr. and Abram Smith are fighting for backup running back duties behind Alvin Kamara.
The Houston Texans were 4-13 during the regular season last year and also missed out on the playoffs. Houston will also be debuting a new head coach in this game after Lovie Smith replaced David Culley. It sounds like the starting quarterback, Davis Mills, will play a little bit in the first quarter before being pulled in favor of Jeff Driskel. One player to watch for Houston is wide receiver Johnny Johnson III, who is fighting for a roster spot among a pretty weak group at WR for the Texans.
New Orleans is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games and 38-14 ATS in their last 52 road games. The under is 6-1 in New Orleans’ last 7 games. The over is 4-1 in Houston’s last 5 games and the over is 8-3 in Houston’s last 11 home games. The home team is 4-1 ATS in these two teams last 5 head to head meetings.
This is an interesting spot with two head coaches that are looking to make good impressions, while the players are also trying to prove their worth to the new coaches. New Orleans has the better roster, but most starters will not play. Houston is looking for more than a few players to step up to help them in the regular season. I think Houston is going to treat this game more seriously than the Saints, so I am taking them at home.
AUTHOR: David Racey
