Saints' sins should make them big Week 4 dogs

By LARRY JOSEPHSON

The NFL is a cold and lonely place for teams going zero-for-September, and that’s the pickle that the New Orleans Saints are currently in.

New Orleans’s stunning loss at home to Kansas City on Sunday left the new “Aint’s” 0-3 SU, 0-3 against the spread and 0-2 at home. The road back to even mediocrity doesn’t get easier.

There’s no line out yet as of Monday, but New Orleans figures to be a significant dog when it travels to Green Bay this weekend (The Sports Clubs, a Nevada-based odds service suggests Packers -7). The Saints return home in Week 5 (San Diego), and it’s possible that they will be getting points in the Superdome for the first time since the final game of the 2008 season (Chargers -1).

New Orleans can’t move the ball with the same swagger as it has in the last three years, but the real problem is defense. Incredibly, the Saints are dead last in the league in yards allowed. Stopping the run is a real issue (Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles coasted for 233 yards Sunday), and they’re not a heck of a lot better against the pass. Because they can’t get off the field on third down, their cumulative three-game time of possession numbers are horrid (140-76).

“This is a team that is used to laying big numbers at the Superdome,” says Covers Expert Bryan Power. “Last season they went 9-0 SU and ATS there (including one playoff game), and clearly they are going to have to give back some as oddsmakers make a major adjustment.”

Power speculates that the absence of head coach Sean Payton due to “Bountygate” penalties may have had a major impact on Drew Brees, who has fallen to 25th in the league in QB rating (77.0) after finishing second last year, 12th in 2010 and first in 2009. “Brees,” points out Power, “was pretty average before hooking up with Payton.”

Brees, for his part, vows to turn things around but won’t say exactly how or what the rest of the season holds for the 2010 Super Bowl winners. But whatever happens, the post-Katrina glow is definitely off the rose in New Orleans, and it might be time for bettors to look elsewhere.

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Featured Free Play

MLB: Colorado vs. Toronto

Pick:: Toronto
Start:: June 19, 2013 - 7:07 PM
Capper:: Bryan Power
Offered at:: betonline @ -150 Toronto
Analysis:

1* Toronto (7:07 ET): The Toronto Blue Jays came into the 2013 season w/ plenty of hype. They quickly fell on their face, and in fact still remain in last place of a very competitive American League East. But recently, things are trending upward in the form of a season-high seven-game win streak for the Jays. Wednesday sees them going for a three-game sweep of the Rockies. I think they'll get it.....

Toronto allowed three runs yesterday. It was the most runs they'd allowed in the last six games. In the previous five, they allowed a total of four. One of those was a start from Mark Buehrle, who gets the nod here. Last time out, the southpaw went seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, as Toronto won 8-0. In Buehrle's last two starts, he's allowed just 1 ER over 14 IP. Buehrle has an all-time 32-13 team start record in Interleague Play.

Meanwhile, Colorado has dropped 22 of 27 games vs. the American League dating back to last year. That includes a 3-9 record this year, averaging just 3.0 runs per game. They have never won in Toronto, batting just .176 in eight games here. Starter Juan Nicasio is winless in his last five starts and has yet to make it past the sixth inning all season. Toronto and Buehrle are just too hot right now. 1* Toronto.

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