The final match of the week in the NFL is the Monday Night Football and this week it is one which has huge implications for the New Orleans Saints. They head to NFC South rivals Carolina Panthers with a win giving them control of the number one seed.
The Saints have already won the division and will have a first round bye in the postseason but to secure home field advantage throughout would be a massive thing. Carolina aren’t playing for nothing though. They still harbour dreams of a wildcard so we should be in for quite some game.
Carolina Panthers
If the former champions are to make it back to the playoffs they are going to need to end a five match losing streak here. They will know they are going to need three wins from their final three matches and possibly a prayer on top to get back into playing football in January and that has to start here.
If that is to happen then their defence is going to need to stand up and be counted. It has been getting torched recently and suffering as a result. It has now been eight matches since a team did not score 20pts against them and that isn’t going to get them anywhere. With two matches against the Saints in their last three outings they have a tough run in but it can become slightly easier with a win here.
New Orleans Saints
The defeat for Los Angeles Rams will have been celebrated long and hard in ‘Who Dat’ country but that will count for nothing if they New Orleans Saints do not win this match. If they do win this one then they will know that two more wins in the final two games will secure the number one seed for January.
The Saints are not used to losing either. They have only lost once since the opening week of the season and that was to a Dallas Cowboys side who were excellent on the night. If there is a concern it is that their offense has just slowed down a wee bit in recent matches but the flip side of that is that they’ve not conceded more than 17pts in any of their last five matches.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
If there is a chalk and cheese side in the NFL then it is the Carolina Panthers. I say that because although they have a losing record on the season, only one of their seven losses have come at home. They have lost their last five matches but four of them have been on the road so we would be foolish not to expect a better performance from them in this encounter.
New Orleans Saints have been excellent this season but there have been clear signs of a slowing down of their offense in recent matches and that is a concern when going on the road. I’ve often thought Carolina are a happier side as the underdogs to the big teams and I wouldn’t be surprised if they follow Philadelphia in causing a major upset this weekend. That said, the Saints could find a way over the line but given that it is just about winning for New Orleans these days I’ll back the Panthers to stay within 6.5pts here.
Tips
WON – Back Carolina Panthers (+6.5) to beat New Orleans Saints for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Betfred
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018
