On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints travel to MetLife Stadium for an afternoon date with the New York Jets in Week 9 of the NFL season.
Saints vs. Jets: Betting odds, picks & trends
New Orleans has one of the most high-powered attacks in the NFL, but can they beat a Rex Ryan defense gearing to stop them?
Chris Graythen
New Orleans is arguably the best team in football, coming in with a 6-1 record. This is why they are favored over the hosting Jets by seven points, according to Oddsshark.com. The over/under is 45.
The Saints have been historically very good at making bettors money when they oppose New York, going 6-1 against the spread since 1986. New Orleans figures to have a solid chance to run that record to 7-1, considering most teams cannot keep up with their high-octane offense. The Saints are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games.
This year, Drew Brees ranks third in the NFL with 2,290 passing yards, behind only Matthew Stafford and Peyton Manning. Brees has led the Saints to a sixth-ranked offense which averages 396 yards and 28 points per game. However, the Jets rank sixth on defense, permitted only 315 yards per contest. The big number here though is New York's penchant for allowing points, tied for 23rd at 26.4.
New York's defense is average against the pass, allowing 237 yards per game through the air. New Orleans will attack with a multitude of weapons, not the least of which is tight end Jimmy Graham. Receivers Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Kenny Stills will also be in the mix regularly, with Darren Sproles coming out of the backfield.
A couple of trends to consider is how the Jets play before they get a week off. New York has been very solid against the spread in recent times before its bye week, going 6-2 in the last eight years
"The Jets head into their bye week on a roll having sandwiched horrible losses to Cincy and Pitt around a big upset of the Patriots," says Mike Pickett of Odds Shark. "Nobody in Vegas knows what the hell the Jets are going to do, other than the historical fact that they never cover against New Orleans."
As for the over/under number of 45, consider that the Saints are the fourth-best scoring defense in the NFL, giving up only 17.1 points per game. On the other side, New York has been in some high-scoring affairs recently, going OVER in five of its last six games. It is a trend that somewhat surprises, with the Jets ranking 27th in scoring at 17.9 per game.
Computer pick | Saints 31, Jets 13More from SB Nation NFL
See More:
