New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons Prediction, 9/11/2022 NFL Picks, Best Bets & Odds Week 1

Game: New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons

Date: Sunday, September 11, 2022

Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA

TV: FOX

Odds/Point Spread: Falcons (+5)

Total/Over-Under: 42

The Atlanta Falcons (7-10 last year) will compete against the New Orleans Saints (9-8 last season) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday. Atlanta is 5-point dogs. The over/under is set at 42.

The New Orleans Saints ended the season having earned a 9-8 record. In their last game of last season, the Saints went up against the Falcons and took home the win by a score of 30-20. Alvin Kamara led the offense in rushing for the Saints with 30 carries for 146 yds (4.9 yds per attempt). Tre'Quan Smith averaged 15.2 yds per catch by tallying 76 yds on 5 receptions. Trevor Siemian finished 9/15 with 71 yards through the air and 2 touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 111.4 and finished the game with no interceptions. On the ground, the Saints gave up 62 yds on 12 attempts, which is 5.2 yds per run surrendered. New Orleans allowed 20 completions on 33 tries for 195 yds, and a completion rate of 60.6%. At the end of the game, they had 71 plays which gave them a total of 369 yards. The New Orleans Saints ran the rock 46 different times and recorded 195 yds, which came out to an average of 4.2 yds per carry.

The Saints earned 5,177 yards in total for the previous season. New Orleans recorded 165 1st downs as a team, and they were flagged for 98 infractions for 811 yards. New Orleans earned 29 touchdowns through the air and 12 rushing touchdowns. They surrendered the football 18 times (13 picks and 5 fumbles lost). As a unit they held an average of 117.1 yds via the ground game, giving them a rank of 15th in the league. In terms of scoring, the New Orleans Saints averaged 21.4 PPG.

The Saints ranked 4th in the National Football League concerning their opponents scoring, allowing 19.7 PPG. They allowed an average of 3.7 yards per rush and 93.5 rushing yards per game last season. In total, they conceded 1,589 yards via the ground game in 17 contests. When it comes to passing yardage, the Saints gave up 3,821 yards which had them sitting in 14th in the league. Over the course of their 17 games played last year, they conceded 224.8 yards per game via the pass as well as allowing a completion percentage of 62.3%. They gave up 318.2 yards/outing which ranked them 7th in the National Football League. They surrendered 20 passing touchdowns and 12 touchdowns via the ground game.

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The Falcons ended the season having earned a 7-10 record. In their last game last season, the Falcons took a loss by a score of 30-20 against the Saints. Matt Ryan (1 TD) finished the game with 216 yards on 20/33 through the air while his quarterback rating was 77.3. He threw 1 interception and his avg yards per attempt was 6.55 yds. Mike Davis carried the football 6 times for 30 yards, ending the contest with 5.0 yds per carry for Atlanta. Russell Gage was a featured target for the Falcons, bringing in 9 balls for 126 yards (14.0 yds per catch). Atlanta ran for 5.2 yds per attempt, finishing the contest with 62 yds on 12 carries. The Falcons ended up finishing with 257 yds and they ran 48 plays (5.4 yards per play). The Falcons passing defense conceded a completion percentage of 66.7%, relinquishing 174 yds on 16 for 24 through the air. Atlanta allowed 46 attempts on the ground for 195 yards (4.2 yds per carry).

The Atlanta Falcons held an average of 303.8 yards per game which was good for 29th in the league. They held an average of 85.4 yards per game via the rush and ran for 1,451 yards for the year. The Atlanta offense had 753 yards of penalties on 92 infractions, which had them ranked 25th in the NFL in terms of helping out the opposition. They threw 15 picks while losing 11 fumbles and they tallied 196 first downs. Over the course of last year, the Falcons threw for a total of 3,713 yards through the air not to mention averaging 218.4 throwing yards per contest, putting them at 16th in the league. In terms of their scoring prowess, the Falcons ranked 26th out of all teams in the NFL with an average of 18.4 points per outing.

The Falcons relinquished 27.0 PPG, ranking them 29th in the league. Atlanta yielded a total of 2,242 rushing yards (131.9 yards per contest) as well as 19 touchdowns by way of the ground game over the course of last year. They conceded 31 touchdowns via the pass as well as 232.5 yards/outing, ranking them 18th in the league. The Falcons defense participated in 1,114 plays, which had them ranked 26th in the NFL. Over the course of the season, they allowed 459 total points. Their defense compiled 20 turnovers (8 fumbles and 12 picks) for the prior year.

Who will win tonight's Saints/Falcons NFL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Falcons +5

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