NFL Odds – Saints Catch Points vs Titans

Bettors who test their skill against the NFL odds are very eager to see if the New Orleans Saints can repeat as Super Bowl champions, and on Thursday night the Saints will be catching a lot of points as they square off against the Tennessee Titans in a game that is scheduled to kick off at 8 PM ET at LP Field in Nashville (natural turf). Tennessee, an 8-8 team last year which is coming off a disappointing 15-7 loss to Carolina, is listed as a 7.5-point favorite in the NFL odds, with the total posted at 41 points.

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New Orleans Saints (2-1 SU & ATS) at Tennessee Titans (1-2 SU, 2-1 ATS)
Live at LP Field, Nashville
Thursday, September 2 — 8 PM ET
TV:  WKRN Nashville

NFL Odds:
Tennessee -7.5
New Orleans +7.5
Total 41

The New Orleans Saints have scored 98 points in their three pre-season games thus far, and had a monster game on the offensive end last week, gaining 552 yards of total offense against the San Diego Chargers in an impressive 36-21 victory last week. Of course, that was with many of the offensive starters getting considerable playing time, and perhaps the impression is that the Saints may have shot their wad in that game. In the NFL odds these lowered expectations are reflected, as this team is getting 7.5 points, which is kind of unusual for the pre-season. Really, coach Sean Payton has seen his team look sharp, and may have seen everything he needs to see. .

Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher can’t be very happy with the way his team did on offense against Carolina. The Titans could manage only 217 total yards (just 50 of those yards in the first half), and Fisher says that his team is not going to change how it does things in this pre-season finale. The word is that Tennessee is going to use its starters for much of the first half, and perhaps some of them into the third quarter, and will use some people to determine the remaining roster spots in the second half. Obviously the Titans have a lot more ground to make up this season than does New Orleans, as Fisher’s team is +350 to win the AFC South and +1400 to win the AFC in the NFL odds right now.

Here are some of the trends as they impact our football betting prediction on this game:

• New Orleans has played five of its last six games OVER the total
• New Orleans has won and covered six of its last seven road games
• Tennessee has won its last six home games SU
• Tennessee has won nine of the last 13 games SU in Week 4
• Tennessee has covered five of its last six home games

Formulating a football betting prediction on a pre-season game is always a tricky thing, but when it comes down to the finale, it may be especially perplexing, because you just don’t know how long everybody is going to play. Fisher is going to use his starters, perhaps extensively, and that explains why his team is laying such a big number in the NFL odds. Of course, we also know that when the Titans are working their game plan the way they want to work it, they are running the football effectively. They certainly have been stiff against other teams, allowing 212 rushing yards in three games. We also know, however, that Sean Payton, who has spent a meaningful part of his coaching career under the Bill Parcells influence, isn’t the type to roll over in these games, and there is the matter of a battle for the backup quarterback position, where both Chase Daniel and Patrick Ramsey have performed well this pre-season and will split time with Drew Brees sitting out. This won’t be an offense lacking for incentive. We’re grabbing the points with the Saints, the 7.5-point underdog in the NFL odds.

JAY’S PLAY:  NEW ORLEANS +7.5 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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