Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
The Detroit Lions will begin the 2009 NFL regulars season with a road game to the New Orleans Saints in an NFL contest on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff time in New Orleans is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with regional coverage provided by Fox Television. LVSC opened the point spread in this contest and the New Orleans Saints opened as 11 ½ point favorites with the over under coming in at 50. The early money from the sports betting public has come in on the favorite, as the New Orleans Saints are currently a 13-point favorite. NFL total bettors have come early on the under as the total is currently lined at 48 ½. NFL money line bettors can make a play on the favored New Orleans Saints at –900 with the underdog Detroit Lions returning +650 to win without the point spread factoring in the NFL bet.
After an impressive preseason the New Orleans Saints are picked by many to make the playoffs in 2009. Starting quarterback Drew Brees is coming off a year where he passed for over 5000 yards with 34 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Brees has a talented wide receiving corps in Marquis Colston, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore and Robert Meachem. Running back Reggie Bush is a huge threat out of the backfield for Brees when he matches up with linebackers in the passing game. On the ground the Saints are hoping that Pierre Thomas can handle a bigger workload. He had only 129 carries in 2008 but had 4.8 yards per carry average. The Saints made a huge move on their defense by hiring defensive coordinator Greg Williams. Williams is a proven defensive coordinator in the league and has coached outstanding defenses. The Saints Achilles heel has been their secondary in recent years in giving up the big play. Williams likes to blitz and get at the quarterback. Last season the Saints had problems getting to the quarterback and improvement needed. On the Detroit side first round pick Matthew Stafford will get the start. Stafford looked very shaky during the preseason and made mistakes with his reads. The Lions must protect Stafford and do a better job of running the football. The Lions gave up 52 sacks last season and the concern here is Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams bringing a heavy pass rush on the rookie. On the ground the Lions will be lead by running back Kevin Smith who rushed for 976 yards last year and carried a 4.1 yards per carry average. The Lions defense surrounded 404 yards a game last year and 32 points per game. The Lions upgraded their linebackers by acquiring Larry Foote and Julian Peterson.
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NFL Trend: Detroit Lions are 6-0 ATS in their past 6 road games
The Wagerline consensus has 69.1% of the NFL bettors on New Orleans -13
The Wagerline consensus has 62.4% of the NFL bettors playing over 48 1/2
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