The New Orleans Saints did nothing to dispel their reputation as a team that plays well at home in the dome but doesn’t do so well on the road. They sure didn’t play well up in the cold and rain in Seattle.
Sean Payton, Drew Brees and the rest of the Saints squad head back home next week but the task does not get any easier as they are to face Cam Newton and his Carolina Panthers who are on an 8 game winning streak and looking to keep going.
The Saints are 4 point favorites against the Panthers at home in the Super Dome but then they must take to the road again and go up to St. Louis to play the Rams, who are now without the services of Sam Bradford for the duration of the season. And then, believe it or not, New Orleans must travel to Columbia to play the Panthers once again, this time on their home turf. No easy task.
Finally, on December 29th, the Saints will play their final game of the regular NFL season back at home in New Orleans against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who have begun to show some signs of live under new quarterback Mike Glennon and may yet prove to be troublesome.
All told, especially coming off of such a terrible loss in Seattle, New Orleans is facing as rough a final four games as any other team in the NFL. They are going to make the playoffs, but don’t expect them to come out of the rest of these games unscathed. The Saints have been 1-4 Against the Spread in the last 5 games.
On the other hand, the Seahawks seem very happy to be at home. They have now won 14 home games in a row with their rout of the Saints. For bettors backing Seattle it’s been a great ride as well as the Seahawks have gone 11-3 ATS for those games. Actually, the only times that Seattle didn’t cover was when handicappers made them double-digit favs and whose fault was that?
Seven teams failed to cover the point spread over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Packers, the Bears, the Eagles, the Bills, the Chiefs and the Redskins all fell short of covering the wagers laid on them.
Conversely, the San Francisco 49ers top the NFL in one department at least. They are now the league best 8-3-1 ATS after beating St. Louis on Sunday.
