New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons Prediction, Preview and Odds - 09/11/2022

Game Time: 1:00 pm ET, Sunday, September 11, 2022

Venue:  Mercedes Benz stadium Atlanta, Atlanta, GA 

Where to Watch:  Fox

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Saints -5.5, Falcons +5.5; Over/Under:  42.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Saints -5.5, Falcons +5.5; Over/Under:  42.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Saints -5.5, Falcons +5.5; Over/Under:  42.5 points

 

New Orleans Saints:  0-0 (NFC South)

Atlanta Falcons:  0-0 (NFC South)

 

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New Orleans Saints:  N/A

Atlanta Falcons:  N/A

 

The Saints are playing their season opener here on Sunday and this will also be their first road game of the NFL season. They finished last season with a 9-8 record overall and were 6-3 in their road games. They were also 4-2 in their division games and finished 2nd place in the NFC South. They ended their season with a 30-20 win against the Atlanta Falcons but they still ended up missing out on the playoffs in a very close race. Their offense was averaging 304.5 YPG and 21.4 PPG while their defense was allowing 318.2 YPG and 19.7 PPG against them. Trevor Siemian led the team in passing with 1,154 passing yards only playing in 6 games of the season, Alvin Kamara led the team in rushing with 898 rushing yards, and Marquez Callaway led the team in receiving with 698 receiving yards. Their starting QB Jameis Winston started the season playing very well before he got injured and he will be looking to make a strong comeback this season as his team was very close to making the playoffs last year.

 

 

 

The Falcons are playing their season opener here on Sunday and this will also be their first home game on the NFL schedule this season. They finished last season with a 7-10 record overall and were 2-6 in their home games. They were also 2-4 against division opponents and finished in 3rd place in the NFC South. They ended their season with a 30-20 loss against the New Orleans Saints and did not make it to the playoffs. Their offense was averaging 303.8 YPG and 18.4 PPG while their defense was allowing 364.4 YPG and 27 PPG against them. Matt Ryan led the team in passing with 3,968 passing yards playing in all 17 games of the season, Cordarrelle Patterson led the team in rushing with 618 rushing yards, and Kyle Pitts led the team in receiving with 1,026 receiving yards. They traded away their veteran QB Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts and acquired QB Marcus Mariota from the Las Vegas Raiders to be the starter this season.

 

The current betting odds have the Falcons listed as a 5.5 point underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Both of these teams are going through a lot of change for this season. The Saints have a lot of their key players there from last season but the biggest change for them is Sean Payton taking a break from the team and hiring new head coach Dennis Allen. They now have a new system for everyone to learn in his 1st season here but ever since Drew Brees retired, they have also had a big problem filling that hole he left at quarterback. Winston played well last season in his few games but he ended up getting injured as he has dealt with injuries throughout the years, and now he will be trying to make a comeback this season but also has issues with throwing a lot of interceptions. This QB room is not the strongest and that will be what holds their team back from moving forward. The Falcons have been rebuilding their team over the years and finally traded away their veteran QB Matt Ryan, going with Marcus Mariota for this season. Mariota has not been very good throughout his career but after spending a few seasons as a backup he will be very hungry here not to waste his opportunity as a starter once again. The Falcons are also at home in this game but both offenses are so bad that this will end up being a low scoring scrap between two division rivals, expect this to be a close game decided by a field goal that the Falcons could even win. The best way to place a bet here is on the Falcons to cover the spread.

 

Saints Falcons Prediction:  Our NFL Pick for Sunday, September 11, 2022 (1:00 pm ET start time) is Falcons 20 Saints 17.

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New Orleans Saints: 11-6 ATS in road games. 9-4 ATS versus division opponents. 24-18 ATS in a road game where the total is between 42.5 and 45 points.

Atlanta Falcons: 13-19 ATS in all games. 8-20 ATS as a home underdog of 3.5 to 7 points. 7-17 ATS against conference opponents.

 

 

New Orleans Saints:  A. Kamara (RB) Ques Week 1 - Poss. Suspension. A. Huggins (DT) I-R - Leg. M. Thomas (WR) Ques Week 1 - Ankle.

Atlanta Falcons:  C. Ridley (WR) out for season - Suspension. J. FitzPatrick (TE) Out indefinitely - Undisclosed. I. Oliver (CB) Out indefinitely - Knee.

 

 

"This is probably the hardest week of the year, just because I know what these guys put into getting themselves ready to be a football player and play in the National Football League, whether it's here or somewhere. It's important for a lot of guys and it's challenging and there's a human element to it. But at the end of the day, we've got a great game but we have a really tough business, and this is part of the tough business part.” - Dennis Allen on the cuts that have to be made to the team before the season starts.

 

 

"The one thing I will say, we had a national guy claim that the guy was going to compete for a spot; that's not true. We're bringing guys in here, we'll evaluate them. It's funny, I don't know where people get their sources or whatever, that's not the case. Check to see if somebody's a fit, see what it looks like. But nobody we claimed is competing for the right tackle spot." - Arthur Smith on the rumors that Chuma Edoga will be competing for a starting spot on the team.

 

 

 

WR Thomas, Michael

WR Olave, Chris

WR Landry, Jarvis 

TE Trautman, Adam

QB Winston, Jameis

RB Kamara, Alvin

FB Prentice, Adam 

 

WR Edwards, Bryan

WR London, Drake 

WR Zaccheaus, Olamide 

TE Pitts, Kyle

QB Mariota, Marcus

RB PATTERSON, CORDARRELLE

FB SMITH, KEITH 

 

 

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

 

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

 

Coaches:

New Orleans Saints: Dennis Allen (1st season)

Atlanta Falcons: Arthur Smith (2nd season)