Simulation Picks
Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
Maximize Your Odds of Winning with SportsLine Model and Our Top-Rated Picks!
Understanding Public and Money
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Expert Picks
The perfect mix of a team I love to pick for and one I love to pick against. Considering the Saints can lock up a playoff home game next weekend with a win, I expect New Orleans to be out in full force against Tampa. The improved Saints defense will turn Jameis Winston over a couple times, and New Orleans has far too many offensive weapons for the Bucs to keep up. The Saints have only won a single game by fewer than six points this season.
The Saints excel in ATS terms away from home, covering 13 of the last 17. Their ATS mark in division games like this one, at 13-3 for the past two years, is just as impressive. That includes a 20-point beating of Tampa Bay this year. The Bucs have been an ATS bust, going 5-9-1 this season. New Orleans has plenty of motivation, with a win locking down a home playoff game next weekend.
The Bucs have been scrappy in their last few games, and only four of their 11 losses have been by more than six points. But the Saints are the complete opposite, finishing 10 of their 11 wins with at least an eight-point margin. They're 8-2 ATS as favorites (and would be 9-1 if not for the weird Jets game), and they take one of the league's best offenses to Tampa to play one of the league's worst defenses. The Bucs haven't had a week off all year due to a rescheduled bye, and I think they could pack it in early against a team looking to lock up a division title.