Like in the good old days of early Christendom, the NFL betting public will come the closest to enjoying the spectacle that was Damnatio ad Bestias when the Detroit Lions visit the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, December 4th at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The question is will the Saints be martyred or will Breesus come down from the sky and spirit them away? Here are the sportsbook odds:
Lions +5½ (-105) 53½ (-110)
Saints -5½ (-115) 53½ (-110)
The Lions (7-4) beat the Minnesota Vikings for the second time this season on Thanksgiving Day. Matthew Stafford threw 23 of 40 for 232 yards with one TD pass to Anquan Boldin. Theo Riddick ran for 45 yards on nine carries. Golden Tate had 77 yards on five receptions. Matt Prater kicked 3 of 3 field goals. Tahir Whitehead had 11 tackles. Darius Slay intercepted one pass. The Lions have won three games in a row.
The Saints (5-6) beat the Los Angeles Rams 49-21 on Sunday. Drew Brees went 28 of 36 for 310 yards with four TDs. Mark Ingram ran for 146 yards and one TD on 14 carries. Michael Thomas had 108 yards and two TDs on nine receptions. Jairus Byrd had four tackles. Cameron Jordan and Sheldon Rankins had a sack each. Kenny Vaccaro intercepted one pass. The Saints snapped a two-game losing streak.
Detroit ranks 17th in passing yards (248.7), 19th in points (22.5), 26th in total yards (329.5), and 30th in rushing yards (80.8) per game, and 14th in passing yards (250.9), 15th in points (21.6) and total yards (353.5), and 16th in rushing yards (102.5) allowed per game. Stafford is 261 of 391 (66.8%) for 2883 yards with 19 TDs and five picks. Riddick has run for 355 yards and one TD on 88 carries. Tate has 617 yards on 57 catches, while Boldin has six receiving TDs. Whitehead has 101 combined tackles. Kerry Hyder has seven sacks.
New Orleans leads the league in total yards (434.1) and passing yards (319.5), is 2nd in points (30.4), and 9th in rushing yards (114.6) per game, and ranks 12th in rushing yards (99.1), 26th in total yards (370.5), 27th in passing yards (271.4), and 30th in points (27.9) allowed per game. Brees is 326 of 456 (71.5%) for 3587 yards for 3587 yards with 30 TDs and eight picks. Ingram has run for 721 yards and three TDs on 136 carries. Thomas has 789 yards and seven TDs on 65 catches. Craig Robertson has 96 combined tackles. Jordan has five sacks.
NFL betting public will be interested in the following NFL games odds trends: the Lions are 6-1 against the spread and straight-up in the last seven games, 5-10 straight-up in the last five road games, and 1-5 against the spread and 2-4 straight-up in the last six games versus the Saints.
More trends for the NFL betting public: the Saints are 6-1 against the spread in the last eight games, and 5-1 against the spread and 4-2 straight-up in the last six games versus the Lions.