Atlanta is playing much better football lately. This is mainly due to Roddy White realizing that he CAN catch a football. His increased targets has helped the run game and opened up Tony G down the middle. Oh yeah, and that super-fast rookie Julio Jones can score from anywhere on the field…that helps a little. I like the way ATL is playing right now, but I dont believe they can hang with New Orleans in the “Thunderdome”. ATL’s last win over a good (playoff) team was week 7 @ DET. They fought valiantly with New Orleans at home in week 10, taking the game to overtime. Im not sure it’ll be so close tonight.
New Orleans’ offense is firing on all cylinders right now. The offensive line is playing well, giving Brees more than enough time to find his open receiver. They have also built a beast-like running game with Sproles, Thomas, Ivory, & Ingram. This team is primed & ready for a great playoff run. A win tonight keeps New Orleans even with SF @ 12-3. That keeps home field and 1st-round bye alive. Next to Seattle and, maybe, Kansas City, New Orleans is one of the loudest, toughest places for opposing teams to play. NO’s home field advantage will aid their playoff run…as Im sure they all remember losing in Seattle round 1 last season.
The only flaw in New Orleans’ game right now is their passing defense. NO is currently ranked 28th in the league, giving up 256 yds/game (which is, oddly enough, ATL’s per-game average). This is partly due to the number of games played in domes, both home & away. If New Orleans can hold onto fumbles (they’ve caused 18, but recovered only 5) their game will reach another level.
The line is currently New Orleans -6.5 with Over of 52 (under 53). Since it is less than 1 TD, Im laying the 6.5 and taking New Orleans to win 34-23 and the over (total 57).
FYI: went 10-5 ATS this week…
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