NFL betting online handicappers is re-evaluating both the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints and the resurgent Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay will host New Orleans on Sunday and Sbg sportsbook opened with New Orleans as a 5 point favorite in NFL betting with an over/under of 44.5. Kickoff is at 1:05 PM Eastern for the FOX telecast.
Hangover?
New Orleans is already known for being the greatest party town in the world and “The Big Easy” certainly celebrated last year’s Super Bowl championship in grand style and now it appears as if there could be the ever dreaded Super Bowl hangover for the Saints as they have a NFL betting record of 3-2 straight up and 1-4 against the spread. The Saints have lost 2 out of their last 3 games including last week at Arizona 30-20 as they failed to pay out for the fourth consecutive week.
Superstar quarterback Drew Brees was intercepted 3 times in last week’s loss as the Saints lost despite outgaining the Cardinals 373-194 in yardage. New Orleans was without the services of injured running backs Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas and as a result of their inability to play consistently the Saints rank 31st in the NFL for rushing. New Orleans defense has improved over last year but still ranks 18th for points allowed. The Saints have also been hit hard by bad field goal kicking this year to make for an alarming start.
Break out the Bucs
Tampa Bay is coming off a 24-21 upset win and payout at Cincinnati to improve their NFL betting online record to 3-1 both straight up and against the spread as they have matched their win total for all of last year. The Buccaneers rank 21st for total offense and 18th for total defense which may not sound great but when compared to last year the reason for the improvement is obvious. Second year quarterback Josh Freeman was 20-33 for 280 yards and engineered the game winning drive that was capped off by a Connor Barth 31 yard field goal. The defense intercepted Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer twice to steal a comeback win.
The Edge
The Saints confidence is shaky heading into this one and Bush and Thomas are missed as the entire load is now on Brees shoulders. The Bucs look like a live NFL betting home dog but New Orleans will likely bring their best game as a loss puts them at 3-3.