I think the saints are regretting letting go of Sproles. Pierre comes back but the ravens can contain him. Sproles they wouldn't be able to. No brandon cooks. Stills sucks imo but Ravens secondary beat up tho. But front 7 is very good. Everyone also talkin shit about bye week teams like it gives you a disadvantage....It depends on the team. Cinci, cleveland both covered amd won SU as dogs this week...ravens for the trifecta
They are a 4-6 team and have been over valued all year long. Many picked them to go to the Super Bowl, and said over 9 wins was one of the best total plays on the board.
Hard to imagine 0-3 run at home? Many thought they wouldn't lose 1, then many said nah.....they can't lose BTB games at home, can they? Well, yes they can. Almost lost to Tampa Bay at home, they did lose to Cincinnati at home. The only game they've really looked good at home was vs Green Bay. They beat a struggling Minnesota team in week 3 @ home, lost to SF at home. Should have lost to TB at home. Lost 2 away games in a dome (Atl and Det). Got smoked by Dallas in another cozy stadium (Dallas).
They beat a terrible Carolina team on the road. This team is living on reputation, maybe they put forth a performance like they did vs Green Bay. That was really their only good performance all year as far as wins. If you want to believe they will, then I guess you can call -3 value.
The common opponents they have played Baltimore has performed considerably better than NO has.
Baltimore has the better defense, giving up 18 per game. They run it well and are amongst the best in the league at stopping it. Making NO one dimensional will enable them to rush the passer and force turnovers. NO is -9 on the year in TO differential.
For me, its Baltimore +3 or nothing. Lots of people have burned money this year chasing NO. I played against them several times this year with winning results, and I'll do it again this week.
Hard to imagine 0-3 run at home? Many thought they wouldn't lose 1, then many said nah.....they can't lose BTB games at home, can they? Well, yes they can. Almost lost to Tampa Bay at home, they did lose to Cincinnati at home. The only game they've really looked good at home was vs Green Bay. They beat a struggling Minnesota team in week 3 @ home, lost to SF at home. Should have lost to TB at home. Lost 2 away games in a dome (Atl and Det). Got smoked by Dallas in another cozy stadium (Dallas).
They beat a terrible Carolina team on the road. This team is living on reputation, maybe they put forth a performance like they did vs Green Bay. That was really their only good performance all year as far as wins. If you want to believe they will, then I guess you can call -3 value.
The common opponents they have played Baltimore has performed considerably better than NO has.
Baltimore has the better defense, giving up 18 per game. They run it well and are amongst the best in the league at stopping it. Making NO one dimensional will enable them to rush the passer and force turnovers. NO is -9 on the year in TO differential.
For me, its Baltimore +3 or nothing. Lots of people have burned money this year chasing NO. I played against them several times this year with winning results, and I'll do it again this week.
Don't underestimate the loss of Rookie Brandin Cooks....he was the leading Wide Receiver in receptions and the 2nd leading receiver behind Jimmy Graham. This is going to really hurt Brees as Cooks was coming on and was becoming a go to guy. This basically leaves the Saints with two receivers that have caught more than 5 passes, Stills, and Colston. Meachem is also hurt and is the 3rd leading wide receiver with 5 catches. If he can't play either, its going to be tough.
The headlines say New Orleans is healthy, but that is because their 2nd leading receiver in Cooks, and their 2nd leading tackler in Free Safety Rafael Bush, are out for the season and are not on the injury list. And Bush will have two players replace him that have a combined total of zero tackles.
The headlines say New Orleans is healthy, but that is because their 2nd leading receiver in Cooks, and their 2nd leading tackler in Free Safety Rafael Bush, are out for the season and are not on the injury list. And Bush will have two players replace him that have a combined total of zero tackles.
Get your point. But that defense isn't the same defense after losing Jimmy Smith in week 8. They got picked apart in PIT and after that were lucky that Greene fumbled it away early in the game in the redzone and they were playing vs Mettenberger. Their pass rush has been mediocre at best all season long, so their weak secondary should be a real concern the rest of the way.
I agree with you, that the Saints have been overvalued and especially when they struggled to run the ball, Brees has forced many throws into tight (double) coverage and made plenty of mistakes. But when he is given time, he still can pick apart defenses and I'm just not sure, that BAL can get much pressure on him.
Plus turnover differential is often times based more on luck than skill, so can change every given week and Flacco himself has a 5/5 TD/INT ratio over his last 4 games which included games vs PIT & ATL, two rather bad defenses. And his ratio drops to a really bad 3/5 on the road, if you discard that joke of a game @TB, where he went 5/0.
The Baltimore Ravens are one of the best teams in the NFL in games played after a bye week, winning 10 of their last 12 games since 2002.
The Ravens (6-4) will have had 15 days between games when they play the Saints (4-6) on Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Only the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers (both 11-2) have better post-bye-week records than the Ravens since divisional realignment in 2002.
Since coach John Harbaugh took over in 2008, the Ravens are 5-1.
The Ravens (6-4) will have had 15 days between games when they play the Saints (4-6) on Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Only the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers (both 11-2) have better post-bye-week records than the Ravens since divisional realignment in 2002.
Since coach John Harbaugh took over in 2008, the Ravens are 5-1.
A lot of the guys above bring up major valid points. #1 New Orleans has been over valued all year long based on their expectations by everyone as far as potential on the season, #2 The Ravens off a bye are one of the best teams in the NFL, #3 NO while getting RB Pierre Thomas back loses one of their go to receivers Brandin Cook BUT that isn't all bad because #4 although Ravens MAY have the better defense their pass defense sucks and tonight it may suck vs the likes of Drew Bree's.
With all that being said and the notion by many that the Saints won't lose three straight at home Im looking at another angle. Division wise this game is extremely more important to the Ravens. The Ravens are in a dog fight to make the playoffs with currently three teams ahead of them(very closely bunched) . The NO Saints can lose this game and be three games under .500 and still be tied with Atlanta for first place in the worse division in football with everyone well under .500 in the division after Atlanta's melt down yesterday.
i think John Q Public may be very surprised tonight when/if New Orleans goes down. I despise the Ravens secondary and they could get torched as they have many times this year by lesser QB's then Drew Brees but I have a feeling the Ravens with so much on the line show up today and possibly steal one in New Orleans. I despise betting against Drew Brees, and usually never would entertain the thought in New Orleans because he could make your wager look real ugly but tonight may be different
Yours in Winners
BernieV
With all that being said and the notion by many that the Saints won't lose three straight at home Im looking at another angle. Division wise this game is extremely more important to the Ravens. The Ravens are in a dog fight to make the playoffs with currently three teams ahead of them(very closely bunched) . The NO Saints can lose this game and be three games under .500 and still be tied with Atlanta for first place in the worse division in football with everyone well under .500 in the division after Atlanta's melt down yesterday.
i think John Q Public may be very surprised tonight when/if New Orleans goes down. I despise the Ravens secondary and they could get torched as they have many times this year by lesser QB's then Drew Brees but I have a feeling the Ravens with so much on the line show up today and possibly steal one in New Orleans. I despise betting against Drew Brees, and usually never would entertain the thought in New Orleans because he could make your wager look real ugly but tonight may be different
Yours in Winners
BernieV
I'm glad someone started a thread on this. I can't figure this line out. NFC South is the absolute worst this season. May have a 7-9 divison winner. Yes, the Saints ha a few high profile players but on balance I believe Baltimore has the better team on both sides of the ball. I like Balty here SU.
