Saints vs. Falcons Betting Odds – Week 1 NFL
Carrie Stroup with your Saints vs. Falcons betting odds for Week 1 of the 2014 NFL season. Place your 1st bet and get your 2nd bet FREE up to $100 here.
Sportsbook.ag Line: New Orleans -3 (-115) & 52
Opening Line & Total: Falcons -1 & 52
The Falcons host the Saints Sunday in an opening week matchup that could have huge implications within the NFC South later in the year.
Saints -3 Falcons/Total 52 
Atlanta had a miserable season last year, disappointing its fans with a 4-12 SU record. The team was completely depleted by injuries, but now has a clean slate. A Week 1 win over the rival Saints could send a message to the league. New Orleans made the playoffs after going 11-5 SU last season, but has its sights on winning the division and playing in the Super Bowl. Over the past three seasons, New Orleans is 3-1 SU against Atlanta, but the two have split wins ATS. When playing in Atlanta in those games, however, the Falcons are 1-1 SU and 2-0 ATS. Last season, the Saints beat the Falcons on the road 17-13 as 7.5-point favorites. Three of the past four games played in this series have gone Under the total. The Saints have a 17-9 SU advantage in this series in the past 13 years, but the Falcons are 7-0 ATS at home in the first two weeks of the season under head coach Mike Smith.
The Saints had a strong 2013 season, finishing the year 11-5 and just one game behind the division-leading Carolina Panthers. QB Drew Brees is fresh off of a season in which he threw for 5,162 yards, 39 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. New Orleans traded RB Darren Sproles to Philadelphia for a draft pick, but in comes talented rookie WR Brandin Cooks who is looking to impact the passing game as well. He caught 128 passes for 1,730 yards and 16 touchdowns in his junior year at Oregon State. TE Jimmy Graham’s 16 touchdowns last season finally earned him a big contract extension and he and his quarterback will continue to terrorize defenses. The Falcons, however, had a lot of trouble defending the rush last season. This could mean that the Saints look to get the ground game going early. The Saints defense allowed just 194.1 passing yards per game (2nd in NFL) and 111.6 rushing yards per game (19th in NFL) last season. Although they improved a lot defensively last year, it was not enough for them to be complacent. The team brought in three-time Pro Bowl FS Jairus Byrd to quarterback their secondary. He’ll have his work cut out for him going against a talented Falcons receiving corps.
Last season, Atlanta had high expectations but got off to a rocky 1-3 start and couldn’t get back into the swing of things all season. Injuries completely derailed the season where the club finished 4-12. However, the Falcons improved both their offensive and defensive lines in the offseason and WR Julio Jones is completely healthy after undergoing midseason foot surgery last year. QB Matt Ryan will be thrilled to have his go-to guy back as he threw for 13 touchdowns and just one interception in the first six games last season. After Jones left the field in Week 5 with his injury, it was downhill for the quarterback as he threw for 13 touchdowns and 16 interceptions the rest of the way. RB Steven Jackson could be heavily featured in Week 1, as the Saints’ weakness is their ability to defend the run. Jackson is healthy now and the Falcons will feed him the rock early to open up the passing game. The Falcons will desperately need to clean up defensively if they are going to get themselves back into the hunt for the postseason. Last year, Atlanta allowed 243.6 yards per game through the air (21st in NFL) and 135.8 yards per game on the ground (2nd-worst in NFL). The Falcons team that New Orleans is playing on Sunday will be far different from what they saw last year.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
