The New Orleans Saints are 5-0 straight up and 3-2 against the spread in their last five postseason home games. The Saints can extend that winning streak to six with a win this Sunday over the Carolina Panthers.
Panthers vs. Saints 2018 odds: NFC South playoff clash has New Orleans as the favorite
The New Orleans Saints will try to continue their postseason home dominance hosting the rival Carolina Panthers on Sunday as clear chalk at the sportsbooks.
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New Orleans is a 7-point home favorite in this wild card matchup at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In their last eight games against divisional opponents the Saints are 6-2 ATS.
Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints
When: Sunday, January 7, 4:40 p.m. ET
Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Betting Line / Total: New Orleans -7 / 47.5 Points
New Orleans Saints
The Saints actually left the door open for Carolina to win the NFC North when they lost 31-24 on the road to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday but managed to hold on for the division title when Carolina was defeated by Atlanta.
Since scorching through a good chunk of their schedule with an 8-0 SU and 6-2 ATS run, the Saints have gone 3-3 SU and 2-4 ATS over their last six games. All three of those losses came on the road however as New Orleans has won each of its last seven games at home.
New Orleans is 5-0-1 ATS in its last six games against the Panthers per the OddsShark NFL Database. That includes two wins and covers as 5.5-point favorites over Carolina in 2017.
Carolina Panthers
Outside of going 0-2 SU and ATS against the Saints this season, the Panthers decimated the majority of their schedule going 11-3 SU and 9-4-1 ATS over their other 14 games.
Carolina rolled into its season finale against Atlanta with a 7-1 SU and 6-2 ATS record over its last eight games but failed to come away with the upset in a 22-10 loss. The Panthers are 0-3 SU and 0-2-1 ATS in their last three postseason games away from home.
Sunday night’s total is set at 47.5 points. The OVER is 8-0 in New Orleans’ last eight playoff home games.
Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 there have been 20 instances in which a team that went 2-0 in the regular season against an opponent went on to face that opponent in the postseason. The team that won the two regular season matchups is 13-7 SU in those 20 instances. For Carolina to buck that trend, the Panthers will need to slow down a Saints offense that has averaged 32.8 points per game in the last five games of this series.
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