The battle in the NFC South gets off to a rousing start when the New Orleans Saints, with head coach Sean Payton back in the saddle, take on Matty Ice and the Atlanta Falcons down in the Big Easy (1 pm ET, Fox).
As of late this week the Saints, who went 7-9 and missed the playoffs last year in the wake of the bounty scandal, were favored by a field goal over the Falcons, who came up five points short of winning the NFC last season.
Atlanta has struggled to a 3-11 SU mark in 14 games vs New Orleans and five straight meetings at New Orleans played OVER the total. The Falcons are 11-4 ATS in Week 1 since 1997.
For the Saints, the trend is OVER (5-1 past 6 Saints season openers).
View Atlanta vs New Orleans Odds and Stats.
Falcons Saints Betting Line:
Bettors who were going with the Saints in this one found them listed as 2-point favorites on the betting line at Sportsbook. Totals bettors have seen that number set earlier in the week at 54 at Sportsbook.
Power Rankings / Prediction:
The Saints sit at No. 25 in the current NFL Power Rankings here at OddsShark, while the Falcons are at No. 12 on that chart. Math models have concluded that the Falcons will win this game 33-26.
Atlanta Falcons Trends:
When playing in September are 7-3
When playing on turf are 7-3
After outgaining opponent are 8-2
When playing within the division are 5-5
New Orleans Saints Trends:
When playing in September are 4-6
When playing on turf are 5-5
After being outgained are 5-5
When playing within the division are 7-3
A few Falcons at Saints trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing on the road against New Orleans
Atlanta is 14-4 SU in its last 18 games
Atlanta is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Atlanta's last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Orleans's last 5 games when playing at home against Atlanta
New Orleans is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Atlanta
New Orleans is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
New Orleans is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games at home
Next up:
Atlanta home to St. Louis, Sunday, September 15
New Orleans at Tampa Bay, Sunday, September 15
