Tag: nfl pickwatch

Saints overwhelmingly backed to beat Rams in Week 11 expert picks

Worried about a jinx? Week 11 expert picks show the Saints are overwhelmingly backed to beat the Rams on Sunday:

Huh? The latest NFL expert picks are in for Week 11, and the New Orleans Saints have a large crowd backing them up at NFL Pickwatch. A stunning 72% of game picks surveyed from around the league’s media landscape like the Saints to win at home and cut their losing streak off at two games. Just 28% of experts like the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11 as of 9 a.m. ET on Friday.

While the Saints are in dire straits, the Rams might be worse off. Both squads have only won three games this season, and L.A. has been struggling to shift gears on offense even before superstar receiver Cooper Kupp went down with an injury. Their offensive line has been shuffling on a weekly basis, and quarterback Matthew Stafford is working his way through the final stages of concussion protocol. Their defense has looked toothless at times even when healthy.

So while many observers may like the Saints to win this game, it’s probably going to come down to the wire. New Orleans is managing a ton of injuries on both sides of the ball; four of their five starters along the offensive line have been listed on the injury report this week, as well as both defensive ends and top cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Neither team is close to full strength. We’ll see who comes through on Sunday.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyahgz6p2j3xp7 player_id=none image=https://saintswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[pickup_prop id=”29872″]

[listicle id=118448]

NFL experts aren’t unanimous in picking Saints over Falcons in Week 18

NFL experts aren’t unanimous in picking Saints over Falcons in Week 18

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”AwD0Z9e0UB-1715528-7498″]

Will the New Orleans Saints’ season end on Sunday? A loss to the Atlanta Falcons would eliminate them from playoff contention, and those in the know aren’t in agreement that the Saints can avoid it. According to Week 18 game picks surveyed by NFL Pickwatch, a 76% majority of experts are siding with the Saints as of noon ET Friday. That leaves a sizeable 24% minority angling for a Falcons upset.

Ironically, that’s the same ratio of game picks coming in for the Los Angeles Rams (76%) and San Francisco 49ers (24%). New Orleans needs to beat Atlanta while hoping for a Rams win to get them into the postseason, and while that appears to be likely, it’s far from certain.

Getting all hands on deck would help. The Saints welcomed All-Pro right tackle Ryan Ramczyk back at practice this week after a knee injury sidelined him for seven games. More starters clearing COVID-19 protocols like center Erik McCoy and free safety Marcus Williams would do a lot to help build confidence in New Orleans ahead of the regular season finale.

But the experts have been wrong before. A staggering 99% of them picked against the Saints before their 9-0 road win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just a few weeks ago. Ultimately, they’re guessing about game results just like everyone else. Let’s see if the Saints can prove them right this time.

Follow the Saints Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

Two-thirds of NFL experts pick against the Saints in Week 3

NFL Pickwatch: Two-thirds of NFL experts pick against the Saints in Week 3

I mean, it’s tough to blame them, right? The New Orleans Saints just turned in maybe the least inspiring performance in Sean Payton’s 15-year tenure, and only 33% of experts polled at NFL Pickwatch are choosing them to defeat the New England Patriots in Week 3.

On the other hand, the Saints did the same thing to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 (who struggled to shift gears against the Detroit Lions on Monday night until they pulled away in the second half). Their Jekyll and Hyde act makes them tough to forecast.

A vast majority of experts picked against the Saints in Week 1, then backed the black and gold in Week 2 (to their regret). Let’s see if the Saints can prove them wrong again, but for the better this time.

[lawrence-related id=50727]

[listicle id=50685]

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

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

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”oQ6HYt4IID-1511170-7498″]

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.

[listicle id=50389]

NFL expert picks seriously split on the Saints for the first time this season

NFL experts picks are close to an even 50/50 split on the New Orleans Saints for their Divisional Round playoff game with the Buccaneers.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”wKnO3C3MPn-1110977-7498″]

Is the third time the charm? The New Orleans Saints defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handily — twice — this season, but NFL experts appear to be throwing out those results to treat this latest rematch as a toss-up.

Per NFL Pickwatch, just 56% of experts are picking the Saints to win, while a whopping 44% are siding with the Buccaneers. That’s the closest thing to an even 50/50 split since Week 3’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers, when the picks went the other way — 65% of those surveyed liked Green Bay to win, and the Packers did end up with a victory.

But the Saints faced their largest margin of experts picking against them in Week 9’s game with this same Buccaneers team, when only 15% of the talking heads and national writers called for a New Orleans upset. Of course, the Saints won that game 38-3, and they’ll be hoping for a similar result on Sunday to advance deeper into the postseason.

[listicle id=42536]

NFL experts picks: Saints are a near-unanimous choice to beat the 49ers

The New Orleans Saints are a popular pick to defeat the San Francisco 49ers during Week 10 of the 2020 NFL regular season, per expert picks.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”AGHmz33KJK-1036276-7498″]

The New Orleans Saints know the dangers of being the popular pick to win a game. None of the network analysts sided with them on Sunday night a week ago, and the Saints embarrassed them all by demolishing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a near-shutout. So it’s good to see some outliers in this week’s survey.

Per NFL Pickwatch, 99% of NFL experts have picked the Saints to defeat the San Francisco 49ers, which isn’t the same as 100%. There are still a couple of islands of resistance out there angling for the 49ers to pull off an upset. And thank goodness, because unanimous picks for New Orleans would almost certainly spell bad news for them.

If the Green Bay Packers lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it will be because 100% of experts picked Green Bay over the 1-7 squad. Of course.

[listicle id=40227]

Just 15% of NFL experts picked Saints to defeat Buccaneers

An overwhelming 85% of experts surveyed by NFL Pickwatch sided with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to defeat the underdog New Orleans Saints.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”CTcajPMRlC-1030047-7498″]

Kickoff is minutes away, and the New Orleans Saints are underdogs again. It’s been quite a while — this is the first time in 2020 that they have not been favored to win a game, and the vast majority of NFL experts have gone against them.

Per NFL Pickwatch, just 15% of surveyed picks came in for New Orleans. A commanding 85% of picks went to Tampa Bay, including all six members of the NBC panel on “Sunday Night Football.”

We’ll see if that confidence is rewarded. The Saints (and Saints fans in particular) have historically relished playing the underdog role during the Sean Payton era. And for what it’s worth, they’re just 5-2 in games they have been favored (and picked) to win. Maybe they can start things off on the right foot with a victory while everyone is ruling them out.

[vertical-gallery id=39837]

NFL experts picks go against Saints for the first time in Week 3

NFL experts are picking the Green Bay Packers against the New Orleans Saints in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday Night Football Week 3.

[jwplayer 55f1rSAh-ThvAeFxT]

The majority of NFL experts picked the New Orleans Saints to win each of their first two matchups in the 2020 season, but the tide has shifted with the Green Bay Packers coming to town.

Game picks collected by NFL Pickwatch on Friday have 65% of experts siding with the Packers, while just 35% like the Saints to defend the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. For context, last week 90% of experts picked the Saints on “Monday Night Football” with the Las Vegas Raiders, while an 86% majority picked New Orleans over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1.

That’s quite a big swing, but that’s going to happen when the Saints defense makes Derek Carr look like Aaron Rodgers. Now Rodgers himself is preparing to play them, though he could be without top wideout Davante Adams. That’s not too reassuring considering Drew Brees and the Saints offense also disappointed at Las Vegas — and could still be without Michael Thomas, their own star receiver.

We’ll see what happens next. The Saints proved the experts wrong a week ago, and now they can do it again (silver linings, right?).

[vertical-gallery id=38128]