New Orleans Saints v. Green Bay Packers Odds
The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers are set to kick off the 2011-12 NFL season Thursday at Lambeau Field in a matchup of the last two Super Bowl champions.
NFL odds makers believe the Packers have the edge, listing them as a 4-point favorite. The total is currently set at 47.
While both defenses were among the best in the NFL in 2010, they have their work cut out for themselves in trying to slow down Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers.
Brees topped the 4,000-yard mark for a fifth-straight season in 2010, throwing for 4,620 yards with 33 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
Rodgers threw for 3,922 yards with 28 touchdown strikes and 11 picked off a year ago.
Brees has shown he can shred any secondary on any given Sunday, but he’ll have to be careful against a Green Bay stop unit that finished second in the league last season in both sacks (47) and interceptions (24).
The New Orleans defense didn’t make as many big plays as it in 2009, but it was tough as nails against the pass. The Saints ranked No. 4 in the NFL with 193.9 passing yards allowed per game in 2010.
This game very well could be decided by which team does a better job of running the football. Both the Saints and Packers would like to be a little more balanced this year.
Due to injuries, the New Orleans running attack took a major step back in 2010 and ranked just 28th in the league with 94.9 yards per game on the ground.
Green Bay’s running game was also hurt by injuries and ranked 24th in the NFL with 100.4 yards per game.
The Saints are hoping for a bounce back year from Pierre Thomas and have attempted to bolster their running back stable with former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram.
The Packers are counting on Ryan Grant to bounce back after missing nearly all of last season with a broken bone in his ankle.
Defensively, both teams were mediocre against the run in 2010. The Saints ranked 16th in the league with 112.3 rushing yards allowed per game and the Packers ranked 18th with 114.9 rushing yards allowed per contest.
The Saints have had the edge in this series lately, winning the two most recent meetings in 2006 and 2008. The Saints were slight favorites in both of the those meetings, and the favorite is 4-1 against the spread in the last five meetings between these teams.
It is worth noting that the Packers are 7-2 against the number in their last nine games as a favorite and 5-1-1 against the spread in their last seven games as a fave of 3.5 to 10.0 points.
In terms of the over/under, the over has been the play. In fact, these teams have played to the over in their last five matchups. This trend could continue as the Saints and Packers both ranked in the top 11 in scoring last season.
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