experts picks – Syndication Server

Only 12% of NFL experts pick Saints to upset Chiefs on ‘Monday Night Football’

Just 12% of NFL experts picked the New Orleans Saints to pull off an upset against the Kansas City Chiefs on “Monday Night Football.” Early-season confidence has worn thin:

It feels like it’s been a lifetime since the New Orleans Saints rocketed out to a couple of 30-point victories in the first two weeks of the 2024 season, and now they’re seen as a long shot to upset the Kansas City Chiefs on “Monday Night Football.” Early-season confidence has worn thin, and a 2-2 record is an easy explanation.

According to surveying done by Pickwatch, only 12% of former players, analysts, and other experts from around the NFL media landscape back the Saints this week. An overwhelming 88% majority feel safe picking the 4-0 Chiefs.

Now this doesn’t mean it’s a lock for Kansas City. These same experts have been wrong about the Saints twice already this season. And the Chiefs aren’t exactly playing perfect football. They’ve just buckled down and done enough to make up for their mistakes when it matters most.

At the same time, that’s what great teams do. It’s something that has eluded the Saints through two recent losses. If New Orleans can figure out how to stay out of their own way and put points on the board without giving up the big play, they’ll have a shot. You just can’t ever count out Patrick Mahomes.

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More experts pick against the Saints than for them in Week 4

The experts have been wrong about the Saints two weeks in a row. Let’s hope that continues now that they like the Falcons to win in Week 4:

According to Pickwatch, 56% of NFL experts — a group of media analysts, former players and coaches — are taking the Atlanta Falcons over the New Orleans Saints in Week 4. They’ve been wrong about the Saints in each of the last two weeks, so let’s hope that trend continues.

Two-thirds of these same experts backed the Saints one week ago against the Philadelphia Eagles, which was a game New Orleans lost 15-12. And before that, an astounding 97% of them took the Dallas Cowboys. The Saints won that one 44-19.

Pro football is a tough sport to predict. Teams are often evenly matched and it may take only a slight advantage here or there for things to tailspin out of control. We’ll see what matters most on Sunday when the Saints match up with the division-rival Atlanta Falcons. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon CT/1 p.m. ET from Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

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97% of experts picked the wrong team in Saints vs. Cowboys

Nobody’s perfect, but it’s shocking for so many people to be so wrong about this. 97% of experts picked the wrong team in Saints vs. Cowboys:

Nobody’s perfect, but it’s shocking for so many people to be so wrong about this. According to surveying conducted by NFL Pickwatch before kickoff on Sunday morning, 97% of experts picked the wrong team in Week 2’s New Orleans Saints versus Dallas Cowboys game. The Saints won instead, 44-19.

But it’s easy to see why there was so much confidence backing Dallas from neutral observers. The Cowboys were returning from last year’s playoffs and the Saints weren’t. Dallas was riding a 16-game win streak at home — one of the last quarterbacks to beat them inside AT&T Stadium in the regular season, Tom Brady, was on the FOX Sports broadcast for this game. The Cowboys were the easy pick here.

It goes to show you that the easy choice isn’t always the correct one. Many folks watching from home wrote off the Saints’ big Week 1 win because it happened against the lowly Carolina Panthers. We’re guessing it’ll be tough to write off this one now that the Cowboys team many of those viewers picked to win the Super Bowl got embarrassed just as badly as Carolina.

So what does that mean for the Saints? Expectations are higher now. They can’t rest on their laurels and take it easy from here. Every team left on their schedule is going to hope they aren’t the ones Alvin Kamara is breaking another record against, or that Tyrann Mathieu won’t be picking off their quarterback. Nobody wants to see Derek Carr strutting around their end zone. It’s on the Saints to make all those things happen anyway and continue winning over their doubters.

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Week 17 picks: Who the experts are taking in Saints vs. Buccaneers

The Buccaneers are not a unanimous pick to beat the Saints this week, but it’s as close as it gets: 51 of 52 experts are picking against New Orleans in Week 17:

Who are you picking to win once the New Orleans Saints (7-8) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-7) take the field on Sunday? These two teams couldn’t be in more different states despite their comparable records. The Saints are still reeling from an embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Rams last week in front of a national audience, and they could be eliminated from playoff qualification with another loss to the Bucs.

And those Buccaneers have won four games in a row. If they get one more and take down the Saints this week, they’ll win the NFC South and clinch a playoff berth in the process. The Saints very much have their backs against the wall.

Here’s a quick look at the game picks from 52 experts across a variety of platforms as kickoff approaches:

Week 6 picks: Who the experts are taking in Saints vs. Texans

We’re on to Week 6 of the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 season, this time headed for another road game with an AFC opponent — and the Saints have to be hoping for a repeat of last week’s performance in a dominate win over the reeling New England Patriots.

But the Houston Texans present a number of different challenges, mostly at quarterback. Rookie standout C.J. Stroud appears to be the real deal. He ranks third in the league in passing yards through his first five games, and he has yet to throw his first interception. The Saints defense will have their work cut out for them in slowing him down.

So who do those in the know like in this game? Let’s review the Week 6 NFL expert picks for Sunday’s Saints-Texans matchup:

NFL Divisional round picks: ‘Experts’ leaning toward Bills over Bengals

Who the ‘experts’ are taking in #Bills vs. #Bengals:

The Buffalo Bills are vying to take one step closer to Super Bowl 57 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On Sunday, the Bills will host the Bengals in the Divisional round at Highmark Stadium.

Can the Bills pull it off with all eyes on them?

The so-called “experts” are leaning toward yes.

According to NFL Pickwatch, 66 percent of writers, analysts, and talking heads on television have picked Buffalo to beat Cincinnati.

In this case, these folks are going with the oddsmakers as well. The Bills enter Sunday as a 5.5-point favorite over the Bengals.

Even so, we still find a couple that think the defending champs will beat Buffalo.

For those curious of who they might want to take note of who is not “Bill-eving,” a few of those picking Cincy to win include: Albert Breer (Sports Illustrated), Dan Graziano (ESPN), and Maurice Jones-Drew (NFL Network).

Some of those staying on the Bills bandwagon: Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports), Cynthia Frelund (NFL.com), and Pete Prisco (CBS Sports).

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Week 6 NFL expert picks don’t like the Saints to win vs. Bengals

Week 6 NFL experts picks don’t like the Saints to win vs. Bengals

Whew, that’s daunting. The New Orleans Saints and the Cincinnati Bengals have achieved the same mediocre 2-3 record going into their Week 6 clash, but the experts don’t think this one will be close. Per surveying of national media outlets and fan blogs around the league’s orbit at NFL Pickwatch, an overwhelming majority of expert picks (87%) are coming in for the visiting Bengals, not the home-underdog Saints (just 13%).

Unfortunately, it’s easy to see why this is so lopsided. Injuries have decimated the Saints, almost literally — 14 of the 53 players on their active roster were listed on the injury report this week, with non-participants including wide receivers Michael Thomas (foot), Jarvis Landry (ankle), and Deonte Harty (foot) as well as top cornerback Marshon Lattimore (abdomen) and backup defensive end Payton Turner (chest).

So the Saints will be missing multiple starters when both squads hit the field in New Orleans on Sunday, but the Bengals should have all hands on deck: their only non-participants in practice this week were left tackle Jonah Williams (knee) and wide receiver Tee Higgins (ankle), who were both held out as precautionary measures and are expected to play.

Hopefully the Saints can rally to overcome all of these absences. The Bengals offense has struggled to create explosive plays early this season, which has been the biggest vulnerability for New Orleans. Cutting down on those mistakes without Lattimore will be difficult, to say the least, but it helps that the Cincinnati offense hasn’t exactly gotten the most out of its talent. Let’s hope they remain stagnant one more week to give the Saints a fighting chance.

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Just 5% of NFL experts pick Saints to beat Buccaneers in Week 8

NFL Pickwatch: Just 5% of NFL experts pick Saints to beat Buccaneers in Week 8

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Not many spectators like the New Orleans Saints’ chances this week. According to surveying conducted by NFL Pickwatch, a staggering 95% of analysts like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to find a win at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday. Only a slight minority are picking the underdog Saints to pull off an upset.

On paper, Tampa Bay probably is the safe pick. They’re the reigning Super Bowl champions for good reason and they’ve achieved an impressive 6-1 record going into this game. The Saints, comparatively, have struggled to get their offense, defense, and special teams units on the same page while improving to 4-2 after their bye week.

That doesn’t mean the Buccaneers are a lock to win this game. They lost to the Saints twice last year, and no other defense gave Tom Brady more trouble thanks to their ability to pressure him with just four rushers while their playmaking secondary frustrated his receivers. If that formula translates to the 2021 matchup, it could buy the stagnant offense enough time to make some plays of their own.

NFL Week 2 picks: Majority of NFL experts course-correct after counting out Saints

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Here’s a tough scene. A week after more than 90% of NFL experts picked the Green Bay Packers to hand the New Orleans Saints a Week 1 loss, the pendulum has swung back towards the black and gold.

NFL Pickwatch has aggregated hundreds of game picks around the league’s orbit, and they’ve found that an overwhelming majority of analysts are picking the Saints in Week 2 over the Carolina Panthers: 87% of them, as of Friday morning. There’s a couple of observers buying in to Carolina’s close 19-14 win over the New York Jets, in which the Panthers’ average scoring drive began at their own 47 yard line.

That hardly means the Saints will run over the Panthers — if the team most experts picked to win came out victorious, they would’ve been on the other end of a 38-3 drubbing a week ago. But it should give Saints fans some confidence that New Orleans is trending in the right direction. That’s if seeing their team drop all those points on a popular Super Bowl pick didn’t do that already, anyway.

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NFL picks 2021, Week 1: Who the experts are taking in Saints vs. Packers

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Are the New Orleans Saints flying into Jacksonville for a Week 1 loss? Their season opener with the Green Bay Packers will be nationally broadcast with high expectations — mostly for Green Bay, who have become a trendy Super Bowl pick. The Saints are just hoping to reach the postseason. Still, many fans have remained optimistic.

But just 9% of the analysts and experts polled by NFL Pickwatch are giving the Saints a chance. An overwhelming 91% majority are penciling in Green Bay to win this weekend, which, well, isn’t ideal from New Orleans’ perspective.

So how can the Saints avoid that?

It all rides on Jameis Winston. If he can protect the football and pick the Packers secondary apart from the pocket, it creates more favorable looks for Alvin Kamara as a runner behind the league’s best offensive line. The more often the Saints can dictate the terms of this game on offense, the better for their defense. Green Bay’s least certain unit may be their own offensive line, and the Saints defensive line is built to take advantage of that. If they can rattle Aaron Rodgers and keep him out of rhythm, maybe they have a chance.