by Danny Pierrot – Wannamakeabet Staff Writer
The rivalry between the Saints and the Falcons is no joke. To put it frankly, these teams hate each other, and have for a long time. That’s why this game is so big. To make it even more interesting, both teams are good this year and Atlanta needs to win this badly.
If you’re not a fan of either of these franchises, then it’s easy to not understand the significance of this rivalry. So, to make it interesting for you (and make your Thursday night a little more exciting), lets place a bet on this game.
Currently, the Saints are the favorite at (-1). So basically, this is a pick’em. The Falcons are coming off a tough loss to the Vikings last week. Their offense struggled mightily and ended up only scoring nine points. Meanwhile, the Saints won a big home game against the Panthers.
However, in this one, I believe the pick is the Falcons. They’re the more desperate team and will be at home. The house will be rocking and I think the Saints will start slow.
The Falcons have been a shell of themselves this year, but I don’t see the Saints defense slowing the offense down much. Julio Jones will be a matchup nightmare and Devonta Freeman is fully recovered from his concussion. Matt Ryan has not had a great year, but in this game, he’ll do fine.
The only thing that scares me is the explosive Saints’ backfield. Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram have been great this year and will test the Falcons’ front seven. That being said, I expect this to be more on the shoot-out side of things, and the run game might not be as prominent as it has been. The Saints’ lost their last road game to the Rams and didn’t look good for a majority of that one as well.
My pick: Atlanta Falcons (+1)