Friday, May 25th, 2012
The New England Patriots will hit the highway to face the New Orleans Saints in a much-anticipated Monday Night football game. Kick off time in New Orleans is scheduled for 8:35PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPN. The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening point spread in this game and the New Orleans Saints opened as a 3 point favorite with the over under coming in at 54 ½. The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the road underdog New England Patriots, as the New Orleans Saints are currently a 2-½ point favorite. The total has seen upward betting by the early NFL bettors as the total is currently lined at 56 ½. NFL money line gamblers can make a play on the favored New Orleans Saints at –145 with the road underdog New England Patriots bringing back +125 to win without the points on their side.
The Saints are a perfect 10-0 on the season and a threat to break the New England Patriot’s record 16-0 regular season record a few years back. The Saints are coming off a dominating 38-7 win last week at a very bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. The Saints benefited from 4 Buccaneers turnovers. The Saints allowed just 119 rushing yards and 100 through the air in their victory. New Orleans won despite injuries to key players. Listed as questionable for the Patriots game is running back Reggie Bush, safety Darren Sharper and cornerback Jabari Greer. Greer is expected to play and Sharper played through a bum knee last week. The Saints reported to media outlets on Monday that Reggie Bush who sat out last week’s game with Tampa Bay with a bum knee is expected to play on Monday night. Starting quarterback Drew Brees is hitting on 68% of his passes with 22 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. The Saints are getting great production on the ground as Pierre Thomas is averaging 5.6 yards a carry this season. Mike Bell is complimenting Thomas very well with 4.5 yards a carry and 4 touchdowns. The Saints are very difficult to defend with all their playmakers healthy on the field because they bring a good balance attack. With the threat of run it makes it difficult for teams to blitz the Saints. The Saints played turnover free football last week but have been very sloppy in recent week with 13 turnovers in their previous 4 games heading into the Tampa Bay game. Giving three turnovers to New England could be very difficult to overcome. On defense the Saints allow 20.4 points to their opponents and 330 yards. New England is 7-3 on the year and coming off a 31-14 home win to the Jets. The Jets are having problems throwing the football and only gained 104 yards rushing and 122 through the air. The Patriots faced only 1 explosive passing offense this season and Indianapolis piled up 35 points and over 400 yards in an Indianapolis 35-34 victory. Brady has been razor sharp with his receivers hitting on no less than 67% of his passes over his past 5 games. Running back Laurence Maroney got 22 carries last week with 77 yards in victory. Maroney is only gaining 3.9 yards a carry this season rushing the football.
For the Latest NFL Odds Please Visit our NFL Odds Page
NFL Trend: New England Patriots are 3-1 to the under in their 3 road games this season
The Wagerline consensus has 55.9% of the NFL bettors on New England +2 1/2
The Wagerline consensus has 73.3% of the NFL bettors playing over 56 1/2
Tags: new england patriots versus new orleans saints espn monday night pro football betting odds pick preview, nfl betting odds
