Atlanta Falcons (9-5, 4-3 away) vs. New Orleans Saints (11-3, 6-0 home)

By Dave Johnson, Betting Expert and Professional Oddsmaker

Tonight’s NFC South game sees the New Orleans Saints host the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.

Everyone knows that records are meant to be broken; and tonight’s match may just see the fall of one of football’s great achievements if Drew Brees completes 305 yards, breaking the single-season passing record set by Dan Marino of 5,084 yards.

The Saints are hot. Driven by a possessed Brees, who has passed for 1,776 yards, 16 TD’s and no interceptions in the last five games, the Saints already have a playoff spot and are one game away of winning the division title for the second time in the past three years.

The Saints have home field advantage, something that they’ve capitalized on, and have won all six games played at the Dome this season averaging an amazing 39.8 points per game. New Orleans’ offense comes off of a 42-20 beat down of the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis. The Saints rolled up 573 total yards on the afternoon.

 The New Orleans defense did its part as well last Sunday, keeping the Vikings to 207 total yards and gaining four sacks to help take the Saints to their sixth consecutive win.

Last year's NFC South champions Atlanta, has also made the playoffs this year clinching a Wild Card following losses by Dallas, Arizona and Chicago over the weekend. This is the Falcons third time making the playoffs in the last four years.

Quarterback Matt Ryan has been impressive, completing 544 passing yards, 7 touchdowns and no interceptions, leading the Falcons to its fourth win. Ryan could end up throwing over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns this season.

Atlanta comes into this game on a roll of its own; with its 41-14 vicious win over Jacksonville in Week 15, this is their second win in two straight games and seventh of their last nine.

The Falcons are hoping that Ryan connect with receiver Julio Jones, who is now healthy and caught eight passes for 189 yards and 3 TD’s in the last two games. It’s worth mentioning, that Atlanta has one of the league’s best power running games, led by tailback Michael Turner who is ranked third in the NFL with 1,129 rushing yards.

This is an interesting game to watch, the last four encounters between these rivals have all had a final margin of three points. So in the end, it might come down to kickers John Kasay for the Saints and the Falcon’s Matt Bryant. 

Regardless, we are likely in for a nail biting, bone crunching, up close and personal heck of match that you don’t want to miss.

Let’s take a look at the current football betting odds:

Atlanta Falcons: +6.5-110
New Orleans Saints: -6.5-110
Over/under: 52-110

The NFL odds above are at Wagerweb.com, a leading offshore sportsbook and highly recommended sponsor at inspin.com. The betting odds do change so please check their website here for instant updates

Odds Analysis:

We opened the line on this game Saints -6.5-110 earlier in the week. The line is still the same but there has been some back-and-forth movement. The betting public is hammering away on the favorite at a ratio of 70% but every time we moved to -7 sharp money came in and drove it right back to -6.5-110. Expect this game to remain -6.5-110 up until kick-off.

The sharp money at +7-110 is enough to keep the line stable even though the public loves the Saints at a high percentage.

The over/under on this game opened o/u 53-110. A small bit of sharp money dropped the game to o/u 52 -110 of the opener. As is the case with most televised games, the betting public consensus is on the OVER at a ratio of 89%. The large percentage of OVER bets will drive this game up a bit before post.

Winning NFL Betting Trends:

100% WINNER – Saints are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite of 3.5-10.0.
100% WINNER – Saints are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.
100% WINNER – Saints are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 home games.

Featured Player Tweets:

New Orleans Saints
Thomas Morstead  (New Orleans Saints, Punter)
I'm excited to be apart of New Orleans history tonight. #Special

 

Will Smith (New Orleans Saints, Defensive End)
Preparation is over.. Time to execute. #WHODAT




Atlanta Falcons
Darrin Walls (Atlanta Falcons, Cornerback)
Glad everyone had a great Christmas. Time to get some rest. Big game tomorrow against the Saints. #MNF #falconNation

Reggie Kelly (Atlanta Falcons, Tight End)
Hope u had a great day yesterday celebrating the Savior's birth&spending time with fam. GAMEDAY! Tune in tonight 4 the Saints games! #RISEUP