Shootout Expected Between the Saints and Falcons

The New Orleans Saints find themselves in an early hole at 0-2 and with play with plenty of urgency after suffering a pair of last second losses. The Atlanta Falcons racked up a week-high 528 yards at a remarkable 8.3 yards per play in their upset at Oakland last week, 35-28. The Saints were in their own shootout with the Raiders in week 1 on this field, falling late on a 2-point conversion 35-34 while racking up 507 yards themselves. But both defenses allowed over 450 yards to the Raiders, and now each will face a similar explosive offense.

Tough call on whether the Saints/Falcons shootout or the Presidential debate will be more entertaining Monday night, but we expect plenty of flying footballs and scoring with the QB's and offenses in overdrive of at the Mercedes Benz Superdome.

Shop the best lines and totals at our Elte-rated online sports books.

Monday, September 26, 2016

New Orleans Saints -3 (+100)
Atlanta Falcons       +3 (-120)
Total: 53

Kickoff 8:30 ET, Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, La.
Surface: Fieldturf
TV: ESPN

Next season the Atlanta Falcons open their new stadium, which will also have the German automaker's name with the Mercedes Benz Stadium. This year's Superdome showdown should be all front wheel drive with the gas pedal down in front of the lubed-up frenzied fans, and a look at some stats shows why we should anticipate a shootout.

Key stats

The offensive weaponry in the passing game with two top passers combined with deficient pass defenses makes this a likely shootout that can eclipse the high posted total. The Falcons lead the NFL in yards per pass attempt at 9.7 while the Saints are No. 6 at 7.7 yppa. Defensively, both rank in the lower quartile of the league in YPPA, with the Falcons also allowing 290 passing yards per game and the Saints 336 passing YPG to rank no. 30 in the league.

The Falcons have 20 sacks in 18 games under head coach Dan Quinn, and a lack of pressure should allow QB Drew Brees to have another big game.

Injuries have ravaged the cornerback position for the Saints, and their defensive deficiencies will be further exposed by the Falcons league-best passing offense through two games (355/game).

The Saints utilized a three-safety look last week, but still allowed Giants QB Eli Manning to go 33/41 for 368 yards. They had just two sacks and no interceptions, and only 3 Giants fumbles slowed New York's scoring.

The Falcons have allowed nearly 300 passing yards in each of their first two games to young guns Winston and Carr. Now they face a familiar foe in QB Brees, who should be at his best at home against another deficient defense.

The Saints won both match-ups over the Falcons last season including 31-21 on this field. Despite being desperate and an early season 'circle the wagons game', we can't endorse laying the points with the Saints. Both teams are familiar with the dome and turf, and we should expect more fireworks and scoring with two quality QB's firing near 40 passes apiece, making over the total the preferred play.

Check out the top online sportsbooks for all the latest football spreads, totals, moneylines and props, and get the best line and total available for 'over' bettors, along with reduced juice, at 5 Dimes.

FairwayJay is a leading national sports handicapper and is recognized as one of the sports industry's most insightful analysts. Follow him on Twitter: @FairwayJay