The NFL is about to debut in Sin City; my how times have changed! Is there a better way to close Week 2 NFL betting out than with a showdown in the desert between the New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders? I didn’t think so! Both of last week’s Monday Night matchups were snooze fests save for Stephen Gostkowski’s roller coaster of a night, but this matchup should deliver with some of the most exciting players in the league lining up for both teams. Each squad came out victorious last week, but linemakers at online sportsbooks have Drew Brees and company installed 6-point road favorites to come out on top with the total lined at 49.5. Should they do so, they’ll have to do it without the services of Michael Thomas whose expected to miss the next few weeks due to a high ankle sprain. This will be the franchise’s first showdown since 2016 when the Raiders went into the Superdome and scored the 35-34 outright win.
Watch this regular season NFL Week 2 matchup on Monday, September 21, 2020, at 7:15 p.m. ET from Allegiant Stadium. You can bet on NFL odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
NFL Odds at Bookmaker.eu
New Orleans Saints -6
Las Vegas Raiders +6
Over/Under 49.5
Odds Analysis
New Orleans initially hit the betting board as 4.5-point favorites with the O/U set at 50.5. The number to beat was immediately bet up to -7 with better than 70 percent of the betting handle that filtered in in favor of the line move. But since the news broke that Thomas would miss the game, the pointspread has dropped down to -6 and even hit -5.5 before being bet right back up. Though both squads played to high scorers last week, action on the total has been split but that didn’t prevent those setting the lines from lowering the impost a full point to 49.5. The Saints have covered each of their last four when installed road chalk, while the Raiders have gone 4-1-1 ATS their last six MNF appearances and 6-2 ATS the last eight times they caught points at home.
Injury Report
While hindsight is always 20/20, what in the world was Michael Thomas doing on the field late in the game with the Saints clearly having the game in hand? Better yet, why the heck was Sean Payton running plays to run up the score? His cockiness ultimately knocked out the league’s best receiver for the foreseeable future. Though No. 13 might only end up missing a few games, his play on the field soon after will be hampered by the injury. One only has to look at how many games it took Saquon Barkley to recover from the same injury last season. He wasn’t himself until the final month after suffering the injury in Week 3. This is still however a plus matchup for Saints pass catchers after the Raiders allowed the Panthers to rack up 270 yards of passing offense. With that, Emmanuel Sanders, Tre’Quan Smith and Jared Cook are going to see an uptick in targets so you might want to take a look at their player props once posted to see if there’s any value to take advantage of.
Player to Watch
Josh Jacobs: What a sophomore debut for the second year running back! Jacobs took a page out of Christian McCaffrey’s playbook and hung one of the highest fantasy scores of the week on the board by combining for 139 total yards and 3 TD. While Carolina’s defense pales in comparison to what the Saints will march onto the gridiron on Monday night, you can’t help but think Jacobs will succeed once again running behind one of the best offensive lines the league has to offer. I believe the folks over at Pro Football Focus underrated this unit just a bit when ranking them No. 11 overall heading into the regular season. The front wall didn’t concede a single sack last week and opened up holes big enough for me to run through. New Orleans ranked out with one of the best run stuffing defenses a season ago but gave up chunk yards to Ronald Jones last week. I’m thinking Vegas gets the ground attack going on Monday night. If so, they’ll be in this one all the way through with a shot at pulling the outright upset.
Free ATS Pick
I laid the chalk with both the Saints and Raiders in their respective games last week and cashed a pair of tickets. Even so, I didn’t come away all that impressed with New Orleans’ overall body of work. Brees did next to nothing through the air while Alvin Kamara struggled to get the ground game going. The duo was electric on dump-offs and screens, but the Raiders didn’t allow RUN CMC any breathing room in the passing game last week holding him to just 38 scoreless yards on three receptions. If Kamara goes HAM running the football, I’ll tip my cap in his general direction. I don’t see it happening though. Instead, I fully expect Las Vegas’ offensive line to control the game and instill its will in its historic home debut. With Brees’ safety valve not on the field, I think the Saints offense struggles. That in turn should have Jon Gruden taking the air out of the ball and eating as much clock as possible with Jacobs. Look for the Raiders to not only cover the game but win it outright in a lower scoring outcome than most would like to see play out.
NFL Pick: Raiders 24, Saints 20
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