September 6 - After possibly the most tumultuous off season in NFL history,
the real action starts this Thursday when the reigning Super Bowl Champions, The
Green Bay Packers, host the 2009 champions, the New Orleans Saints in what has
to be a cracker of a match.
The legendary Lambeau field will be ready to party again at 8:20 local time.
The money line has been set at: Saints (+180), Packers (-210). Receive a $900 sports betting bonus when you sign up at
Betonline Sportsbook.
The New Orleans Saints
Forget the preseason. This game will tell us how much the lockout has
disrupted team preparations. Word is that the Saints had a very organized
off-season amid all the uncertainty and that they are looking to turn around
what was a very disappointing 2010. Their defense let them down (giving up an
average of 5,2 yards per play), and the season culminated in a totally
unexpected drubbing in the playoffs by the unlikely Seattle Seahawks. Most
people will look at a loss like that and call it a bad day at the office.
Exceptional people like Drew Brees will live, eat and sleep everything that went
wrong and spend every waking moment working out how to fix it.
Brees and Coach Payton will look to kick start the 2009 version of the Saints
offense. No Reggie Bush you say? They have a Heisman winner in rookie Mark
Ingram to make up for that and Pierre Thomas should step up when he returns from
injury. Brees carved up the Raiders in last week's warm-up game and their was an
ominous air about the way he went about his business. Look out.
Quick Pick: Drew Brees is 11/2 to throw the most yards this season
and with Peyton Manning looking like a non starter in the first round, grab
this bet before Thursday's opener at
Bodog.
The Green Bay Packers
Green Bay snuck into the playoffs last year and then proceeded to play
perfect playoff football on the road, proving their pedigree as a team that can
win big games. Their beating of the Steelers in the Super Bowl proved that. As
with the Saints, they have not looked to make big names signings but will rely
ion their depth and the addition of a few exciting rookies to their roster. Will
they suffer the dreaded Super Bowl hangover, ort will hangovers be left for the
celebrating fans to deal with? Their MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers will have
something to say about that and if they can win a Super Bowl with barely a
running game to speak of, their healthy RB's will add a dimension to their play
this year.
Our Prediction: Saints vs Packers
The last meeting between these two teams was a scoring frenzy with a total of
80 points scored to make the 51.5 kickoff total look ridiculous. The over/under
is around 47 at most bookies right now and that will probably still go up.
It comes as no surprise that the betting favors the Packers, which is
understandable seeing they are 24-12 ATS. The Saints seem to play well against
the Northern teams and although their record on grass is inferior to that of the
Packers, they will enjoy the warmer weather this time of year.
Our Pick: Saints +4, Over
Click on one of the bookie logos below to bet instantly at the odds as
displayed.
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