The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints face off on Sunday in an NFL showdown at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. When these two teams faced off in September, it was the Saints that secured the 27-26 victory.
The Falcons come into this game with a 5-8 record overall, and they have gone 7-6 against the spread. The Falcons' offense has really struggled heading into this game, and that has led to a quarterback change. The team has moved Marcus Mariota to the bench and brought in rookie Desmond Ridder to start. The Falcons hope that Ridder is the franchise quarterback of this team, and all eyes are going to be on him here. The Falcons are averaging 22.2 points, while their defense is giving up 24 points per game. The defense is ranked 22nd in the league.
On the other side of this matchup is the Saints, who sit with a 4-9 record overall, and they have gone 5-8 against the spread. In the last game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they were competitive, but they still lost 17-16. Andy Dalton completed 20 of his 28 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown. Alvin Kamara rushed 12 times but only had 26 yards. The Saints are averaging 20.4 points, while their defense is giving up 22.9 points per game. Dalton hasn’t been the best this season, but he is still the starting quarterback for this game, even though Jameis Winston is healthy. Mark Ingram suffered an MCL injury, and he is now on the IR.
The Saints are 0-4 against the spread in their last 4 games following a bye week. The under is 6-1 in the Falcon's last seven games as an underdog. The under is 5-0 in the Saint's last five games in December.
Ridder is a true wild card heading into this game, but he still might be the best quarterback heading into this game. Dalton isn’t the answer for the Saints, and New Orleans is going to really struggle to score again in this game. I think the Falcons win this game outright, but I will take the points to be safe. Back the Falcons against the spread.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
