Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints Spread

The New Orleans Saints (13-3) carry an eight-game winning streak into Saturday’s NFC wild card showdown with the Detroit Lions (10-6).

Odds makers are confident the Saints’ winning streak will continue, listing them as an 11-point favorite with the total set at 59.

Already having the No. 3 seed clinched and needing the San Francisco 49ers to lose to the St. Louis Rams to move up, New Orleans could have rested Drew Brees. Instead, coach Sean Payton elected to play his star quarterback, who completed 28 of 35 passes for 389 yards with five touchdowns and one interception in Sunday’s 45-17 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Seven completions, including two touchdown tosses, went to Marques Colston, who led the team with 145 receiving yards.

Christopher Ivory led the way on the ground with 127 of the team’s 208 rushing yards and a score.

The Lions are making their first playoff appearance since the 1999 season and will be looking for their first postseason victory since a win in the divisional round against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1991 season. The Lions seemingly could have improved their chances of ending a six-game postseason skid by beating the Green Bay Packers last week.

A win over the Packers would have earned the Lions the No. 5 seed and a Sunday game against the New York Giants.

Not Aaron Rodgers, who was kept out, but Matt Flynn, who threw for 480 yards with six touchdowns and one interception, outdueled Matthew Stafford in Detroit’s 45-41 loss.

Stafford connected on 36 of 59 passes for 520 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. 11 passes, including a touchdown toss, found Calvin Johnson, who led the team with 244 receiving yards.

Kevin Smith led the ground attack with 35 of the team’s 73 rushing yards.

The Saints have won the last three in this series by an average of 22.3 points with the most recent being a 31-17 win in the Superdome on Dec. 4.

One has to like New Orleans’ chances Saturday if Brees, who completed 26 of 36 passes for 342 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in that December win, continues to perform at a high level.

Brees, who broke Dan Marino’s record for passing yards in a season with 5,476, also broke Peyton Manning’s 2010 mark of 450 completions with 468 and his own 2009 completion percentage record of 70.6 percent by completing 71.6 percent of his throws.

11 points is a lot to lay in a playoff game, but the Saints have earned the respect odds makers are showing them. After all, they are 8-0 straight up and against the spread at home, where they have won by an average 23.2 points.

In regard to the total, the over likely deserves some consideration. That’s because the Saints have finished over the number in each of their last four home playoff games.

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