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Teddy Bridgewater is set to make his return to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome against his old team, but his Carolina Panthers appear to be in for a tough time versus the New Orleans Saints.
The BetMGM Sportsbook opened up with the Saints as 7.5-point favorites at home against the Panthers, with an over/under set at 50.5. That suggests a final score in the neighborhood of Saints 30, Panthers 22.
That’s very pedestrian, but we’ll take it. The Saints defense hasn’t held an opponent to 22 points or fewer all season (coming closest in their season-opening 34-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), averaging more than 31 points allowed in four of their first five games.
Conversely, Bridgewater’s offense has struggled to turn up the heat: the Panthers have been limited to 22 points or fewer in half of their games so far, including Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Chicago Bears. They’ll hope to keep that from becoming a firmer trend against the Saints.
Elsewhere around the NFC South: the lowly Atlanta Falcons are favored by a field goal while hosting the Detroit Lions with the highest over/under of the week (56.5), while the Buccaneers are narrow 2.5-point favorites on the road with the resilient Las Vegas Raiders in another maybe-high-scoring game (over/under of 53.5). The Saints are ranked second-best in the NFC South right now, but a win over Carolina and a Buccaneers road loss would help New Orleans’ case.
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