Falcons vs Saints NFL Week 12 Spread & Analysis for Thanksgiving

The New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons were the first two teams that the National Football League placed in the Deep South of the United States, and they will meet for the 100th time on Thursday night in a prime-time affair. The Falcons have won 52 of the 99 previous meetings, although the Saints won the last one, prevailing in overtime by a score of 43-37 back in September when the teams met in Atlanta. The Falcons will come in on the heels of a 22-19 home loss to Dallas on Sunday, while the Saints have not lost since their season opener and throttled Philadelphia on Sunday night by the score of 48-7. Will the Saints keep their winning streak going? Or will the Falcons mount what would be a considerable upset? Take a look at our sports betting insights into this Thanksgiving finale between Falcons vs Saints.

Falcons vs Saints NFL Week 12 Spread & Analysis for Thanksgiving

99 times. That’s how many times we have gone to battle against the Saints. Only once, back in 1991, have we met them in the postseason. STORY – https://t.co/bXoyyzw2Pq pic.twitter.com/vO6Pnd08ex

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 20, 2018

When: Thursday, November 22, 2018, 4:30pm ET Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans TV: NBC Radio: Westwood One Live Stream: NFL Live NFL Week 12 Odds: New Orleans -13, O/U 59

Why should you bet on the Falcons?

The Falcons come in with their backs against the wall, sitting at 4-6 and having dropped five of their last eight and three of their last four on the road. A seventh loss at this point of the season would make a postseason berth all but impossible given the schedule they have remaining. The offense that took Atlanta to the Super Bowl two years ago is all but unrecognizable; despite a 71.1% completion percentage, Matt Ryan has only thrown one touchdown pass in three of his last six games, and the high-flying passing game that features Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu and rookie Calvin Ridley has sputtered. Some of this has to do with the fact that the Falcons only run for about 88 yards per game, led by 500 yards from Tevin Coleman. The defense has been somewhat porous as well, giving up 27 points per game. Atlanta has played well historically on Thursdays for bettors, covering in seven of their last nine midweek contests. However, the road has not been as kind, as they have covered just once in their last five away from home. In this recent streak, they have covered just twice in their last eight games overall. Losing to Cleveland and then Dallas has made the Falcons look like things are falling apart at the wrong time, but the parity in the NFL is all about teams who look lost turning things around when fans and bettors least expect it.

Why should you put your money on the Saints?

New Orleans is on a roll right now, winners of nine in a row, including four straight at home. Drew Brees is absolutely locked in, with a 77% completion rate on the season and 25 touchdowns against just a single interception. His top three targets have been Tre’Quan Smith and Michael Thomas, along with Alvin Kamara out of the backfield. Kamara also leads the running game with 617 yards and 11 scores through ten games. On defense, New Orleans has largely shored up what had been a problem early, holding opponents to 23.9 points per game. New Orleans has covered the spread in five of their last seven games against the Falcons at home. Even though the underdog has covered in eight of these teams’ last ten meetings, the fact here is that the Falcons are in disarray, while the Saints appear to be firing on all cylinders. It’s true that the point differential was just six when these teams met back in September, but New Orleans has improved significantly on defense, while the Falcons have lost to two of the league’s most inconsistent teams.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

New Orleans is going nuts right now, and the Falcons have gone into meltdown mode on defense. Yes, the Falcons held Dallas to six points over three quarters last week, but the Saints have a lot more weapons than the Cowboys. I predict a final score of New Orleans 38, Atlanta 20.