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New Orleans Saints (4-1) vs. Baltimore Ravens (4-2) at M&T Bank Stadium
NFL Week 7: 4:05 ET on Sunday, October 21, 2018
Sunday features what should be one of the best games of the day when the New Orleans Saints, the leaders of the NFC South Division, travel to take on the Baltimore Ravens, the team tied for the lead in the AFC North. These two teams have only faced each other six times, with Baltimore dominating the series 5-1-0. The Ravens have won the last three games, including a 34-27 victory over the Saints in New Orleans in 2014. The only victory in the series was when the Saints won in Baltimore in 2002.
Saints Look to Keep Momentum Going Following Bye
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The New Orleans Saints lost their first game of the season, a 48-40 loss to Tampa Bay, but have rolled off four straight victories since. The Saints offense has been awesome this season, averaging 36 points per game and 424 yards of total offense per contest.
Quarterback Drew Brees is having one of his best seasons, completing 77.9% of his passes for 1658 yards through five games. The veteran has thrown 11 touchdowns with zero interceptions this season. Michael Thomas has been his primary target, making 46 catches for 519 yards and three scores, but John Brown has been an awesome playmaker, making 21 catches for 424 yards. He also has three touchdowns.
The defense has struggled, giving up 28 points per contest and 369 yards of total offense per game, but they have played well against a run, allowing just 71.4 yards per game, ranking in the top three in the league.
Ravens Blank Titans, 21-0
The Baltimore Ravens blanked the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, 21-0, thanks to a stifling defense that allowed seven total first downs and 106 total yards of offense. Alex Collins scored two touchdowns on the ground, and quarterback Joe Flacco threw a touchdown pass to complete the scoring.
Baltimore took the lead with a little less than 90 seconds left in the first quarter. Flacco connected with Michael Crabtree for a 4 yard touchdown pass to give the Ravens a seven point lead. In the second quarter, Collins would raise 13 yards for his first touchdown of the game and he would add one more score in the third quarter, a 2 yard run.
Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota threw for just 117 yards and led the team in rushing with 25 yards. Tennessee gained just 55 yards on the ground.
Baltimore is averaging 25.5 points per game while only giving up 12.8 points per contest, the lowest in the league. The ravens are averaging 393 yards of offense, but only 99.2 on the ground. However, their defense has been dominating, giving up 270.8 yards per contest and only 188 yards through the air.
Trends:
New Orleans:
- 6-0 ATS in their last six games in Week 7.
- 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games following the bye week.
- 14-3 ATS in their last 17 games on the road and facing a team with a winning record at home.
- 16-5 ATS in their last 21 games on the road
Baltimore:
- 6-1-1 ATS in their last eight games against teams with a winning record.
- 7-19-1 ATS in their last 27 games in October.
- 2-6 ATS in their last eight games in Week 7.
The Winner Prediction
This is a classic contest between a powerhouse offense and the dominating defense. Brees is having arguably the finest season of his career, but he has not faced a team like Baltimore to this point. The Ravens defense is absolutely dominating and they had the advantage of being at home in this contest. There is no doubt that this game will likely have a playoff atmosphere to it as both teams will want to show that they are true Super Bowl contenders. The bye week should give the Saints a big advantage here, so go with New Orleans and the points
The Pick: New Orleans Saints +2.5 (-105)
The Total
The total is set at 49.5 and looking at the two teams’ offensive production this season that would seem to make sense when they are averaging better than 63 points combined. However, the two are only averaging 41 points allowed combined per game making this a tougher choice. The total should be slightly over 50 in this game, so take the over.
The Pick: Over 49.5 (-110)