Tag: experts

Many experts are picking the Saints this week, but not everyone

Many NFL experts are picking the Saints this week, but not all of them. Could they really drop a loss to the same Panthers team they beat earlier this year?

Surely the New Orleans Saints can sweep the same Carolina Panthers team they beat in Week 1. Right? According to surveying done by Pickwatch, 89% of NFL experts like the Saints to win this week. That means an 11% minority are siding with the Panthers.

While the Saints may have beaten this Panthers team once before, they’re still 2-6, and Carolina isn’t far behind at 1-7. One way or another, one of the NFL’s longest losing streaks will end this week with New Orleans having dropped six in a row and the Panthers riding five straight losses.

On top of that, the Saints are struggling with a ton of injuries in the secondary. Three of the four cornerbacks on their active roster missed practice earlier this week and they may need to call up multiple backups from their practice squad. We’ll get a better idea about everyone’s availability closer to Sunday, but this could be a favorable matchup for Bryce Young.

The fact of the matter is that the Saints haven’t played well enough over the last month to deserve much confidence in any matchup. That’s the reality for any team that’s lost six games in a row. If Dennis Allen’s team is going to rewrite that narrative and change that perception, they must find a way to win on Sunday.

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Just 13% of experts pick the Saints to beat Bucs in Week 6

The New Orleans Saints have dropped three consecutive games, and things only seem to be getting more abysmal. They must prove the experts wrong in Week 6:

The New Orleans Saints have dropped three consecutive games, and things only seem to be getting more abysmal.

The team’s once potent offense is now nowhere to be found. To make matters worse, it appears quarterback Derek Carr will be out for multiple games, meaning that rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler will have to adjust to the starting role with zero notice in the veteran’s absence.

After the Saints most recently fell 26-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, just 13% of analysts have faith that New Orleans will be able to get the job done against the Buccaneers according to surveying completed by Pickwatch.

This obviously doesn’t mean the Buccaneers have things in the bag, and they showed just how they can let things slip away when the Falcons practically handed them the game before ultimately forcing overtime and coming out with the 36-30 victory in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, sending Tampa Bay packing with a loss that could have been easily avoided.

But there’s no question there Saints have a lot of fixing to do and are now in at least a temporary state of transition at one of the most important positions in football.

If New Orleans is able to bounce back or if they continue to head down the wrong path on what would be a four-game losing streak remains be seen.

The Saints and the Buccaneers are set to kick off at Noon CT/1 p.m. ET at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday.

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Almost two-thirds of experts pick Saints to beat Eagles in Week 3

The good news? Almost two-thirds of experts are picking the Saints to beat the Eagles in Week 3. The bad news? They were almost all wrong about the Saints in Week 2:

Beating the snot out of the Dallas Cowboys helped the New Orleans Saints  win over a lot of doubters, but they don’t have everyone on their side just yet. According to surveying done by Pickwatch, about 37% of former players, media analysts, national writers, and other experts like the Philadelphia Eagles to pull off a road win at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday. Roughly 63% picked the Saints on Friday.

So that’s more than one-third of the football cognoscenti picking against the Saints. New Orleans is slightly favored in this game but it’s understandable to still see so many questions being raised about them. They’re the highest-scoring offense in the league, having proven those experts wrong one week ago, but how real is this resurgence? The last two years with Dennis Allen at head coach could be meaningful than their last two games.

Which means the mission is the same as it ever was: Prove these doubters  wrong. The Eagles were a trendy preseason Super Bowl pick and their uneven 1-1 start has left them looking vulnerable. The Saints could stick a fork in them with another dominant win this Sunday.

You figure New Orleans is bound to slow down sooner or later. Klint Kubiak’s offense is new and teams don’t have much film to study on it just yet. They may have a favorable strength of schedule but at some point teams are going to start keying in on Kubiak’s tendencies and adjusting accordingly. That could start as soon as this week. The Eagles aren’t an opponent they can take lightly.

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Who the experts are picking in Saints vs. Buccaneers

Who are the experts are picking in Saints vs. Buccaneers? Here are the Week 4 game picks from those in the know:

We’re in for a competitive matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday — but which team is being backed by those in the know? NFL experts, analysts, and bloggers all around submitted their game picks this week. Here’s who they like in Week 4’s game at the Caesars Superdome:

Experts hand out grades for Chiefs’ 2023 offseason

Some experts see #Chiefs GM Brett Veach’s vision for the offseason, while others graded it quite poorly.

The Kansas City Chiefs are in the midst of Phase 3 of the offseason program.

While Brett Veach’s work to compose a roster for the 2023 NFL season is hardly complete, the front office has assembled their initial 90-man roster. They’ve made additions at the top of the roster all the way down to the bottom, featuring some new faces who will help the team defend their Super Bowl title in 2023.

Some believe Kansas City had an offseason that will help Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes return to the Super Bowl. Others think the offseason acquisitions have been lackluster compared to the departures.

Below you’ll find a collection of grades for the Chiefs’ offseason from various media outlets:

Saints’ 2023 draft GPA leaves a lot to be desired

The Saints’ 2023 draft grade point average leaves a lot to be desired. Many experts feel most of the league did better on draft day:

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The 2023 New Orleans Saints draft class has been one that has gotten mixed reviews from around the NFL world. Now, we’re able to get a full view of what the consensus of the class is thanks to René Bugner putting together a compilation of 29 different draft grades to give every team a grade point average.

Doug Farrar at TouchdownWire put every team in order and gave his thoughts on the grade. Here were his thoughts on the Saints being ranked 22nd in the league with a 2.68 GPA.

The Saints lost a lot of talent along their defensive line in free agency, and they addressed that with authority in this draft. If Bryan Bresee can stay healthy, he’ll be one of the best interior disruptors in this entire draft class. He’s a natural one-gap penetrator, and you can line him up everywhere from nose shade to edge. I liked Isaiah Foskey’s tape more than some people I’ve talked to, and head coach Dennis Allen won’t have any trouble taking Foskey’s 12 sacks and 33 total pressures from last season and extracting that kind of production in his concepts.

Personally, I felt that this grade was much lower than expected going into the list. It feels a bit harsh for a team that mostly just filled needs they had going into the draft, minus potentially adding a linebacker. The selection of Bryan Bresee has been one that’s been criticized based on his past health concerns. The addition of Kendre Miller was another that could turn out to be much more important that some might be giving them credit for right now, with a looming Alvin Kamara trade.

One thing that has been repeatedly brought up when discussing the draft class was the trade last year that kept the Saints from using their first round pick this year. That should not be counted as a negative for this class, as it was also heavily criticized as a part of last year’s class which is more fair in my opinion.

Here is the full list of grades for every NFL team, provided by Bugner:

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Experts predict the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 record

Experts predict the New Orleans Saints’ record in 2023; how many wins do you see on this year’s schedule?

We’ve had a week to digest the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 schedule, and opinions vary quite a bit on just how good the team will be this year. There’s a lot of hand-wringing going on about how high Derek Carr can elevate their struggling offense (if at all, to hear some experts spin it) as well as whether Dennis Allen is the right head coach for this team after an unimpressive debut ten years after his Raiders stint went up in smoke.

All of the turnover and free agent departures hasn’t instilled much confidence, either, but this is still a team that can compete in a weak division and maybe make some noise if things go their way. Here’s what’s being written about the Saints and their fortunes for 2023:

How experts graded Jamel Dean’s re-signing

High marks all across the board for Jason Licht and the Bucs.

Cornerback [autotag]Jamel Dean[/autotag] isn’t going anywhere.

The upcoming fifth-year corner out of Auburn was expected to leave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency. Still, general manager Jason Licht was able to lock him up without the use of the franchise tag and without much cap room, signing him to a four-year, $52 million deal. The team will be happy to have him back in Tampa Bay, as Dean has accrued seven interceptions and defended 41 passes during his time as a Buc —he’ll be alongside Carlton Davis as one of the team’s shining pieces in the secondary heading into the 2023 season.

Here is what experts thought about Jamel Dean’s re-signing with the Bucs:

Week 10 NFL game picks suggests Saints-Steelers will be a toss-up

Week 10 NFL game picks suggests Saints-Steelers will be a toss-up

We’re on to Week 10’s slate of NFL games, but Sunday’s matchup between the 3-6 New Orleans Saints and 2-6 Pittsburgh Steelers isn’t easy to figure out. Neither of these teams have played inspiring football through the first half of their seasons. They’re both dealing with shaky quarterback situations, inconsistent-at-best defenses, and some baffling coaching decisions. To top it all off, the game will be played during a cloudy, windy 41-degree Sunday afternoon at Pittsburgh.

So it’s going to be ugly. And nobody seems to have an idea of which squad will walk away with a win — just 56% of experts surveyed by NFL Pickwatch this week like the Saints to win on the road, with a strong 44% minority favoring the Steelers coming out of their bye week.

That’s a better differential than the Saints have seen in recent weeks, but that goes to show just how dire of straits both teams find themselves here. And it makes sense seeing as they’ve won a combined 5 of their last 17 games. It’s shaping up for a sloppy, mid-November slugfest between two teams hoping to avoid their seventh loss on the season so far.

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Week 9 NFL expert picks come in for Ravens over Saints by a landslide

Week 9 NFL expert picks come in for Ravens over Saints by a landslide, with half as many game picks siding with New Orleans compared to a week ago:

Whew. 72% of last week’s NFL expert picks came in against the New Orleans Saints, and the black and gold proved them all wrong by winning a shutout at. This week, they’re facing even more doubters with 87% of this week’s game picks favoring the visiting Baltimore Ravens. NFL Pickwatch surveys weekly game picks from experts in the media and fan blogs from around the pro football landscape, and the outlook on the Saints this week isn’t any better than what we saw last week.

It’s actually worse — half as many experts like the Saints to repeat with a win over the Ravens on Monday night this week, with the group picking New Orleans falling from a 28% minority to a thin crowd of 13%. It makes sense when you look at the records (Baltimore is 5-3, while the Saints have an inverse mark at 3-5) and remember that Saints quarterback Andy Dalton has lost his last four games against his old AFC North rivals.

So it almost goes without saying that the Saints are facing long odds in this game. Baltimore is a very strong running team, averaging 165.6 yard on the ground each week. They’re also tied for the second-most rushing first downs (76) around the league. That’s a mismatch against the up-and-down Saints run defense, though New Orleans did just allow its lowest single-game rushing total (38 yards) of the season. With the Ravens managing injuries to two of their top three receiving threats in tight end Mark Andrews (488 receiving yards this season) and wide receiver Rashod Bateman (285), they’ll be looking to place an even greater emphasis on their run game this week. The Saints must be ready.

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