Your New Orleans Saints get to work today, practicing for their home opener this Sunday versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a thrilling comeback in Atlanta, the oddsmakers are thinking maybe Tampa will get the better of the Saints.
Most betting lines are around three points, favoring Tampa Bay, making the Saints home dogs for their Superdome opener for 2022. Despite the thrilling win in Atlanta Sunday, sports betting analyst Scott Cooley of CoolMediaPR says the Saints shouldn't have had to come from behind in that game.
"They had to come back and defeat a perceived really poor Falcons team, in then meanwhile on the other side, you saw the Bucs completely dominate the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football," said Cooley. He said oddsmakers take that kind of thing into consideration when setting the line.
"The NFL, and a lot of odds-making, is a 'what have you done for me lately?' science."
The Bucs were the preseason favorites to win the NFC South division this season, and their dismantling of Dallas put some fears to rest about their ability to protect 45-year-old quarterback Tom Brady.
"The O-line did, I think, it looked overall better than what we expected," said Cooley. But he also says the Saints could easily pull off the upset.
"Look at the Saints' history with the Bucs with Tom Brady under center, it's pretty good," said Cooley, pointing out the Bucs will be without one of their best weapons" "They're going to be down Chris Godwin now, which is a big hit."
The Saints are looking to make it 5-0 in the regular season against the Bucs since Brady joined the team.
