On Friday evening August 27th, the city of New Orleans will more or less grind to halt as their beloved Saints host the San Diego Chargers in an NFL betting lines matchup in the reconstructed Super Dome, the most holy site in the Bayou. You can be sure that the football crazed city will be screaming “who ‘dat” at the top of its collective lungs as the Super Bowl champs go through the biggest dress rehearsal of the betting NFL preseason action and get ready to defend their Lombardi Trophy.
It’s been a wild few years for the Saints and their fans but since the arrival of Head Coach Shawn Payton and QB Brett Favre nothing but good things have happened. And this team has also become much more than just a football team, but a great symbol of hope for city and its population that was nearly destroyed by a hurricane.
The crowning moment of their long road to recovery was realized last February when the Saints hoisted the most prized trophy in all of sports betting after winning the Super Bowl.
And even though there is roughly a 10% chance of repeating as Super Bowl champs, the Saints have been defying the odds for the past several and are good a team as there is in the NFL right now.
Brees returns to helm the squad after putting terrific individual stats last season (4,388 yards, 34 Tds and just 11 INTs). He lead the NFL with a ridiculous passer rating 109.6 passer rating and set the single season completion percentage mark at 70.6, best in NFL history. But the offense as a whole flourished as it led the league in scoring (31.9 ppg), yards per game (403.8) and simply performed on a different plain than the rest of the league.
The only real question mark entering this season for the Saints is on the defensive side of the ball. Last season this unit was about as porous as they come, giving up more yards per game (357.8) than all but seven of the team’s in the NFL. However, it was able to shut down opponents by creating a heap of turnovers. It will have to do the same again this year if it wants to win the Super Bowl again and it should have plenty of chances against a depleted San Diego offense.
Kickoff for this Friday matchup is set for 8:05 Eastern Time and sbgglobal opened with the Saints as a 3-point favorite with an over/under total at 42.5.
