The Saints head to the Great Northwest without the injured Drew Brees where they are 4.5-point underdogs against the Seattle Seahawks with a total at 45.
Brees injured his thumb in the Saints last game and is out for several weeks. That is why it is no surprise the public has backed the Seahawks. The total is 45 at 5 dimes sportsbook.
The Saints lost their last game to the L.A. Rams 27-9 and now will have to turn to backup QB Teddy Bridgewater.
The Seahawks moved to 2-0 beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-26 in their last game.
These teams have not met since the 2016 season.
The Saints have failed to cover the spread in their last seven games and on top of that in the last five meetings with the Seahawks the home team is 4-1 ATS.
No Brees, No Electricity
The dynamic New Orleans offense was grounded last week in the 27-9 loss to the Rams. The loss of Brees was big but the team also failed to run the ball to the tune of only 57 rushing yards and the team only had 244 total yards of offense.
Bridgewater came in and was ok going 17/30 for 165 yards with no TD and no INT. He only targeted Alvin Kamara three times and the young star RB only had one catch for 15 yards and rushed for only 45 yards averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
The Saints will look to get the ball to Kamara and Michael Thomas and Bridgewater (or Taysom Hill) must get on the same page with that duo. Kamara will be facing a solid Seattle run defense that after two games has only given up an average of 57.5 rushing yards per game.
Bridgewater is the highest paid backup QB in the league and now is the time to earn his money. He will face a Seattle defense that played pretty good pass defense in their last game, but that was not facing the injured Ben Roethlisberger, in their first game, which was at home gave up over 400 passing yards.
Closer than is Should have Been
The Seahawks only beat the Steelers by two points even without having to face Big Ben in the 2nd half and they outgained Pittsburgh 425 yards to 261 yards.
Russell Wilson had a great day under center going 29/35 with 300 yards with three TD and no INT and four Seattle players had at least 50 receiving yards.
Seattle had a solid ground game to the tune of 151 rushing yards and Rashaad Penny and Chris Carson combined for 122 rushing yards.
Look for Seattle to pound the ball on the ground facing a New Orleans defense that has given up an average of 147.5 rushing yards per game.
Our Prediction
The Seahawks have won their last three home games facing the Saints and they are 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 games overall.
The Saints are without their leader in Brees for a while and Bridgewater has to keep the team afloat in his absence. He will play well, but the key in this game will be Seattle’s ability to run the ball.
They will have a good ground game and I think this game will be a high scoring one and a close one, but Wilson and company will get it done late and the Seahawks will win and cover the spread.
PICK: Seahawks -4.5